“I think…” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “I think I could’ve loved you. I tried not to, because… you know… my pride was hurt. You rejected me, Bran. I pretended not to care, but I did. Guess that made me vulnerable when someone came along and said the words I wanted to hear. Only, he was lying.”
“I’m sorry, Carina.” How could he have been so thoughtless? He prided himself on being hyper aware of people’s emotions, interpreting the slightest change in tone. “I’ve tried to be honest.”
“Yes, I know,” she admitted. “But it’s too late, now. I suppose I could get an abortion, but I don’t feel good about it.”
A repulsive thought occurred. She’d mentioned Stephanie’s ex-husband one time, speaking as if she’d heard personal testimony from him. And someone had told Jeff where he could find Stephanie. If Carina believed Bran had been sleeping with Steph all this time, she might’ve slept with Jeff in retribution.
He swallowed, steeling himself against the answer before he asked the question. “Jeff Caldwell? Was it him?”
“No. He’s attractive, but I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. No goals. No aspirations.”
Good. He let out the breath he was holding. “Then… was it Mark Johnson?”
She didn’t respond.
“I promise it won’t make any difference to me if Mark’s the father,” he assured her. “I’ve already decided to do business with a different law firm.”
“It’s not him.”
Then who? From her attitude about Jeff’s future, Bran knew it wasn’t one of his employees. Obviously, it must be someone he didn’t know well.
“That’s okay. I don’t need to know.”
“I’m so alone,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be a single mother. Who’s going to marry me when I have a kid?”
“If someone loves you, it won’t matter to him that you have a kid.” Bran thought of Ellie. He barely knew the child but already loved her, simply because she belonged to Steph.
“That’s not how it works in our social circle. You should know that. People are so judgmental.”
“You’ll find another circle,” he encouraged. “A better one.”
“My family will disown me,” she said in a flat tone, pronouncing an inevitable death sentence. “Their position in society is everything. Dad really wanted this match with the Knight family. I thought I was going to give it to him.”
“I can’t marry you, Carina. You know that, whether you admit it or not.”
“I know.” She sounded like she was already dead.
“Maybe you should talk to a counselor.”
“It wouldn’t help.” Her trembly tone told him she was on the verge of tears again. “He said he loved me, and I believed him. He said I was beautiful. Exquisite. He said he’d been looking for me all his life. He was going to marry me. Then I got pregnant, and everything changed.”
“You deserve better, Carina. Good riddance to him.” I can’t believe I’m comforting her, after all she did.
She ranted on, sniffling between phrases. “He got this bright idea that we could pass the baby off as yours. He said we could still be together after you and I divorced.”
Her rambling didn’t make any sense. “Why would he do that? If he was planning to marry you anyway, why would he want you to marry me first? Was he hoping I’d pay child support?”
“It was all about you. Grabbing the stocks. Public humiliation. Everything. It was all about hurting you.” A raw sob escaped. “It was never about me. Only you. I thought he loved me, but he didn’t care at all.”
“Who was it?” The words tumbled from his wooden mouth in a garble. In his gut, he already knew the answer.
“Martin Knight,” she whimpered. “Your father.”
CHAPTER 23
Steph planted a tender kiss on her sleeping daughter’s cheek, tiptoed out, and shut the door with barely a sound. With a lingering tenderness in her ankle, she limped into the room and collapsed on the couch. She noted Finn and Laurie, standing nose to nose—as much as possible, considering their height disparity—glaring at each other, their furious expressions a mirror image, but for the sharp contrast between Finn’s fair complexion and Laurie’s golden brown.
“What’s going on?” Steph asked, wondering how Laurie had the energy to stand up after their grueling fourteen-hour drive. She couldn’t begin to guess why her friend was angry at Finn, who’d been gracious enough to meet them at the complex at one a.m. with a crew who had their car unloaded and in their apartment in fifteen minutes.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” Laurie whipped her head around, coal black eyes flashing. “This man had the gall to blame you for Branson’s problems. We all know that man brought this on himself. Having a disability doesn’t give you a license to be careless and not take responsibility for your actions.”
“I never said Steph was at fault.” Finn’s face glowed red to the tips of his ears, his hands flexing with tension. “I only said I think she’s running away instead of dealing with the issues, and her timing is particularly bad.”
“You called her a selfish coward,” Laurie snapped her glower back to Finn. “Nobody calls my friend a selfish coward and gets away with it. If you knew half of what she’s done, you’d never say that. She’s braver than you’ll ever be, and all that woman does is sacrifice herself, on a daily basis.”
Finn lifted a finger. “No. I’m sorry. But you’re wrong. I never called Stephanie a selfish coward. I simply said moving off to another state without even giving him a chance to talk to her was a selfish act of cowardice. I was referring to something she did, not calling her a name. Those are two entirely different things.”
Stephanie yawned and stretched. “Hey, can we put this World War III off until tomorrow? We’re all exhausted, and Finn probably has to work tomorrow.”
“Fine by me.” Laurie stepped back and crossed her arms. Her chin jerked toward the door. “See ya later, Finn.”
“Are you going to tell her what I told you?” Finn asked, his chin lifted in defiance.
“It can wait until tomorrow,” Laurie snapped.
“What?” Steph was suddenly awake, adrenaline surging through her arteries. “Did something happen to Branson?”
