The Rebel's Own(11)

“Ryan? What?” Matt’s fingers trembled as he picked up the picture. Even if the name hadn’t tipped him off, the icy blue eyes were impossibly familiar. Despite the darker skin tone, Riley was a younger version of his best friend. “I can’t believe this. Does he know?”

“No.” She paused and took a deep breath before dropping her bombshell. “I have been trying to get pregnant.”

“For money, right?” He snickered. “Why don’t you just use this kid? You don’t need another one.”

“Riley has leukemia. I was trying to get pregnant so that I could give him the baby’s cord blood. The stem cells in it could cure him,” she said in a rush. “But I do need money just for his treatment. After he’s better, I’m going to take care of both of them myself.”

Matt just stared at her in shock for a moment. “You need to tell Ryan.”

“No!”

Kennedy looked up and realized her outburst had earned them some curious looks. Lowering her voice, she said, “I can’t have Ryan in my life, not after what he did to me back in high school.”

“You can’t have him in your life, but you are going to have not just one, but two of his children?” Matt hissed, incredulous.

“Something like that,” Kennedy muttered. It did sound sort of ridiculous. “Look, you don’t understand how he destroyed me back then. I was a sixteen-year-old kid, who thought that the football star had finally paid attention to her. I gave him everything that night at the prom, and during the summer, I found out I was pregnant. I tried to call him but apparently he had gone to some football camp. I left messages but he never got back to me. Then I…” Kennedy choked on her emotions, that long ago morning of the first day of school rushing into her mind and knocking her into numbness, “…then I found out about your game. I found out I was just a score. So I went home and did the first thing that came to mind, I took a bunch of my father’s medication.”

“Dear God!”

“But I’m still here and the baby survived. My secret was out. You don’t understand the shame I had to go through. Not being able to get over the disappointment my father had in me before he died.” Kennedy angrily swiped the tears off her face. “Now my son is dying! I can’t handle that and Ryan at the same time.”

Kennedy watched Matt as he studied her. Then after a full minute of silence, he pulled out his checkbook and wrote her a check. “I’m sorry about your son. But you need to tell Ryan.”

Her jaw trembled as she exhaled a labored breath. She stared at the check in her hands. Fifty thousand dollars would cover most, if not all, of Riley’s medical expenses. Why couldn’t she have been a match? But even if she was, she didn’t have the money for the procedure.

Maybe her problems were solved.

Maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with Ryan Carville ever again.

It was what she wanted. It was for the best.

So why did that possibility leave her feeling so hollow inside?

• • •

“Kennedy! Kennedy Riley Bailey!”

Kennedy cringed. When her mother called her by all three of her names, something was wrong. She felt like she was a little kid again, and even the thought of crawling under her bed, crossed her mind. But she couldn’t do that. Riley had finally started his chemotherapy, and she was cleaning him up from the last time he got sick.

“Grammy is angry,” Riley whispered.

“I think Mommy is in trouble.” Kennedy hoisted Riley out of the bathtub and walked him into her bedroom. “I’m in here, Mama.”

“What is this?” Rebecca walked into the room fuming, waving a magazine in her hand.

“What’s what?”

“I’ll let you put Riley to bed first.” Rage burned white hot in her mother’s eyes, as she watched Kennedy tuck in her son.

As soon as Kennedy pulled the door closed, her mother slammed the magazine against her chest. “Didn’t I teach you anything about privacy!”

“What are you talking ab—,” Kennedy’s throat clogged up as she stared at the picture of the tabloids front page. It was a picture of her and Ryan. Ryan on his knees in front of her. It was the elevator at the hotel.

“Shit!” They were both idiots for not checking if there were cameras in there first.

“Watch your mouth,” Rebecca shot back. “Flip through the pages.”

Kennedy turned to the next page and there she was with Matt at the café. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she read the caption: Agent Matt Walker paying for his client Ryan Carville’s call girl.”