by Maya Banks
“Is it any wonder I have no desire to procreate? Pregnancy turns women into hormonal messes.”
Marley dabbed quickly at her eyes, and Jewel burst out laughing. Marley joined her, giggling through her tears and finally Bella joined them as well.
“Okay, enough sniffling. Let’s get out of here before the men return. I’ll leave them a note telling them I’ve taken Marley off for an afternoon of debauchery. They won’t be the least bit surprised,” Bella said with a grin.
“Promise me you’ll both visit me in Miami,” Jewel said fiercely. “I’ll miss you both terribly. I’ve always wanted a family—sisters—and I couldn’t ask for better sisters than you two.”
“Oh, I’ll visit,” Marley promised. “I’ll blame it all on Bella. It’s my standard excuse and keeps me out of trouble with Chrysander. Theron loves her so much that he’s frigh-teningly indulgent with her.”
“You’re both very lucky,” Jewel said wistfully.
Marley gave her a stricken look. “I’m so sorry, Jewel. That was incredibly thoughtless of me.”
“Blame it on the pregnancy,” Bella said. “Surely having a parasite inside you sucking all your brain cells has to negatively impact you sooner or later.”
Marley and Jewel both cracked up.
“You’re so delightfully irreverent,” Jewel teased. “It’s no wonder Theron loves you so.”
“Come on, let’s go, let’s go. My man radar tells me the menfolk will be home soon. The more distance we put between here and where we’re going, the less likely they’ll be able to track us down.”
They linked arms and headed out the door only to be stopped by Reynolds, Theron’s head of security.
Bella sighed and cast a baleful look in the man’s direction. “Can we count on you for a little discretion or will you break your neck reporting to Theron?”
Reynolds cleared his throat. “That will depend on where you think you’re going.”
Marley pressed forward. “What we have here, sir, is a damsel in distress. A very pregnant damsel in distress. She is in sore need of a day at the spa. You know, where we do all those frightening girly things that scare the devil out of men.”
Reynolds swallowed and paled slightly. “Well as long as it’s that and not a more inappropriate place.”
Bella glared at him as she walked by him to the car. “You’re never going to let me live down that strip club are you?”
“Strip club?” Jewel asked. “This I’ve got to hear.”
“And I’ll tell you all about it once we’re wrapped in mud from head to toe,” Bella said as they got into the car.
Bella leaned forward as Reynolds got into the front seat. “There’s one more thing, Reynolds. This is top secret stuff. You didn’t see Jewel, don’t know who she is, never saw her in your life, capiche?”
Reynolds nodded solemnly. “Who?”
Bella smiled in satisfaction and leaned back in the seat once more.
“He’s really an okay guy when he doesn’t have a corncob wedged up his arse.”
“I heard that,” Reynolds commented.
Bella grinned and winked at the other two women.
“Okay girls, a day at the spa it is. Then we’ll get Jewel to the airport and on her way to Miami.”
Piers stared broodingly into the surf, hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers—pants that he hadn’t changed out of in three days. He looked and felt like he’d been on a monthlong bender. He hadn’t showered or shaved. The staff avoided him like the plague, and when he did come into contact with them, they all glared at him with disapproving eyes. As if he’d been the one to drive her away.
And he had, in a way. He hadn’t made it easy for her to stay. No, he hadn’t asked her to leave in so many words, but what woman would stay with a man who’d been so cruel, so derisive?
He closed his eyes and inhaled the sea air that Jewel so loved. She loved the ocean like he loved her. Passionately.
Love was supposed to be without barriers or conditions. He’d never offered that to Jewel. He hadn’t even offered his unconditional support. No, he’d demanded and she’d given. He’d taken and she’d offered.
What a bastard he was.
How was she supposed to have ever been able to tell him the truth when he made it impossible for her to do so? He’d all but told her that he’d toss her out without thought if he found out she’d lied.
And the truth was he didn’t care.
He’d realized it the moment he’d found her gone. He didn’t care if the baby was his biological child or not. Jewel was married to him, which meant both belonged to him. He would be the baby’s father because it was what Jewel wanted. It was what he wanted.
He hadn’t loved Eric any less even knowing that he wasn’t his biological child. He already loved his daughter, and nothing would change that. He’d ruined his chance at having a family. A wife and a daughter. All because he’d been so sure Jewel was another Joanna.
Jewel was right. He’d been waiting for her to fail, for her to give him the ammunition he needed to destroy her because it beat him being destroyed a second time. She was right about another thing, and it hadn’t taken him long to realize it. He’d destroyed something very precious.
“I love you, yineka mou,” he whispered. “I don’t deserve your love, but I can give you mine. I can try to make up for the many wrongs I have done to you. Please forgive me.”
Just saying the words he’d vowed never to give another woman freed something buried deep in his soul. He breathed deeply, as past hurts fell away, carried on the wind further out to sea. He’d allowed himself to be ruled by bitterness and anger for too long. It was time to let go and embrace his future with Jewel.
He turned and strode back to the stone steps leading up to the house. He began barking orders as soon as he stepped inside. At first he was met by cold resistance, until the staff figured out what it was he was doing. Then there was a flurry of activity as everyone stumbled over themselves to provide him what information they could.
“I called a car for her to drive her into town,” one of the maids offered.
When the driver was summoned, he said he’d driven her to the small airport and carried her single bag inside.
Frustrated, Piers took the car to the airport to question the ticket agent, but not even the Anetakis name was able to yield him any results. No one would tell him what if any flight Jewel took—or to where.
Kirk.
The name shot back through his memory. Of course. She had often gone back to Kirk’s apartment when she needed a place to stay. Surely that’s where she would go. She seemed to trust this fellow, and there was genuine affection and concern between them.
He looked down in disgust. He couldn’t go anywhere looking as he did right now. He’d likely be arrested for vagrancy.
On his way back to the house, he phoned his pilot and instructed him to be fueled and ready to depart within the hour.
He was going to find Jewel and bring her and their child back where they belonged. Home.
Chapter Nineteen
Piers stood outside the San Francisco apartment and knocked. A few moments later, the door opened, but it wasn’t Jewel who stared back at him. It was Kirk.
“Is Jewel here?” Piers asked stiffly.
Kirk’s eyes narrowed. “Why would she be here? Why isn’t she with you?”
Piers closed his eyes. “I had hoped she’d come here. Do you have any idea where else she might go?” It galled him to ask for this man’s help, but to find Jewel, he’d do anything.
“You better come in and tell me what the hell is going on,” Kirk said.
Piers followed him inside and the two sat down in the living room.
“Spill it,” Kirk said.
“I said some terrible things to her,” Piers admitted. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I was angry and I lashed out.”
“About?”
Knowing he needed this man’s help, Piers poured out the entire story from st
art to finish. Maybe if he seemed remorseful enough, Kirk wouldn’t think he was a total bastard and give him any information he had on Jewel.
“You are a first-class jerk, aren’t you? Jewel wouldn’t lie about something like that. Did she ever tell you about her childhood? I’m guessing not or you wouldn’t have shoveled that horse manure at her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kirk made a sound of disgust. “From the time her parents died when she was barely older than a toddler, she was shuttled from one foster family to another. The first few were merely temporaries as the state tried to place her in a more permanent environment. The first was a real gem of a family. The oldest son tried to abuse her. She told her caseworker, who thankfully believed her. So she was placed in another home, this time with another foster child, a girl about her age. What Jewel didn’t know was that the family never had any intention of taking both girls. They took two so they could choose. And it wasn’t Jewel they chose. So she lost a family she’d grown to trust and a sister she loved.”
“Theos,” Piers said through tight lips.
“Things started looking up when a couple who couldn’t have children decided they wanted to adopt Jewel. She went to live with them. The adoption was nearly final when the mother discovered she was pregnant. After years of infertility, she’d stopped trying and now she was suddenly pregnant. They couldn’t afford more than one child, and you can imagine which one they chose. Once again, Jewel was rejected.”
Piers closed his eyes. Just as he’d rejected her and her baby.
“After that, she didn’t believe in happy endings any longer. You might say she grew up fast. She went through the motions of the system until she was old enough to be out on her own. Since then she’s moved around constantly, never settling in one place, never forging ties with people. Never having a home. She simply doesn’t believe she deserves one.”
Kirk stared hard at Piers. “You’ve taken the one thing from her guaranteed to hurt her the most. If you find her, don’t expect her to welcome you back with open arms.”
Piers stared back at the other man, his stomach churning. “If she contacts you will you let me know immediately? She’s pregnant and alone. I need to find her so I can make this right.”
Kirk studied him for a long moment before finally nodding. Piers handed him his card.
“Call me day or night. It doesn’t matter.”
Kirk nodded and Piers rose to leave.
“Where will you go now?” Kirk asked when he saw Piers to the door.
“To New York to see my brothers. Something I should have done already,” Piers said grimly.
Piers knocked on his brother’s door and waited with dread for it to open. He didn’t like facing his brothers with his mistakes, and he liked asking for their help even less, but if it would get Jewel back, he’d do anything.
“Piers? What the devil are you doing here? Why didn’t you call to let us know you were coming? And where’s Jewel?”
Piers looked up, wincing at the barrage of questions coming from Theron.
“Can I come in?”
Theron stepped to the side. “Of course. We were just about to sit down for dinner. I have to say, you look awful.”
“Thanks,” Piers said dryly.
They walked into the formal dining room, and Chrysander, Marley and Bella all looked up. Only Chrysander seemed surprised. The two women were more subdued.
Chrysander’s sharp gaze found him. “What’s happened?” he asked bluntly.
“Jewel left me,” he said bleakly.
Theron and Chrysander both began talking at once while the women merely exchanged glances and remained silent.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Chrysander said. “Not after she spent all that time—”
Marley cut him off with a sharp elbow to his gut. Then she frowned at him and shook her head. Chrysander gave her a curious look but remained silent.
Bella stood, her hands on her hips. “Why did she leave you, Piers?”
Her voice was deceptively soft. It reminded Piers of the reason men feared women so much to begin with.
“Bella, perhaps Piers would prefer not to tell us such private things,” Theron suggested.
Marley raised an eyebrow. “He’s here isn’t he? He obviously wants our help. We deserve to know if he deserves it or not.”
Piers winced. “If you want to know the truth, no, I don’t deserve your help, but I’m asking for it anyway.”
“Why?” Bella demanded.
Piers looked at both women. “Because I love her, and I made a terrible mistake.”
“So you called the stupid lab and they figured out it was all a mistake then?” Marley said furiously.
Chrysander and Theron turned to Marley and Bella. Marley flushed and cast an apologetic look at Bella, who merely shrugged.
“I haven’t called the lab. I don’t care about the bloody results. I love her and our child. I don’t give a rat’s ass who the biological father is. She’s my daughter, and I don’t plan to give her or Jewel up.”
“Why do I get the impression that we’re the only two without the faintest clue what the devil is going on?” Theron said to Chrysander.
“No, but I bet our lovely wives could fill us in,” Chrysander said as he rounded on Bella and Marley.
Both women crossed their arms over their chests and pressed their lips together.
Frustration beat at Piers’s temples. He walked past his brothers to stand in front of Marley and Bella.
“Please, if you know where she is, tell me. I have to make this right with her. I love her.”
Marley sighed and glanced over at Bella.
“I might have helped her get a place in Miami,” Bella hedged.
Chrysander’s eyebrows went up. “But isn’t that where…”
Marley shot him another furious glance.
“Where in Miami?” Piers said, ignoring the exchange between Marley and Chrysander.
“If you go down there and upset her again, I’ll personally sic every member of Theron’s security team on you,” Bella threatened.
“Just tell me, Bella. Please. I need to see her again. I need to make sure she and the baby are all right.”
“When I spoke to her yesterday, they were just fine,” Marley said casually.
“It would appear that you and Bella have been very busy women,” Chrysander said darkly.
Marley sniffed. “If things were left to you men, the world would be a disaster.”
“I think we’ve been insulted,” Theron said dryly.
Bella thrust the piece of paper she’d been writing on toward Piers. “Here’s her address. She trusted me, Piers. Don’t screw this up.”
Piers hugged her quickly and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. I’ll bring her back for a visit as soon as I can.”
Jewel smoothed her hand over Eric’s hair as he slept and smiled at how peaceful and innocent he looked. Tucking his blanket around him, she turned to tiptoe from his bedroom.
Once in the kitchen, she prepared a cup of decaf tea and sipped the soothing, warm brew.
Her arrival in Miami couldn’t have come at a better time. Eric had been taken from his previous home and was awaiting placement along with several hundred other children. It had taken several days to complete the paperwork, have the home study and background checks, but Eric was finally hers.
At first he’d been silent and restrained. No doubt he thought his placement with her was as temporary as all his other ones. She didn’t try to persuade him any differently. It would take time to win his trust.
The important thing was that he had a home now. Thanks to Bella’s generosity, they both had a home.
After checking on Eric one last time, she went into the living room and settled into her favorite chair. Nights were difficult, when all was silent. She missed Piers and the easy companionship they’d developed.
She had nearly dozed off in her chair when the doorbell rang. She got up quickl
y so it wouldn’t disturb Eric and went to look out the peephole. No one knew her here, and she was wary of anyone knocking on her door. Surely Social Services wouldn’t pay a surprise visit at this time of night.
What she saw shocked her to the core.
Piers. Outside her door, looking worried and a little haggard.
With fumbling fingers, she unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door a crack.
“Jewel, thank God,” he said. “Please, can I come in?”
Her grip tightened on the door as she stared through the crack. Anger, pain—so much pain—surged through her veins. What could he possibly have to say to her that hadn’t already been said?
She steeled herself, opened the door just enough that she could see him and he could see her.
“I won’t ask how you found me. It isn’t important.”
He started to interrupt, holding up one hand in a plea, but she shook her head.
“No, you’ve said enough. I let you say all those things, and I took it, but I don’t have to now. This is my home. You have no rights here. I want you to leave.”
Something that looked suspiciously like panic spasmed in his eyes.
“Jewel, I know I don’t deserve even a moment of your time. I said and did unforgivable things. I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again. But please, I’m begging you. Let me in. Let me explain. Let me make things right between us.”
The sheer desperation in his voice unsettled her. She wavered on the brink of indecision, her anger warring with the desire to relent and let him through the door. He stared at her with tortured eyes and slowly, she stepped back and opened the door wider.
He was inside in an instant. He gathered her in his arms and buried his face in her hair.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, yineka mou.”
He kissed her temple, then her cheek and then clumsily found her lips. He kissed her with such emotion that it staggered her.
“Please forgive me,” he whispered. “I love you. I want you and our baby to come home.”
She pulled away, holding onto his arms for support. “You believe she’s yours?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness or suspicion from her voice.
