by Ana E Ross
So this was what being the progeny of Bryce Fontaine was all about. Kaya felt a mixture of longing and sadness as she thought of the life Bryce and Pilar had planned for their children. No wonder he didn’t want to live in this house. The memories must still be so painful.
Her heart ached for him, especially because she was moving his godchildren out of his home where he seemed to gather comfort from watching them enjoy the life his and Pilar’s children would never have.
She had no choice. L’etoile du Nord did not belong to the Rogers or the Brehnas. It was Fontaine property. Kaya was sure that one day when Bryce healed enough to open his heart to love again, he’d find another woman with whom to share his dream in this extravagant home he’d built.
She just hoped…
“Kaya.”
Kaya’s entire being responded to the sound of her.
She turned around. Bryce was walking toward her, but her eyes were fixed on the brunette lurking near the entrance of the playroom. She looked a little older than Kaya, perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties. She was attractive, with a toned, athletic body clad in jeans and a sweater.
Kaya felt sick to her stomach when she saw the overnight bag at the woman’s feet.
Was she Bryce’s new lover, or an old flame he was rekindling?
Was he moving her in?
CHAPTER TEN
The thought tore at Kaya’s insides.
She sank into the cushions and closed her eyes.
“Kaya?”
She raised her lids to find Bryce standing over her with a pensive shimmer in his eyes. He got down on his knees in front of her and planted his palms on the sofa at her sides. He didn’t touch her, yet her body felt warm and heavy at his nearness.
“Who is that woman? What is she doing here?” Kaya whispered in a voice shakier than she would have liked. “Is she the reason you were buttering me up, telling me to remember my importance in the children’s lives? Is she moving in?”
His mouth ruffled as if he were weighing her questions in his mind, then he broke into a dazzling smile. “Yes, she’s moving in, but—”
“Then it’s a good time to tell you that the children and I are—”
His lips were warm and firm as they moved over hers. He kissed her slowly as if he were enjoying the delights of a succulent fruit. His tongue swerved into her mouth, seeking hers, stroking, probing, retreating, and advancing with increasing pressure that made the inner walls of her sex throb and contract as if seeking for something hard and hot to hold on to—to satisfy the hot ached inside.
Kaya closed her eyes and moaned her pleasure into Bryce’s mouth as a series of electrical shocks exploded inside her one after the other. Her crusted nipples throbbed painfully against the lace of her bra. Her heart hammered inside her chest as her body quivered uncontrollably for a few intense moments before a powerful wave of release crashed over her, lifting her up then pulling her under. She squeezed her legs together as a deluge of hot liquid gushed between her thighs, soaking her panties. She moaned her release into Bryce’s mouth.
Only when she fell weakly against the cushion did Bryce drag his mouth away from hers. Still breathless and speechless, but considerably relaxed, Kaya stared at him. His lips were moist, his eyes glazed, but he seemed unaffected from the kiss when she was still trying to fathom the fact that he’d just brought her to a shuddering climax without ever touching her with his hands.
He was a wicked, wicked man.
She touched the tingling area around her mouth where the stubble of his beard had grazed her. Morning sex with him would be so tantalizing.
“Feel better?” he asked on a leisurely smile.
She did feel better. All the tension that had been building up inside her since last night was gone. Still unable to speak, she nodded.
“Great. Now, as I was saying, Haley is moving in, but not for the reasons you think. Pull yourself together before I call her over.” He pushed to his feet in one fluid motion as if they’d merely been discussing dinner and he’d agreed to the seafood she wanted instead of his steak.
Kaya took in big gulps of air into her lungs and struggled to her unsteady feet. She still didn’t know who Haley was, but at least she knew who she wasn’t. Bryce would not have kissed her like that while his lover was around.
The high back of the sofa had protected them from Haley’s view, but as Bryce motioned her over, Kaya wondered if the woman had heard the whimpers she’d been powerless to stop.
“Kaya, this is Haley Stiggins. She’s the new nanny. Temporary, until she proves she can do a good job.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Brehna.”
“So when did Mr. Fontaine hire you?” she asked, shaking the hand Haley offered.
“Just this morning. She had brunch with the girls and me,” Bryce answered.
“You’ve been quite busy, Bryce,” Kaya said through clenched teeth. “I wish you’d filled me in on your intentions, since I have made decisions of my own.”
“I’m well trained, Miss Brehna, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Haley said. “I have lots of experience with young children. I wouldn’t disappoint you.”
“Excuse us.” Kaya forced a sweet smile to her lips and grabbed Bryce’s arm. He was tight and hard. “Can we talk in private?”
He didn’t budge an inch when she tried to steer him away from Haley, but walked in the opposite direction toward the crib. He carefully picked up Anastasia and brought her to Haley. “You may as well begin your trial run,” he said, placing the sleeping baby in Haley’s arms. “Take her to the nursery.” He pointed to a flight of stairs at the back end of the playroom. “Up those stairs and the third door on your left. Oh, and keep the other two children upstairs until I call them down. There’s food in the kitchenette of the second-floor sitting area in case they get hungry. Ms. Brehna and I will be occupied for some time. We don’t want to be disturbed.”
“Yes, Mr. Fontaine. I understand.”
Haley’s slightly embarrassed expression told Kaya that she knew exactly what had transpired between her and Bryce a few minutes ago. It also carried the assumption that they were anxious to pick up where they’d left off.
He was never getting that close to her again.
“What are you doing?” she asked Bryce as soon as Haley was out of earshot. “I don’t need a nanny.”
“This is a big house, Kaya. You’re not ubiquitous. You need help, especially because you’re new at this. I’ve also arranged for a housekeeper to begin tomorrow, and a cook if you need one.”
“Bryce, the children and I are moving out, so unless you plan to move in with a baby in tow, you’d better get rid of that nanny.”
His forehead creased on a deep frown. “I thought you were staying.”
“In Granite Falls. Not at L’etoile du Nord.”
“But this is the children’s home.”
“It’s your house, Bryce, not theirs. I am their legal guardian, not you. I’m going to start looking for a place of our own, right away. One I can afford.”
“Oh, Kaya,” he groaned, brushing his hand across his short crop of black hair.
“What now?”
“There was someone else at the door. An attorney you need to talk to. It concerns Michael and Lauren’s will.”
Kaya threw her hands in the air. “You’re still planning to fight for custody even after I told you I’m staying? I should have known that wasn’t enough for you. You don’t like to share, do you? You’re the little boy who wants it all. You’re such a selfish, ego—”
His eyes impaled her. “Perhaps you should hear out this attorney before you utter any more harsh words and start calling me names I may find hard to forgive and forget,” he warned in a gravelly voice.
“I’m not talking with your lawyer or any lawyer without mine present. I’m calling Steven.”
“Steven and Libby eloped to the Caribbean this morning. They are getting married today.”
Her eyes widened i
n surprise. “But they’re planning a June wedding.”
His lips twisted ruefully. “People change in the face of tragedy, Kaya. In light of the recent events, Steven and Libby decided not to waste any more time apart. They’ll have the big wedding in June to appease their friends and families, but they want to begin their lives together now.”
Kaya couldn’t say she blamed them, but Steven’s absence made things more complicated for her. The fact that Bryce wanted her to meet with an attorney to discuss Michael and Lauren’s will at the same time her attorney was out of the country reeked of control and sabotage—Bryce’s specialty in the business world. She wasn’t falling for that. “I’m happy for them,” she said, “but all the same, I’ll wait until Steven returns to discuss any details of the will.”
He shoved his hands into his side pockets and peered down at her with softening eyes. “Kaya, the will Steven drew up for Michael and Lauren is null and void. They made a more recent will before they died. There are some changes. On your behalf, I emailed a copy to Steven. He responded that it’s solid and legal. I will show you the email.”
Kaya’s heart dropped to the bottom of her belly. She crossed her arms to subdue the tight knots. “Am I going to lose the kids, Bryce?”
“Not necessarily,” he said with a level of tenderness in his voice Kaya had only heard him use with the children. “I meant what I said. You play a major role in the children’s lives. We both do. As long as we keep that fact foremost in our minds, we can’t go wrong in any decision we make about their welfare. They need us both.” He paused and sighed deeply. “Let’s not keep Mr. O’Brien waiting.”
Mr. O’Brien rose from his chair when Kaya and Bryce entered the library. He was a stocky, balding, middle-aged man wearing a faded black suit that looked as if he’d bought it at a yard sale. It had seen one too many funerals and or washes, Kaya thought.
“This is your lawyer?” she whispered. “I thought you could afford better.”
“I never said he was my lawyer. Michael and Lauren hired him.” He placed a restraining hand in the hollow of her back and propelled her forward.
He made quick introductions, and before Kaya could fully sum up Mr. O’Brien, she was seated at a table across from him and Bryce, perusing a legal document.
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at the attorney. She really wanted to tell him that she didn’t trust him, but Steven’s email stated that she should. “Mr. Lynd was my sister and bother-in-law’s attorney. He drew up their will that named me legal guardian over a year ago. Why are you just coming forward with this new will? Why didn’t you come forward immediately after their deaths like Mr. Lynd did? He called me that same night. I was here the next day.”
Why hadn’t he come forward before she’d promised a little boy that she was abandoning her old life in Florida to start a new one in New Hampshire with him?
“Your questions are very apropos, Miss Brehna. But I was prohibited to come forward until the autopsy revealed the identity of the survival spouse. According to the simultaneous death clause in the will, since Mr. Rogers survived his wife, Mr. Fontaine has gained custody of the children. If his wife had survived him, you would have maintained custody. When I received the toxicology report yesterday, I immediately called Mr. Fontaine.”
“You knew about this since yesterday?” Kaya flung the words at Bryce.
“It was Mr. O’Brien’s call that interrupted us last night. In here,” he added with emphasis. “I didn’t answer because I didn’t recognize the number. I learned about the new will when I called him back this morning.”
“And you don’t think you should have informed me then?”
“I came to the house to do just that, Kaya, but you were still asleep,” he said in his defense. “Should I have awakened you?”
“I wish you had, because then I wouldn’t have—”
“Are you telling me that if you knew that I had custody of the children, you would not have told Jason that you would remain in Granite Falls? That you would have packed your bags right after you heard the news and returned to Florida, forgetting that they even exist? Is that what you’re telling me, Kaya Brehna?”
“No! I’m not saying that. I love them. I would do anything for them. But I don’t have the right to them anymore. You do, Bryce. You have the power to kick me out of their lives if you want to.”
“And you think I want to kick you out of their lives?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore,” she rasped on a ragged breath. “I don’t know who to trust.”
Kaya shot out of her chair and began to pace as anger twisted her guts into knots. How could Lauren have done this to her? How could she make her fall in love with her children and then take them away on a twist of fate?
Wasn’t it enough that she had stolen their father’s love and devotion all those years ago? Once again, she was left with nothing.
Overcome with an amalgam of old and new hurt, Kaya dropped her face in her hands and began to weep.
She relaxed into the wall of warm flesh as Bryce’s arms closed about her. She let him lead her over to a love seat where he sat with her tucked tightly against him. The brush of his fingers through her hair and the gentle caress of his hands along her shoulders and back slowly eased the suffocating sensations in her throat. He held her even after she stopped crying her pain into his chest.
Opening her eyes, she raised her head and gazed up at him.
“You can trust me,” he said, brushing her hair away from her damp forehead.
“That’s easy for you to say now you have custody. Congratulations, Bryce. You won. You should be happy.”
“There’s nothing to be happy about, Kaya.”
She looked around the library. “Where’s the seedy little lawyer?”
“He broke your heart, so I threw him out.”
“You’re my hero.”
“If you say so.” His hands moved up and down her arms, still offering her comfort and warmth.
“What do we do now?” she asked on a shudder.
“We get married.”
Kaya couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that erupted from her throat, but it quickly died as she held Bryce’s steady and unflinching eyes. “You’re serious.” She tried to back out of his arms.
He drew her gently back in. “I am serious. We both love the kids and we both want to be part of their lives. Can you think of a better way to bring stability and security back to them? We are their parents now. We can be a family.”
The images of their passion-filled moments in the library and in the playroom surfaced in Kaya’s memory. If she married Bryce, he would expect more of the same. As his wife, she would be obligated to meet all of his needs in the bedroom. “Bryce, I can’t marry you. I wouldn’t marry you.”
“Why?”
“You know why. Your reputation with women is—” She shrugged. “Well you know what it is.”
“Oh, so you heard.”
“Yes. By the time you called in Guard Libby, yesterday, it was too late. I’d already heard enough.”
“What did you hear?” A curious smile curved his lips.
“That you love them and leave them.”
“I leave them because I don’t love them.” His voice held no apology, no regret.
“Well, you don’t love me, either.” With her eyes, she challenged him to refute her claim.
“I’ll never leave you,” he simply stated.
Kaya dropped her gaze to the wet spot on his shirt that her tears had left. Marrying a man like Bryce would surely bring its share of troubles, and many reasons for her to cry in his arms more often than not. Would he be this understanding of her feelings when she accused him of infidelity? Would he be evasive, honest, or would he lie about his affairs? “How can I be sure of that?” she asked, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer. He could start lying right now just to get what he wanted. He wanted the children, and he wanted her. There was no doubt about that.<
br />
He slowly stroked a fingertip down one side of her face, hooked it under her chin, and tilted her face upward. “I don’t abandon family, Kaya. I take my marriage vows extremely seriously. I will never be unfaithful to you. I will never mistreat you, embarrass you, or cause you harm. You can trust me to be there for you and the kids. Always and forever.”
But don’t trust me to love you, was the deep-seated promise Kaya read in the dark recesses of his eyes.
His phone buzzed between their joined hips. Kaya expelled a sigh of relief when he let her go to retrieve it.
“It’s the nanny,” he said, frowning as he touched the speaker icon. “Yes, Haley?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Fontaine, but Alyssa is crying for you and Miss Brehna.”
Kaya jumped to her feet, happy to put some real distance between her and Bryce. “I’ll go check on her.”
“Ms. Brehna will be right up, and please send Jason down to the library, pronto.” He ended the call, caught Kaya’s hand, and pulled her back down next to him. “You haven’t given me an answer.”
Kaya licked her lips as her gaze fixed on his sexy mouth. She was too chicken to look into his eyes. “It wouldn’t work, Bryce.”
“We’ll make it work, simply because we’re doing it for the children. What am I to tell Alyssa when she awakes in the middle of the night and calls for you?”
Kaya didn’t know what to say, or maybe she was just avoiding the truth, the inevitable. It was so hard to remain coherent when so close to him.
“It’s the only way I will allow you to maintain contact with them, Kaya,” he proclaimed, dropping the other shoe. “I’m the only man who will replace Michael in their lives. You need to decide if you’ll be the woman who replaces Lauren. Marrying me is the only way it will happen.”
“Do we have to decide now? Today?” Her hands clasped and unclasped on her lap.
He responded with a resounding, “Yes! I will not sit around and wait for you to hook up with someone else, bring another man, or men, into their lives.”
“What makes you think I want to hook up with anyone?”
“You’re young, gorgeous, smart, sexy. It’s only a matter of time before some poor sucker under the guise of a genuinely good man falls for you, but no matter how good he is, no other man will ever love these kids more than I do.” He put his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Will you marry me?”
