Betrayal

‘His daughter too, Brenna,’ he quietly reminded her. ‘Look … I don’t think for one second that Nick wants to make trouble. He only wants access to his child … to see her sometimes. Is that really so terrible? He’s a very wealthy man. He can provide things for her that will undoubtedly enhance her life: a good education, opportunities to travel and meet new people. He’s not trying to take her away from you.’ But even as Fin mouthed the words he had a horrible feeling that he was uttering them with very little belief in their content.

‘And do you think the things I provide, like love, care and attention, food and a roof over her head, don’t enhance her life?’

‘Did I say that?’ Fin’s expression suggested such cool implacability that it made Brenna even madder.

‘If Nick gets shared custody, then Nancy will probably have to spend part of the year in America. It will completely disrupt our lives. It’s an impossible situation and he has no right to—’

‘Whether you like it or not, he is her father. You’re both adults. You’ll work something out. Nancy won’t suffer if the two of you are absolutely committed to her welfare. I’m sure Nick would want nothing less.’

‘You really are his buddy, aren’t you?’ Her voice as scathing as she could make it, Brenna levered herself to her feet, eyes blazing. ‘If he isn’t here by midday tomorrow, I’m packing my bags and going home. End of story. You can tell him from me that if he can’t be bothered to turn up when he arranges a date and time for a meeting then he can forget the whole thing! I have a life, responsibilities. I don’t have the luxury of being able to sit here and wait until he deigns to honour me with his presence. You tell him that from me, Mr Malone!’

‘Brenna?’

But she was disappearing through the door of the bar before Fin had even got to his feet, before he even had a chance to defend himself and the stance he was taking on Nick’s behalf.

Drumming his fingers on the smooth polished surface of the table, he murmured a colourful expletive. When Nick had asked him to do him this favour he’d had his reservations considering the delicacy of the situation, but Lord knows he hadn’t expected a woman with so much fire in her veins that she threatened to ignite them both into an inferno whenever they were together. Intensely frustrated and annoyed, he picked up his glass and downed the contents in one hit. A few minutes later, he got up and went to the bar. The young barman threw him a sympathetic glance. Stony-faced, Fin took out his wallet.

‘Give me another bourbon,’ he irritably ground out.

Brenna’s eyes flew open at the insistent-sounding knock at the door. She’d been dozing in one of the armchairs, her body and mind exhausted with the sheer intensity of emotion she’d expended during the day. She was hungry too … ravenous, in fact. The growl in her stomach as she moved reminded her that wounded pride had cost her her dinner.

‘Damn.’ She speared her fingers through her hair, her mind racing with indecision. If Fin Malone was mad at her then he had every right. She’d acted appallingly downstairs in the bar. If she were him, she’d definitely be giving her a wide berth from now on. Suddenly the knock had a voice to accompany it.

‘For God’s sake, Brenna, open the door. I’m not quitting until you hear what I have to say.’

Steeling herself, she made herself move. He came in through the door without a word, broad shoulders sweeping past her with such an air of purpose that she hesitated briefly before closing the door behind him. The frisson of electricity as he passed her was tangible, so much so that she shivered with the force of it.

‘If it’s an apology you want then I—’

‘Dammit, woman, what’s your problem?’ His blue eyes narrowing to angry slits, Fin spun round to address her. ‘You’ve got a chip on your shoulder a mile wide. I don’t blame you for feeling scared about what Nick might be proposing but when are you going to get it through your thick skull that you’re not under attack here? If you keep treating every damn meeting we have like some blasted confrontation then we’re going to get nowhere fast.’

‘I don’t need a lecture on how to behave, Mr Malone.’

‘Oh yes you do, sweetheart.’

With barely restrained ire, Fin bore down on her, yanking her arm towards him by the elbow. All the breath whooshed out of Brenna’s body in a heated rush. Up close, the man was like some invincible warrior – the expression on his handsome face grim and purposeful … resolute. There was no question he was intimidating. There also wasn’t any doubt that he was the one in charge of this situation. All the strength suddenly seemed to drain out of her body.

‘Stop fighting me. I’m not your enemy.’

She knew that he was going to kiss her even before his mouth descended. She had ample time to twist away but the thought never even entered her head. In fact, her lips opened almost immediately to receive him just as soon as his satin smooth flesh made contact. A bolt of shock and desire so strong and powerful ricocheted through her body from her mouth to her womb that it rooted her feet irrevocably to the floor. At the hot demanding invasion of his tongue, the clash of lips and teeth mingling with the taste of bourbon and man, Brenna groaned longingly into his mouth. A feeling of such intense need and desire pulsed through her that she thought she might faint from it. Five years without a man’s touch and she never even knew that she missed or needed it so much … needed it like someone drowning needs to suck in fresh air to breathe.

Even as her mind formed the thought, Fin’s hands moved urgently down to her waist and hauled her hard against him. Sweet heaven! But as his hands moulded themselves round her hips to pull her against the hard aroused evidence of his manhood, Brenna’s mind awoke with stinging and shocking clarity at the implications of what her body was so helplessly aching to do. She’d already made a fool of herself once. Was she so eager to repeat the experience? Her heart started to beat so fast that she could barely catch her breath.

‘No!’ Her hands came up to his chest to push him away. His body stiffened in protest and she sensed the warmth of his breath hover momentarily against her cheek. She bent her head in shame.

‘I’m sorry.’

Breathing hard, his expression almost dazed, Fin not only let her go, but actively pushed her away. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as if wiping away the taste of her.

‘Sorry for turning me on?’ He derisively shook his head. ‘God gives you a body like that and eyes a man could lose his soul to and all hell breaks loose. Not your fault, honey. However, I’m interested to know why the brittle “touch me not” act when you were clearly as interested in what was going on as me? We could have had a small conflagration going between us just now. Is this how you normally treat the men in your life?’

Shakily Brenna touched her cheek. Her skin did indeed feel as if it was on fire. What did he want from her? Was she supposed to feel ashamed because she’d briefly let her body capitulate to desire? Now he seemed to be suggesting that she was some kind of thoughtless tease.

‘There aren’t any men in my life. There hasn’t been anyone since Nick. I don’t even date.’

‘You don’t date?’ Fin stared at her as if she’d just uttered something totally incomprehensible. So what was she telling him? That she hadn’t made love with a man since Nick? Heat tore through his veins like a racing car speeding towards the chequered flag. In an instant he was hard and aching all over again. The woman was seriously getting to him and no mistake. He wished he’d never come here. If his sense of honour weren’t as such, he’d have told Nick to come and do his own dirty work. The woman was scared and hurting. Only a fool could imagine otherwise. Why else would she be so angry and defensive? Why else would she have stayed relationship-free since Nick walked out on her? That really bothered him.

Fin was privy to part of the reason Nick wanted to make contact with his child after all this time, but the unsettling feeling was growing inside him that perhaps his real motives were not as pure as Fin would like to think they were. How could he be sure that he’d told him the truth about anything? They were friends but really Nick Balcon was a law unto himself. A bit of a closed book, as some of their colleagues would describe him. Right then, Fin fervently wished he’d simply gone to dinner instead of staying in the bar and imbibing too much bourbon.

Chapter Three

‘I don’t date because my main priority is Nancy.’ Brenna swung away, returning to her armchair to pick up the black cashmere stole she’d draped round her shoulders; shoulders that were now drooping with tiredness and something that felt like a scant heartbeat away from defeat. ‘And anyway, working two jobs I don’t get time to date.’

‘So there’s been no one since Nick?’

‘That’s what I said.’

‘You’re asking me to believe that no man has shown an interest in you in five long years?’

Brenna didn’t say ‘they don’t get the chance’. She knew how it would sound and already Fin Malone must be thinking she was an uptight candidate for therapy of some kind.

‘I’m not interested in casual relationships. Do you really think I’d put my daughter through that? Besides, I can do without male company. I can do without … without …’ Her eyes shied away from Fin’s penetrating glance with growing embarrassment. ‘I can do without the physical side of things. First and foremost I’m a mother, Fin. That’s my priority.’

A burst of heat warmed his blood at the sound of his name on her lips. He was getting in deep here and that was the last thing he’d ever planned to do when Nick had approached him about preceding him to the UK. ‘Keep an eye on her for me,’ he’d said, ‘don’t antagonize her. Sweet talk her if you have to. I know your powers of persuasion with women are legendary.’ Fin groaned inwardly at the memory. He liked women. He’d always liked women … even though there’d been no one special in his life since Sam. But he’d never persuaded a woman to do something she didn’t want to do in the whole of his thirty-six years and he wasn’t about to start.

‘You’re a woman too, Brenna,’ he told her now. ‘A very beautiful and very desirable woman, with needs to match.’

‘I don’t need the complications that kind of thing inevitably brings. Nancy is my priority. She didn’t ask to be here. I brought her into the world because I gave into needs I should have controlled. Because I let Nick Balcon flatter me and cajole me, let him make me think I was important to him when all the time … all the time he was just using me. He was a clever, educated man and I fooled myself I was his equal because I had his regard … big mistake.’

Disparagingly discarding her stole, Brenna dropped tiredly down into the armchair. Pressing her fingers into her brow, she glanced up at Fin, unable to disguise the hurt that she knew must show in her eyes.

‘Please don’t think for one second that I’ve ever regretted having Nancy. I’ve loved her from the moment I first set eyes on her. She means everything to me. That’s why I can’t let Nick use his money and influence to get joint custody. Back then, he told me in no uncertain terms that he had no room in his life for children. He had plans, he said. He didn’t want to be encumbered by too much emotional baggage. I felt like he’d ripped out my heart then spat on it when he said that. I hadn’t exactly been thinking wedding bells, but I’d had hopes. What young woman wouldn’t? Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want to hear all this. It’s enough for you to know that I’m hurt and confused about what Nick may have planned. I just don’t understand why he would want to stake a claim on Nancy after all this time, I really don’t.’

Fin knew part of the answer and wished he didn’t. But it wasn’t his place to tell Brenna. That particular ball was definitely in Nick’s court. The fact that Fin was now having second thoughts about the wisdom of his friend’s decision was neither here nor there. He’d wait until Nick arrived tomorrow and then be on his way. Why stay here and probably buy more trouble than he needed? There was no need for him to linger. He had a month’s leave ahead of him and intended to tour around for a while and see some of the famed European sights.

‘Hey. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. It’s not too late to go down and get dinner. I had a word with the maître d’ on the way up here. What do you say we call a truce for now and just enjoy a meal together? It can’t hurt, can it?’

‘Okay.’

‘Just okay?’ His lips quirking in amusement, Fin couldn’t contain his surprise. ‘What? No fight?’

Getting to her feet, Brenna shrugged. ‘Shocking, isn’t it? Who would have thought that a girl like me could be so compliant?’

Fin almost strained his stomach muscles with the fierce rush of need that tore through him just then. If only … he thought with an inward groan, his eyes drifting helplessly from the gorgeous raven-haired beauty in front of him towards the door of the bedroom and back again. There were other types of hunger he’d like to feed right now but that could only happen with Brenna’s willing cooperation and it wasn’t something he envisaged happening easily, if at all. Still, he imagined the fantasy would keep him nicely warm all the way through dinner …

‘More wine?’

‘No thanks. I feel light-headed enough as it is.’ Brenna watched Fin replenish his own glass. Truth to tell, she was feeling replete and relaxed after the fabulous meal they’d just eaten, more relaxed than she would ever have dreamt was possible given the gravity of her situation – and that was due to the fact that Fin Malone was a surprisingly entertaining dinner companion. He’d regaled her throughout the meal with both humorous and breathtaking tales of his years as a stuntman and Brenna had been so transfixed by his stories that she’d scarcely spared Nick Balcon a thought.

Leaning back against his seat as he cradled his wineglass between long tanned fingers, Fin gave her a lazy smile. ‘Now it’s your turn,’ he told her.

‘What?’

‘I mean for you to tell me something about yourself. What prompted you to become a dance teacher, for instance?’

‘Love of music and movement. My mum says I was dancing almost before I could walk. It was something that came very naturally to me so when it came to deciding what to do as a career, it seemed the perfect solution.’ Reaching for the water jug, Brenna poured herself a glass. Now that the meal was over and she seemed to have commanded Fin’s full and undivided attention, she was suddenly uneasy.

‘And that’s how you met Nick? When you were teaching?’ he asked.

‘I’m sure he’s filled you in on all the details.’ Her face grew hot at the very idea.

Her defences were up again – the ten-foot-high gates padlocked and the key thrown away.

‘Obviously not in the way that you imply.’ Fin returned his wineglass to its smart coaster, compelling her to meet his enigmatic gaze. ‘He told me you were beautiful, irresistible. He didn’t lie.’

The compliment tingled between them like little sparks of electricity as Brenna struggled hard not to let down her guard. ‘Well, clearly I wasn’t that irresistible or he wouldn’t have left,’ she retorted smartly.

‘Do you really believe he never regretted that?’ Fin questioned her. He’d already privately concluded that perhaps his friend wasn’t as smart as he gave him credit for.

‘I doubt it. Nick always knew what he wanted. He was very definite about going to America and making a name for himself as a director, and who could blame him? He had the talent and the drive. He’s amply proved that, hasn’t he? He’s got a very successful career so what’s to regret? That he left behind a twenty-two-year-old girl he had a meaningless fling with? I don’t think so.’

Lowering her eyes, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip. Please God, don’t let him see that my hands are shaking, she thought as she swallowed. I can’t keep coming undone like this at every single question he asks me.

‘He never told me it was meaningless. Having met you I couldn’t begin to imagine that for even a second. It must have been a real wrench for him to leave you behind – whatever he may have told you at the time.’

‘Well.’ Brenna shrugged, her expression carefully veiled. ‘It’s all water under the bridge, as they say. All that concerns me now is Nancy’s welfare. Why are you smiling?’

‘I’m wondering what that beautiful twenty-two-year-old dance teacher was like back then … wondering what she was like before she became prickly and so guarded that it would take one hell of a determined suitor to scale those walls and get behind her carefully erected defences. I’m wondering how many have tried and failed?’

‘I told you,’ her dark lashes fluttered against her too-warm cheeks, ‘I don’t date. There haven’t been any suitors, determined or otherwise.’

‘I don’t believe you. My guess is that you freeze out any guy who even tries.’

Fin’s evenly voiced statement was so close to the truth that for a moment Brenna didn’t know what to say. Anguish flared inside her at the painful memory of more than a couple of hurtful male taunts she’d had in her time since Nicholas. ‘Frigid’ seemed to be a favourite. ‘Ice-maiden’ was another. Men didn’t respond well to rejection, she’d found. Especially when they thought she should be grateful for the attention, being a single mum and all.

‘Of course you’re entitled to believe whatever you want to believe, Mr Malone. Far be it from me to try to convince you otherwise when you so clearly know the answer to everything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very tired. I think I’ll go to bed.’

Dropping her pristine starched napkin onto the table as she rose to her feet, Brenna couldn’t prevent herself from feeling upset. Getting to his feet at almost the same time, Fin’s relentlessly blue eyes fixed her with a penetrating stare as she went to turn away. To her shock, his hand came out and encircled her wrist firmly.

‘Don’t shut me out, Brenna. I think you’ll find I don’t give up as easily as some of the other men you might have met.’

‘Is that some kind of a threat?’ She glared back at him, even as her skin turned almost feverishly hot beneath his touch.

His blue eyes narrowed meaningfully. ‘It’s a promise. And when you get to know me better, you’ll realize that I’m a man of my word. When I make a promise I always make sure I keep it. Honour and integrity are commodities I don’t take lightly.’

When you get to know me better …

Fin’s words rang worryingly in Brenna’s head as she buttered her triangular slice of toast with unnecessary force. Of all the conceited, arrogant— Her thoughts broke off as she glanced round the scarcely populated elegant dining room. She’d risen early as she normally did at home, surprisingly hungry considering she’d eaten late last night. But breakfast was one meal she always made sure she had. Her work demanded a lot of energy and food really was fuel, as far as she was concerned. But now, now she really was on tenterhooks and not simply in anticipation of Nick’s arrival.

She and Fin Malone hadn’t exactly got off to a good start and that kiss they’d shared yesterday had presented her with another problem she hadn’t dreamt of anticipating in a million years – plain and simple lust. The need to act with a modicum of common sense had flown out the window as soon as he’d looked at her. Desire had drenched her with all the elemental power of an electrical summer storm and all she could do now was groan at the lack of self-control she’d displayed. She’d been utterly mad to encourage Fin’s kiss whether he’d aroused her or not. The sooner she dealt with her business with Nick, the sooner she could go home to Nancy and never see Fin Malone again, she vowed.

‘Something told me you were an early riser.’

With a guilty start, Brenna abandoned the toast on her plate to glance up into teasing blue eyes that were a mesmerizing blend of sea and sky. Dressed casually in a light blue chambray shirt and faded jeans, the mere sight of Fin Malone reduced all of her recently made vows to confetti.

‘Force of habit,’ she mumbled, inadvertently taking an over-anxious sip of too-hot coffee. Fin pulled out the chair opposite and drew himself up to the table. A soft-footed waiter appeared as if out of nowhere and took his order for breakfast. Brenna waited until the man had gone before speaking again.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Nick yet?’

To her surprise, her arresting companion breathed out a long drawn-out sigh. A disconcerting mental tussle seemed to be going on behind his riveting blue gaze that made her stomach anxiously cartwheel. What now? Please don’t let it be bad news …

‘The reason Nick hasn’t shown up is because there’s been some difficulty back home.’

‘Difficulty? What do you mean?’ She tried so hard to remain calm but it wasn’t easy to keep a lid on her anger at the cavalier way Nick had so far kept her dangling and now she was impatient for Fin to enlighten her with an explanation.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to look at the papers this morning?’ he asked.

‘The newspapers, you mean?’ She frowned. ‘No. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Too much negativity … Why?’

Sitting up straight, Fin raked his fingers through his freshly showered hair as if mulling over the best way to tell her his news. When Brenna heard what he had to say there would be no chance she would ever let her guard down round him again … none. Already he found he was mourning the loss of that precious chance.

‘There’s no way I can cushion this so I’ll just have to tell you straight. Nick got married two days ago and since then the Press has been on his tail morning, noon and night. He just hasn’t been able to get away as easily as he hoped he might.’

Nick … married? Brenna’s stomach muscles clenched tight as if warding off a blow. Tension coiled between her shoulder blades, and she strove hard to get a grip on a tumult of emotions. She’d known a long time ago that he was never coming back to her – any hope that he might had finally been obliterated on the day of her daughter’s birth when she had gazed into Nancy’s innocent infant eyes and realized she was the most important thing in her life now. It didn’t matter if she never set eyes on Nicholas Balcon for the rest of her life. Still, it was a shock to suddenly learn that he’d got married.

Examining the firmly implacable set of Fin’s chiselled jawline, Brenna wondered if he’d known all along that his friend was planning on getting wed the day before coming to England to stake a claim on his child? But of course he knew … he was Nick’s friend, wasn’t he?

‘You should have told me before,’ she said quietly, dark eyes pained. ‘Why didn’t you?’

Good question, why hadn’t he? Perhaps it was due to a misguided sense of loyalty? At any rate, now Brenna had another good reason to view him with suspicion. Damn.

‘The plan was for Nick to be here and tell you himself.’

‘Well, he’s put you in a rather uncomfortable position now, hasn’t he?’ Forcing a smile to lips that felt strangely frozen, Brenna glanced round at the other hotel guests who had slowly started to enter the dining room for breakfast. She wished she could be like one of them, she thought vehemently – just an ordinary woman taking a quiet break away from the daily grind like any other ‘normal’ person. Instead, she was here under duress and suffering all kinds of agony because once upon a time she’d believed a man loved her …

‘I didn’t realize he was so famous that the Press would hound him like that,’ she said quietly, dragging her gaze away from Fin’s to stare down at her now cold piece of toast with a sinking heart.

‘It’s not totally because of Nick,’ Fin reluctantly confessed, wishing he could spare her this added blow. ‘It’s because he married Andrea Denny – the movie star.’

Andrea Denny … the top of America’s ‘A’ list of screen actresses. No wonder the Press was on their trail. Brenna went hot then cold. Nick really had hit the big time, hadn’t he? Good luck to him … but only if he left her and Nancy alone.