by Lucy Monroe
He'd never lied to her, damn it.
She took a deep, gasping breath, her hand on the door handle. "I've been out of control and out of my mind since the day I met you. I let you talk me into marrying you. I was naive enough to believe you didn't have any plans for revenge against my father when you assured me I wasn't part of them. But I was, wasn't I?"
This had gone far enough. "No!"
She ignored his denial, her face going a shade paler. "My desire for a baby fell right into it, didn't it? Not only can you destroy my dad's company, his very heart, but you plan to withhold his grandchild from him as well."
Alex felt the breath leave his body in one big whoosh. "Are you saying you're pregnant, sweetheart?"
Was that what she'd wanted to tell him earlier? Elation filled him even as he tried to think how best to handle her increasingly hysterical allegations.
"Don't you dare call me sweetheart, you swine. Yes, I'm pregnant. But if my dad is never going to see this baby, then neither will you!" With that she flung open the door and ran from the office.
* * *
Pregnant? The word repeated over and over in Alex's brain, a seductive mantra he didn't want to end. Isabel was going to have his baby. Delight coursed through him right along with the wariness and anger brought about by the recent confrontation with his wife.
She wouldn't leave him. She couldn't. She might be pissed as hell and making outrageous accusations, but she wasn't going to walk out on the father of her baby—at least not permanently.
If he had anything to say about it, she wasn't walking out at all. He needed to tell her that he didn't want to withhold either her or their baby from Harrison. He didn't want to use her in any way, and he was going to make sure she understood and believed that. Then, he would explain that he had no intention of letting her go—ever.
* * *
Surprise momentarily halted him in his tracks when he entered the kitchen through the back door. He had expected to find Isabel upstairs in their bedroom throwing clothes into a suitcase. Instead, she stood in front of the sink, tossing food from the picnic basket into the garbage with enough force to earn her a tryout as pitcher for the Portland Beavers.
Annoyingly, his stomach chose that moment to react to the smells of the chicken and potato salad. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and the sight of the home-cooked meal going into the garbage reminded him forcefully that he hadn't just turned Isabel down but had missed lunch entirely.
A small white stick in a plastic baggie sat on the counter next to the basket. It must be the pregnancy test. He'd seen the pictures on the boxes next to the condoms in drugstores.
Obviously, Isabel had meant to tell him about her pregnancy at lunch. He regretted more than ever refusing to take a break with her that afternoon. If only he'd taken the time to listen, they wouldn't be having this argument now. She might still have discovered his role in St. Clair's plans, but she wouldn't have jumped to the totally erroneous conclusion that she was part of it or that he planned to try to keep their baby from its grandfather.
At least she hadn't tossed the evidence of her pregnancy. He took that as a good sign. He didn't want her to regret the baby. Not when he'd only recently realized how much her getting pregnant meant to him.
It was time he told her that much at least. "I'm happy about the baby, Isabel."
She froze in the act of emptying a container of chocolate chip cookies into the rapidly filling garbage container. Damn. Hell hath no fury was right. He could see tossing out the food that was probably spoiled but homemade cookies? She finished her task and turned slowly to face him. Her eyes burned with an anger he'd never seen in her before.
"Because you think I'll let you withhold our child from its grandfather as further punishment? I won't let you do it, Alex. I doubt my father will be any more interested in the baby than he was in me, but I'll do my best to see that they have a relationship."
Guilt rapidly mutated into frustration. Why did she have to assume his every motive was a devious one? "I don't want to do anything to hurt you."
She stared at him, her eyes wide and disbelieving, her hair a tumbled mass around her face. "You don't want to hurt me? Is that why my heart feels like it's been ripped out of my chest? Maybe I should be grateful that this pain isn't intentional."
Couldn't she see that she was overreacting? He had thought that since she wasn't on her way out the door, she had realized her wild allegations in his office had been just that … wild. "You don't even like Hypertron." Maybe she thought his sense of justice wouldn't stop with the destruction of the company. "I want to dismantle the company, not destroy your dad."
"It's the same thing and you know it!"
He shook his head in negation. "It is not the same thing. He'll still have his health and his life, which is a hell of a lot more than my dad had when Harrison was done with him."
She didn't back down but stood braced against the counter, her eyes filled with accusation. "Hypertron is his life. It's all he has cared about since Mom died. If you let Mr. St. Clair follow through on his plans, Dad won't have anything left worth living for."
She was wrong. Couldn't she see that? "He'll still have you. And in less than a year, he'll have a grandchild. That's more than he deserves, but it's the truth."
Harrison had hurt Isabel by putting that damn company ahead of her needs over and over again. Couldn't she see that the least he deserved was to lose Hypertron?
Isabel shook her head, her normally soft green eyes filled with more pain than Alex could deal with. "He doesn't want me. I'm not enough. I never have been and I can't believe my baby would be, either. In some ways, my dad's already dead inside. Don't kill the only thing still living in him: his love for his company."
Her voice broke on the last word and Alex couldn't take it anymore. He yanked her into his arms. She struggled, but he wasn't about to let go. He pressed her cheek against his heart with one hand while wrapping his other arm securely around her waist and pressing her into his body. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Believe me, baby."
She stopped struggling but still strained against his hold. "But it does hurt, Alex. I feel betrayed and … and like our marriage is some kind of mockery, just another nail in the coffin of my father's happiness."
"I married you because I need you, not because I want to hurt you or use you in any way to hurt your father." He whispered the words between dropping soft kisses on the silky tangles of her hair. Would she trust him enough to believe him?
Some of the tension drained from her, but she didn't say anything, just stood acquiescent and yet withdrawn from him within the circle of his arms.
He had to convince her. "Your picture haunted me for two years—"
"My picture?"
Would the knowledge he had opened an investigative file on her only convince her more firmly of his evil intentions? "After my dad died, I wanted to know everything there was to know about John Harrison. That included getting surface information on his daughter."
"Surface information?"
"Where you worked, what you looked like, your relationship with Hypertron. Surface information," he repeated.
He hadn't invaded her privacy, didn't know anything more about her past than what she'd told him. He sure as hell hadn't known she'd started having fantasies of motherhood until he'd found her list.
She shifted restlessly against him. "And you expect me to believe that I had no place in your little frontier justice scenario?"
He rubbed her spine, trying to soothe her, trying to soothe himself. "Yes. I never once considered doing anything to or through you. I wanted to meet the woman in that picture so bad that I'd wake at night from dreaming about you, but I stayed away until you contacted Marcus on behalf of another company."
"You thought I was working for my dad, didn't you?"
At least she no longer believed he'd engineered St. Clair's approach to her on top of everything else. "Yes."
"I still don't understand about the picture—
"
"There was something in your eyes—"
"Criminal naïveté?" she slotted in, interrupting again.
"No." His voice came out harsh, but he hated the thought that his actions had made her feel stupid. "Innocence. Softness. I craved what I saw in you and when I met you, got to know you, I was afraid to lose you, so I rushed you into marriage." It was easier to say these things to the top of her head, but part of him wanted to see her eyes and the impact his words were having on her. Was she convinced?
"Did you think you could keep your role in Hypertron's takeover a secret from me?"
"I hoped to," he admitted. "But I figured that if you did find out, you wouldn't just walk away from me if you were my wife."
"Are you sure about that?"
It was his turn to go stiff and his hold on her tightened involuntarily, but he couldn't make himself answer her challenge. The words would have gotten stuck on the lump of fear in his throat.
Alex's stiff posture and silence in the face of her last remark lasted for several seconds before he began rubbing one hand up and down her back again while the other caressed her head. His touch comforted her even though she didn't want it to, even though she knew it didn't mean he was going to give up his awful plans for her father's company.
She had to make him change his mind.
Not just because of her father and what losing Hypertron would do to him, but for his employees as well and ultimately for Alex and their future together.
Isabel didn't really believe Alex intended to use her and their baby against her father. That had been her overactive pregnancy emotions speaking. If she had believed it, she wouldn't have bothered coming back to the house but would be halfway to Bettina's by now. Even in her furious exit from his office, she'd known that her anger and the pain of betrayal had motivated half of what she'd said.
Alex might not live by her code of ethics, but he had his own and he did not compromise them. He said he had no intention of using her, and she believed him, but realized now she'd asked the wrong question that day she'd discovered Ray Trahern's connection to Hypertron.
Rather than asking if she were part of Alex's plans for revenge, she should have asked if he had plans to settle the score for his dad's death.
She grimaced against his chest when she thought about his belief that she would not leave him if they were married. So much for worrying whether he'd be happy about the baby. He was probably relieved by the news, no doubt believing a pregnant wife would be even less likely to walk out the door.
He was right, at least about this pregnant wife. But not because she was pregnant and not even because she'd meant her wedding vows when she spoke them, although she had. No, she wasn't leaving because she believed with all her heart that Alex had meant his vows, and knowing this, her love for him made it impossible for her to give up on him or their marriage.
It wasn't about duty or promises but about love and faith.
She pulled away from him, pressing against his chest until he loosened his hold. He didn't let her go completely, but he did allow enough distance for her to look up into his face. His eyes surveyed her with wary watchfulness while his mouth formed a thin, grim line.
"So marrying me had absolutely nothing to do with your desire to make my father pay for your dad's death?" she asked, the bands of betrayal constricting her chest loosening a little.
Alex's brown eyes turned black with intense emotion. "Nothing."
"You married me because you had some fixation with my picture, and it had nothing to do with the fact I was John Harrison's daughter?" It sounded too implausible to be true.
One corner of his mouth tilted slightly. "I married you because I had and continue to have a fixation with the woman in that picture." And for the first time since taking her in his arms, his eyes flashed a sexual message to her.
She ignored it. "And my dad?"
"Has nothing to do with our marriage."
She wished Alex would let her go. She wanted to think, but as usual, standing so near him was wreaking havoc with her thought processes. She had the feeling that Alex was holding on to her to physically prevent her from leaving if his words did not convince her. Not the behavior of a man who didn't care whether his actions influenced her feelings for him.
She chewed her bottom lip, looking for an angle to take with him that his logical mind would not reject. "What about all the employees? Don't they matter?"
Something like relief flickered in his eyes but blatant irritation swallowed it. "I knew it would be like this if you found out."
"Like what?" she demanded. "Like I would care that you plan to participate in the total annihilation of a sound company for the sake of your personal vendetta against its owner?"
"It's not a sound company. If it were, St. Clair wouldn't have considered it for a hostile takeover."
Of course Alex knew stuff she didn't, which added to her already high level of frustration and hurt It wasn't as if her dad would tell her if things were shaky at Hypertron. The files she had read on Miss Richards's computer had certainly implied a weakness in Hypertron's market position, but it scared her to have Alex confirm it.
"But I know how this works for you. I researched your company, remember? You aren't a raider. You could have steered Mr. St. Clair toward a different investment or not taken him on as a client at all."
"The point is, I didn't want to."
She flinched at his words, but she couldn't accept that it was too late to prevent the kind of takeover Mr. St. Clair was planning. "But you don't usually work with corporate raiders—"
"I've made the exception before."
"That doesn't mean you have to make it this time."
"Yes, I do."
She closed her eyes against the implacability in his. "Have you stopped to consider how many jobs would be lost?" she demanded, opening her eyes again, but with little hope they would see a change in his expression. They didn't.
"You of all people should realize job security is not guaranteed in this industry."
No way would she let him get away with such a flippant attitude toward Hypertron's numerous employees. "Hostile takeovers, like the one you and Mr. St. Clair are planning, do more than dismantle companies. They tear apart people's lives."
Alex's eyes narrowed. "You don't even like Hypertron. You think the employees there all work under bad conditions."
"Hypertron might not be the ideal employer, but at least it is an employer." She pounded once against his chest. He didn't even flinch. His damn muscles were as unbending as the rest of him. "I never counsel my clients to leave a position without first having secured another one, and I would certainly never countenance a lay-off of this magnitude, regardless of the reasons behind it, but especially not to satisfy one man's need for revenge."
"I'm not just any man, Isabel." Alex's grip on her waist grew painful. "I'm your husband."
"Yes." She couldn't very well deny it.
"I'm also the father of your child." He looked down at her expectantly.
She frowned, not sure where this was leading. "Agreed."
"You said you loved me."
She refused to respond to that.
He didn't give her the option of remaining silent. "Do you love me?" His eyes compelled her to answer and his will pushed against her like a physical force.
She bit her lip to keep from shouting that yes, she did love him, but she thought she might hate him, too.
"Answer me, baby." Then she saw it. The tiniest flicker of insecurity in his eyes. He wasn't sure. He confirmed her suspicion when he spoke. "I need to hear the words."
His voice was indeed raw with some kind of primitive, male need. It was similar to how he sounded when he wanted to be inside her but even more intense. Could her love possibly be that important to him? Would it help her to convince him to stop living in the past and start living in the present—with her?
"Yes, I love you. I thought you knew." She had told him. Not often perhaps, but she had said
the words.
He shuddered and pulled her close once again. "I didn't know if today changed that."
Alex had some things to learn about love. "I'm not going to stop loving you because you make me angry, but I'm also not going to let my love for you blind me to what you are doing. I can't let you harm all those innocent people."
Releasing her, Alex stepped back. "You mean you don't want me to hurt your father. You say you love me, but you love him more."
Clenching her hands, Isabel glared at her husband. So that was it. He expected to use her love to manipulate her. As she'd thought, Alex had a few things to learn about love, and she was going to be his teacher.
"I'm your wife," she said, tossing his earlier response back at him.
He nodded, looking as wary as she had felt when he'd questioned her earlier.
"I'm the mother of your child."
"I don't know what you're trying to prove here, Isabel."
"Answer me."
"Yes, you're the mother of my baby," he said with exasperation.
"And you're happy about that." This time she knew some of her own uncertainty shone in her expression.
He reached down and gently touched her stomach with one hand. "Very."
"Good," she couldn't help responding.
Then, she said, "I love you."
His wariness returned. "So you've said."
"I love you," she tried again, this time lacing her voice with challenge.
He stood silent, meeting her gaze, testing the strength of her resolve. Finally, he nodded. He also smiled, his gorgeous dimple almost making her forget the point to her words, but she persevered.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you destroy my father's company. My love doesn't make me some kind of doormat for you to walk on."
A bark of laughter surprised them both. "You're too stubborn to be anyone's doormat."
She nodded. Just so that he understood. "You can't go through with your plans with Mr. St. Clair, and I won't let you use me to hurt someone else."
His expression turned pained. "They aren't my plans. They are my client's plans and it isn't my decision whether or not he goes through with them."
