The Ghost Groom

by Jennifer Youngblood

  No, he had to stick with the plan. Monroe had flown in to meet with him. It wouldn’t be fair to leave him in the lurch. He promised Ariana that he’d stop by her house tonight, as soon as dinner was over. He asked her to just tell him what was wrong over the phone, but she insisted that they needed to talk in person. A knot formed in his stomach. Was she having second thoughts about the two of them? Everything had been going so well. As soon as the rematch was over, Ariana planned to introduce Rennen to her family. Sweat broke across his forehead as he went hot all over. His heart began to pound.

  “Hey, man, are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

  Rennen forced a smile. “I’m all right. Just starting to feel a bit of the pressure.”

  Monroe nodded in understanding. “I hear ya. Unfortunately, it’s about to get worse before it gets better. The press has been sharpening their knives, howling that this whole rematch is a big publicity stunt.”

  “Well, of course it’s a publicity stunt,” Rennen grumbled. “Everyone knows the fight between me and Ariana is for fun.”

  “Now that you and Ariana are official, it puts a different spin on things,” Lainey added, reproof ringing in her voice.

  Rennen’s head began to spin, dread clutching his heart like a vise. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He couldn’t wait until tonight to talk to Ariana. He had to talk to her now. He scooted back his chair, giving Monroe an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but I need to cut this meeting short. There’s something I have to—”

  A woman ran into the room, a shocked expression on her face. “Turn on the TV,” she ordered. “There’s something you need to see.”

  Lainey peered over her glasses. “Susan, what’s going on? You know I don’t approve of you interrupting my meetings in this fashion.”

  Susan wrung her hands. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Summerfield. But you’ll wanna see this. Trust me.”

  Lainey frowned as she reached for the remote in the center of the table and turned on the TV.

  At first, Rennen couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing and hearing.

  Monroe swore loudly, pounding the table with his fist. He spun around to Lainey. “How could you let this happen? This is why Rennen hired you. To prevent crap like this.”

  She rocked back, her face going rigid. “This is not my fault.” She looked at Rennen, daggers shooting from her eyes. “I warned you that something like this could happen. Tried to meet with you to come up with a plan to contain it, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  Her accusations came at Rennen from a distance. All he could hear was the roaring in his own ears as he looked at the screen, trying to comprehend all that was happening. He forced himself to concentrate on the news report being delivered by a peppy reporter with an enthusiastic smile stretched over her face.

  “DNA tests confirm that Delphine Degarmo, French heiress and owner of Bella Bisou cosmetics is, in fact, the birth mother of Texas Titan running back Rennen Bradley.”

  A picture flashed on the screen. Rennen gulped in a ragged breath, recognizing the woman instantly—Della, from the inn. He clutched the arms of the chair.

  Monroe shot him a worried look. “You don’t look so good, man.”

  Invisible fingers clutched Rennen’s throat as he fought to get a good breath.

  “Wait, there’s more,” the reporter said. Another picture flashed on the screen. Rennen’s eyes bulged. “This photo of Delphine Degarmo and Ariana Sanchez was taken a couple of hours ago at Café Pierpont in Ft. Worth. You’ll remember that Ariana Sanchez is the sister of Ace Sanchez. Rennen took Ace’s spot on the Titans. He and Ariana Sanchez have been spotted together several times.”

  “Well isn’t this just peachy?” Lainey said, throwing up her hands. She turned to Monroe. “Now what?”

  The reporter continued, laying out all the details of Rennen’s life in cold, hard facts. A bitter hurt sliced through him sending tremors over his body. Why had Ariana met with Della Chastain behind his back? Is that what Ariana had wanted to talk to him about? How long had Ariana known that Della was his mother? Della had sat right beside him at dinner, spoke of her son who died of cancer. Was anything she said even true? Somehow he doubted it. His mind was on fire. It was bad enough to be abandoned at a bus station by some poor, downtrodden mother. But a billionaire heiress? The owner of a worldwide cosmetic company? And to think that Ariana was somehow mixed up in this. He stumbled to his feet.

  “Hey, man,” Monroe said. “You need to take it easy. Let all of this settle in.”

  Rage boiled through him as he bolted for the door. He had to get to Ariana and find out what in the heck was going on.

  Ariana paced back and forth across her living room—four steps forward, four steps back. After her conversation with Delphine, she’d gone back to the gym and tried to get some work done, but was too keyed up to concentrate. Finally, she’d called a sub to teach her last two classes and came home. Now that she was here, she wished she’d stayed at the gym. At least there she had something to occupy her mind. Here, she was just worrying herself sick.

  Delphine said news of the DNA test would break in less than twenty-four hours. Meaning, she still had plenty of time to tell Rennen the news … hopefully. Maybe Ariana should’ve just told Rennen everything over the phone. No, it would come as too big of a shock to him. Heck, it was a shock to Ariana and it wasn’t even her past. She had to tell Rennen in person. Of all the days for something like this to happen, the one day when Rennen was tied up with his agent.

  A knock sounded at the door. She rushed to answer it, thinking it might be Ace. She’d asked him to come over, needing a sounding board to help her figure out how to break the news of Della to Rennen. Or maybe Rennen changed his mind and decided to come over early. She threw open the door. Her shoulders fell when she saw who it was. “Paul.”

  A tentative smile spread over his face as he held out a bouquet of flowers.

  A hysterical laugh gurgled in her throat. “You’re bringing me flowers?” His timing couldn’t have been lousier.

  Reflexively, she reached for the flowers, not bothering to bring them to her nose. “Thanks,” she said flatly, letting her arm fall by her side, the heads of the flowers nearly touching the floor.

  He searched her face. “I’ve missed you.”

  She tried to think of a way to let him down gently. “I’m sorry, Paul. You’re a great guy … and a good friend,” she began.

  His eyes took on a wounded look. “It’s because of Rennen Bradley, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” She forced a smile. “I’m sorry. You don’t plan on these things. They just happen.”

  “I thought you hated football players.”

  “So did I,” she countered with a dry chuckle.

  He motioned. “Can I at least come in?”

  She planted her feet, blocking the entrance. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  An awkward silence froze between them.

  Finally, Paul nodded. “For what it’s worth I really do love you.”

  She didn’t know how to answer.

  He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the mouth. “Goodbye,” he uttered.

  “Well, this is interesting.”

  Ariana flinched, pulling back from Paul, her eyes bulging. “Rennen,” she gulped, a hot embarrassment stinging her cheeks as she thought about how this must look. Her holding flowers, Paul kissing her lips.

  A furious expression twisted over Rennen as he balled his fists. His body was taut, a panther, ready to pounce. Then he shot Ariana a withering look that cut her to the quick. “How could you?” he uttered.

  Confusion swirled over her. “This is not what it looks like. Paul was just coming to say goodbye.” Rennen’s face turned a deep purple, and he looked like he was going to blow—a bull shuffling his feet in the dust, looking for the red flag so he could charge.

  Rennen let out a harsh laugh. “It looked like he was doing a lot more than that.”

  Paul turned to Ariana with a
grunt. “Is this really the guy you’re dumping me for? Some knucklehead?”

  The condescension in Paul’s voice tromped on her last nerve. She was about to put him in his place when everything imploded. Ariana saw it in slow motion—the savage look in Rennen’s eyes the instant before he hauled off and socked Paul, knocking him to the ground.

  “What’re you doing?” Ariana yelled, dropping the flowers.

  Paul’s eyes bulged with fear as he held his nose, which was gushing blood. “I think he broke my nose,” he wailed.

  Rennen hovered over him. “I’ll break a lot more than that. Get up,” he thundered.

  Paul ducked into himself as he averted his eyes.

  Ariana reached for Rennen’s arm, spinning him around. “What’s wrong with you?” she yelled, a swift anger overtaking her.

  “How could you?” Rennen growled, getting in her face.

  “How could I what?”

  His voice caught as he gurgled. “Meet with Della behind my back.”

  Her heart dropped. “H—how did you know?”

  A crazed look came into Rennen’s eyes as he thundered. “The whole world knows! It’s all over the news.”

  She swallowed, a deep weariness settling over her. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I only found out today.” Before she could tell him the rest, he cut her off.

  “I trusted you,” he seethed. “Believed you loved me.” He shot Paul a blistering look. “Not only did you go behind my back with my mother, but with him as well!”

  Ariana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The sting of his words came at her like a swarm of angry bees. “I told you, I only found out about your mother today. And Paul was coming to say goodbye. I told him it was over. Furthermore, if you’ll just shut up a minute and listen, you might have a different opinion of your mother.”

  “I don’t want a different opinion,” he roared.

  “If you’ll just listen to me.”

  “Save it,” he sneered. “I can’t trust you or anyone else.” He shook his head. “I should’ve known you were too good to be true.”

  The coldness in his eyes froze her heart. Somehow, she managed to find her voice. “That’s right. It’s you against the world, isn’t it Rennen? You’ve spent your whole life holding onto your anger like it’s some prize. Waiting for the world to disappoint you.”

  He clenched his jaw, pointing at his chest, his voice going ragged. “My struggles made me who I am. I won’t let you or anyone else get in my head.”

  “You keep standing up there on your tower, judging the world.” Her voice broke as she swallowed back the tears. She’d be darned if she let him see her cry. “Well, I’ve got news for you, buddy, the only person impeding your happiness is you.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “You expect everyone around you to let you down, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I can’t be in a relationship with someone who’s always waiting for me to fail.” She turned to Paul, venting her anger on him. “Get your butt up,” she ordered. “Let’s get you inside and get you cleaned up.”

  Paul rose to his feet, glaring at Rennen. “You’ll be hearing from my attorney.”

  Ariana barked out a laugh. “Oh, shut up, Paul. You are an attorney. This stops here and now. You won’t sue Rennen, not if you value our friendship.”

  When Rennen smirked out a justified laugh, she spun at him. “I pity you. All the happiness in the world at your feet and you’re too stupid to recognize it.”

  Rennen looked at her for a long moment. She thought she caught a blip of something in his eyes that made her hope she might be getting through to him. But then a curtain came over his face as he turned and stalked away, breaking her heart into a million unrecognizable pieces.

  16

  Rennen’s mind was a blur as he got in his car and jabbed the key into the ignition. His phone buzzed. It was Monroe. He was tempted to let it go to voicemail but knew Monroe would keep calling until he answered. “Hello,” he barked.

  “Hey, man. Where’d you go?”

  “Out!” The poisonous fog infesting his brain made it hard to form a clear thought. Ariana accused him of holding his anger like a prize, waiting for everyone to fail him. Was that what he was doing? He replayed the wounded look in her eyes when he told her she was too good to be true. It was a stupid thing to say. He gripped the steering wheel. When he saw Ariana at her door, Paul kissing her, he’d lost all reason. And then she told him she couldn’t be in a relationship with someone who kept expecting her to fail. A trickle of fear ran down his spine. Surely she wasn’t saying it was over between them. They’d had one lousy fight, that was all. Maybe he should go back in right now, apologize. He’d obviously misread the situation between Ariana and Paul.

  But this thing with his mother … he didn’t know how in the heck to come to terms with it. It was so incredible … ridiculous that his mother was a billionaire heiress. She’d had the audacity to sit beside him at dinner while he spilled his guts about his past. What possible excuse could Delphine have for abandoning him? The old familiar hurt slithered around his chest like an anaconda, cutting off his breath. No one understood the depth of the pain he’d endured.

  “Rennen, are you there?”

  He realized Monroe was still on the phone. “Uh, yeah,” he croaked. He needed to get a grip. He gulped in a breath. In through the mouth … out through the nose. He had to be strong, couldn’t let this get to him.

  “You need to get back here to the DaVinici Firm ASAP.”

  He rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I know we planned on going to dinner tonight, but under the circumstance, maybe we should cancel.” His voice dribbled off.

  “This isn’t about dinner. This is about Delphine Degarmo. More information has surfaced. Things you’ll be interested to hear.”

  A scorching anger seared through him, clouding out all reason. “I don’t want to hear anything else about that woman,” he yelled. His wretched mother had already caused him enough pain to last a lifetime. He just wanted it to stop.

  Monroe’s voice rose to match his volume. “Trust me. You’ll wanna hear this, man. You need to get back here. Right now!”

  He blew out a long breath. “Fine,” he grumbled. “But there’s something I need to take care of first.” He was going back this instant to resolve things with Ariana. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being mad at him, and he couldn’t stand the thought of her being in her apartment alone with Paul. They’d both said things … stupid things they couldn’t leave dangling.

  “Rennen, I can’t think of anything in this world that’s more important to you than getting your butt back over here on the double. This can’t wait. I’m begging you, man. You need to come now!”

  The urgency in Monroe’s voice pricked him, cutting through the fog for an instant. He had to face this thing with his mother. That was the only way he’d be free of it. Rennen glanced at Ariana’s apartment complex. “All right,” he finally said, starting his engine. “I’m on my way.”

  “You’d better have a good explanation for dragging me back over here,” Rennen said as he stormed into the conference room, then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was sitting at the table with Monroe and Lainey. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Delphine. “What’re you doing here?” Fury zigzagged through him like a thousand knives gutting his insides as he held up his hands. “I’m not doing this.”

  Monroe jumped to his feet. “You need to hear her out.”

  Rennen’s pulse roared like a jet engine through his ears as he shook his head. “No!” He shot Monroe a venomous look. “I told you I didn’t want to talk to her. Not now or ever!”

  Monroe shook his head, a frustrated laugh gurgling in his throat. “It’s not what you think, man. If you’ll just sit down and listen—”

  Delphine stood. “Rennen, sit down.” Her voice was surprisingly calm, but it pierced Rennen to the core. Her eyes locked with his. “If you don’t like what I have to say, then you never have to see me again. But
at least you’ll hear the truth from me, not from those dastardly reporters who make their livings off the misery of others.”

  The air seemed to hold its breath as Rennen contemplated what he would do. Finally, he strode over to a chair and sat down. The feeling of despondency that settled over Rennen was so strong he could taste it. It oozed from the walls and dripped down the floors, pouring around his feet where it pumped poison into his veins. Nothing this woman could say would change anything, but he’d at least hear her out.

  Delphine and Monroe took their seats. Delphine adjusted her blouse, then touched her glasses, clearing her throat. She took in a deep breath, offering Rennen a faint smile. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

  Rennen just sat there, stone-faced. It was still hard to believe his flesh and blood mother was sitting across the table. Looking at her now he could see the resemblance. Similar hair color, similar bone structure. He’d often pictured how his mother would look. Deep down, he’d always figured his mother was probably an unwed teenager or druggie who couldn’t handle the responsibility of having a child. Never, in a million years, would he have imagined his mother being a wealthy French heiress.

  “I’m not sure what you’ve heard from the news,” Delphine said.

  “Only that DNA tests confirm that you’re my biological mother.” Rennen didn’t try to hide the resentment in his voice.

  Delphine wet her lips, nodding. “I’ll just tell you everything, from the beginning. That way, you’ll get the whole picture. As you know, my real name is Delphine Degarmo. My father’s name was Renatus.” A faint smile touched her lips as she looked at Rennen. “You were named after my father.”

  Rennen sat rigged, clutching his hands. He felt like all of this was happening to someone else.