Pretty Dirty Secrets: An Unconventional Love Story (Pretty Broken Book 3)

by Jeana E. Mann

  “Well, she’s not,” I said. For some reason, I felt the need to defend Venetia, but bit my tongue. The more I said about her, the more apt I was to incriminate myself. I tapped a finger on the page, drawing the conversation back to business. “This. This is different, isn’t it? Did someone authorize changes to the beneficiaries?”

  Margaret approached and peered over my shoulder. “Oh, that. Yes. He called in those changes yesterday. I thought you knew about it.”

  “No.” The terms of the will left the bulk of his estate to Sam and a nominal sum to Vanessa, but there was no mention of Venetia anywhere. I read through the details once more, unable to believe my eyes. The pages hissed as I thumbed through them.

  Maxwell was a coldhearted bastard, but this went beyond comprehension, even for him. How could a father turn his back on his flesh and blood? I knew the answer. My own father—the real one, not the man who’d raised me—had done the same thing. I’d never met him. The only thing he’d ever given me was his hair and eye color and funding for an education, but none of the things that mattered. Not his name, nor his love, nor his presence in my life.

  “Sam and Vanessa are the beneficiaries. Rayna receives the property and money detailed in the prenup. They won’t have any kids. That’s also been agreed upon in the prenup.” Margaret crossed her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow. “I didn’t even know he had a third daughter until you mentioned Venetia the other day.”

  “That’s weird. Why would he leave her out?” I pushed a hand through my hair. Did Venetia know about this?

  “All I can say is she must have done something to piss him off. When I asked him about the beneficiaries, he said all of his heirs were accounted for.”

  “I’m not signing off on this. Not until I talk to him,” I said. “Everything else is good. Make a note for Garth to get hold of him, would you?”

  “Nope. No mistake,” Maxwell Seaforth said an hour later. “As I said before, all my heirs are accounted for.”

  I didn’t like the unemotional tone of his voice or the way he didn’t seem to care about leaving his youngest daughter in the cold. “You’ve got billions of dollars, yet you can’t spare a few million for one of your kids?”

  “It’s not your place to question my motives,” Seaforth said, and he was right. I needed to get a rein on my personal feelings. By the absence of background noise, he must’ve been inside the quiet opulence of his limo, shuffling between meetings. “Really, Piers. You surprise me. Maybe you don’t have the stomach for this.”

  “I’m looking after your interests, Maxwell. If you don’t mention her in the will, she could contest. A nominal sum will show intent, prove you didn’t overlook her.” The instant the words came out of my mouth, I felt the sharp sting of betrayal. As Maxwell’s attorney, my first obligation was to him, but another part of me wanted to take care of Venetia and now our child. Shit. Things were starting to get complicated.

  “Hmm, good point,” he said. I heard the rustle of clothing, murmured voices, and a few seconds of traffic noise followed by footsteps echoing on a hard surface. “Truth is, she’s not mine. Her mother had an affair. I agreed to raise Venetia with my name for reasons you don’t need to know, and to see her to the age of twenty-three when she’d receive the final installment of her trust fund.”

  This red-hot piece of news knocked me back in the chair. Not his daughter? Maxwell spoke with same casual unconcern as a man discussing basketball scores while I reeled from the shock.

  “Now that her mother’s gone, I don’t see any reason to continue the charade. She’s got a trust and the money from her mother’s estate. She’ll be fine.”

  “Does Venetia know this?” I asked when I could formulate a sentence.

  “No,” Maxwell replied. “And you aren’t going to tell her, either.”

  “Of course not.” I twisted in my chair, trying to ease the tension in my back.

  “Now that you mention it, I want you to draw up an NDA for her. Once she knows, I can’t have her going around, spouting off about it.” He barked out a few terse orders to someone next to him before returning his attention to our conversation. “Make sure it’s airtight. And do it yourself. I don’t want anyone outside of you to know about this.”

  Client confidentiality prohibited me from discussing any of Maxwell’s legal doings outside the firm, but this felt wrong. I dropped my head into my upturned palm, feeling old and weary. I’d already violated that sanction by confiding my legal relationship with Maxwell to Sam, and I didn’t intend to commit another breach of ethics by telling Venetia. I pushed the unease aside by telling myself it wasn’t my business, but guilt kept me awake for hours that night.

  Chapter 18

  Venetia

  ABOVE THE morning stillness of Laurel Lake, the sun peeked over the tops of the trees. Streaks of pink, orange, and yellow reflected off the surface of the water. I covered my mouth with a hand to stifle a yawn. The last time I’d been up at this hour was to catch a morning flight to Jamaica.

  “This had better be good, Beckett. If you dragged me out of bed on a Saturday for nothing, I’m going to be pissed.” In retrospect, I had no idea why I’d agreed to a hike around the lake at what seemed like the middle of the night. On second thought, the sight of Beckett’s bitable ass in a pair of ripped and faded jeans on the trail in front of me might have been worth the lost sleep.

  He cast a glance over his shoulder, brown eyes black in the shadow of his baseball cap. “Stop complaining. You’re going to love it.” He extended a hand, and I took it. Warm, strong fingers closed around mine and helped me scramble over a rock. The feel of his calloused fingertips on the back of my hand sent a delicious shiver of gooseflesh up my arm. As soon as we cleared the obstacle, he released my hand. I missed the feel of him at once.

  “How much farther?” We’d been walking over an hour on an incline, working deeper into the surrounding hillside, and my legs ached. The lake below us shimmered and danced as the wind skittered across it.

  “Almost there.” The anticipation in his voice brought a smile to my lips. I liked this side of Beckett; playful, relaxed, and carefree.

  We rounded a bend in the dirt path. The terrain grew uneven as we ascended. Fearful of tripping, I focused on the ground until Beckett stopped, and I bumped into his back. One of his arms curled around my waist and pulled me to the trail in front of him. My eyes widened at the amazing tableau stretched in front of us.

  “Oh.” It was the only word I could manage, and not nearly worthy of the sight. Across a narrow ravine, a waterfall plummeted over the precipice and crashed into the creek dozens of feet below. Rays of the sunrise streaked across the chasm, lighting the water in ribbons of scarlet and gold. Around us, the forest came to life. Birds twittered, their voices rising in joyous song. The wind rustled through autumn leaves at the height of their fall glory. “Beckett, it’s amazing.”

  “I thought you’d like this.” His arm tightened around my waist. I let my head fall back against his chest. When he spoke, his words buzzed in my ear, his breath warm against the sensitive shell. “I come here a lot when I need to think or get away from the damn city.”

  We stood in silence, listening to the birds chirp and the splashing water. The rise and fall of his chest against my back caused a pleasant tingle between my legs. I pressed into him. His warmth seeped through our clothes and chased away the early morning chill.

  “Being here, it makes me realize how out of touch I am with reality.” I turned in his arms and placed both palms on the broad swell of his chest. He licked his lower lip, the motion drawing my gaze to his mouth. “It reminds me that I’m just a tiny part of a bigger universe.”

  “I was hoping you’d see it that way.” His hands rested on the swell of my bottom. Butterflies pinged the walls of my belly. “Whenever I have problems or I’m under a lot of pressure, this place helps me get my head straight.”

  I couldn’t imagine Beckett ever being anything less than perfectly in control.
Even now, surrounded by wilderness, he dominated the outdoors, all bronzed skin, taut muscle, and primal male. Standing so close together gave me an appreciation for how virile he was. I curled my fingers into his chest and felt the flex of his pectorals. Oh, my. And then I had a second, less comforting realization, that I’d been feeling him up for longer than appropriate. I tried to push away, but his hands pressed harder against my bottom until I could feel the rigid outline of his cock behind the denim of his jeans. A delicious shiver rippled down my back. Oh, God. It felt too good, too right, to be in his arms. I wanted more, needed more, but this wasn’t the agreement. He was bending the rules, and I was too weak to protest.

  “Are you ready for some breakfast?” He dropped his hands and stepped back, crushing me with disappointment, adding to my confusion. For a few brief seconds, I’d thought he was going to kiss me. I’d wanted him to kiss me. Friendship be damned. He might think I was a kid, a nuisance, a problem to be solved, but for one tiny instant, I’d recognized the flicker of heat in his dark, dark eyes, and I’d liked it.

  “Don’t tell me you have food in there?” I nodded to the backpack he’d dropped at his feet.

  “Sure. You’re going to need energy for the walk back.” The zipper growled as he opened the top and began pulling out items—two plastic-wrapped bagels, cream cheese, and a Thermos.

  “If you have hot chocolate, I’m going to kiss you.” The declaration slipped out before I realized the implication. I bit my lower lip, hoping he hadn’t noticed, but one of his eyebrows lifted, his gaze shimmering with mischief.

  “Well, then.” He withdrew two coffee mugs and set them on a stump. “You’d better pucker up.”

  I felt the blush travel up my neck and settle into my cheeks. His laughter didn’t help my embarrassment. Why did he unsettle me so? I’d never been anything less than confident around other guys, but Beckett put me off balance. Maybe because I’d worshipped him as a kid, and getting to know him as an adult conjured up all those childish notions, refueled my fantasies.

  Once he’d filled our cups from the Thermos, he handed one to me and perched on the stump. He patted the top of his thigh. “Have a seat.”

  I looked around, hesitant, but finding nowhere else to sit, settled gingerly on his knee. “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?”

  “Are you kidding? You’re light as a feather.” With a grin, he turned his baseball cap around to put the brim at the back. Now I had full access to his long-lashed eyes and the black flecks in his coffee-colored irises. We stared at each other. His gaze dipped to my mouth. We blinked away in unison.

  For the next half hour, we savored the quiet solitude. Beckett ate his bagel in three large bites, while I nibbled around the edges of mine. I’d learned if I ate early in the morning and slowly, I could avoid morning sickness. When we were finished, I made a move to stand, but he held me in place with a hand on my knee. My heart skipped a beat at the familiar touch to my bare leg, the callouses on his fingertips scratching my skin in the most delicious way.

  “Can we talk?” he asked in a voice rich with intimacy. He shifted my weight, angling my torso to face him.

  “Sure.” More heart palpitations. Sitting so close, I felt the heat of his body and the swell of his chest with each breath. And his smell? I detected hints of aftershave and shampoo, the scent so enticing I had to resist the urge to buy my nose in his neck.

  “About the baby.”

  I tensed, bracing for a lecture, and dropped my gaze to the grass beneath my boots.

  “No, V. Look at me.” He put a finger beneath my chin and tilted my face to his. “I need you to hear this.”

  A nervous tremor shook my hands. I clasped them together in my lap and tried to concentrate on breathing. “All right.”

  He studied my face as if trying to formulate the proper sequence of words. When he finally spoke, the amount of unchecked emotion in his deep voice sent a shiver up my spine.

  “My girlfriend got pregnant when we were both fifteen.” I opened my mouth to express surprise, but Beckett shook his head. “Let me get this out then you can ask questions.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  “We were too young to raise a kid. We both knew it. Our parents knew it. After a lot of talk, her family decided she should have an abortion.”

  I stroked a hand over Beckett’s stubbled cheek. “I’m sorry. It must’ve been hard, being so young.”

  “It seemed like the best thing for both of us.” His jaw clenched beneath my hand. “At first, it didn’t bother me. Even though I was a kid, there was already talk about college ball for me, maybe a professional career after that. We went to a very strict school. We would’ve both been expelled if anyone had found out.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I sat mute on his lap and watched the expressions flit across his face. He didn’t bother to hide the regret or the glimmer of tears that came along with it. So much raw vulnerability in such a masculine man shook me to the core. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.

  “It must’ve been frightening to be so young.” I murmured into his hair.

  His hands stole up my back and held me close. “It was. I could’ve lost my entire basketball career over one careless experience.” He shifted, burying his nose in the crook of my neck. “But she was the one who suffered. She had a breakdown our junior year, spent a few months in an institution. Before she got pregnant, she used to be a really fun girl, but after that she changed. She was serious and quiet, very withdrawn. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

  His confession brought the prick of tears to my eyes. It was so sweet—his concern—and it chipped a hole in my defenses. “Do you know what happened to her?” My heart cried out for the memories of a young love ending in heartbreak and tragedy.

  “No. We never talked about it and went through the rest of high school like strangers.” He sat up, his chin scraping across my jaw with the change in position.

  “Oh, Beckett.” My fingers found his hair and brushed through the short, silky strands, wanting to soothe his obvious pain. “I can’t imagine how that felt.”

  “It changed me—us.” He turned his face to mine. “Maybe it wasn’t the best decision for her, but I think it was the best decision for me at the time. I can’t go around second-guessing something I can’t change. I haven’t thought about it in years, but I have to tell you, now I wonder if it was a mistake. I think about how old our kid would be, how different my life would’ve been with a child in it. I don’t want you to ever feel that kind of regret.”

  I pressed my lips together and tried to process this peek into Beckett’s private life. For the first time, I realized I didn’t know anything about him beyond his friendship with Sam, and it seemed a real tragedy. The more I learned of him, the more I admired his principles. All my life, I’d seen him as a two-dimensional god, far removed by the pedestal I’d placed him on, but he was really just a guy with flaws and insecurities like all the rest of us mortals. Like me.

  Chapter 19

  Beckett

  ASIDE FROM my parents, no one knew about the girl I’d gotten pregnant until I told Venetia. My parents had been eager to forget the situation. As a boy of fifteen, I’d been happy to comply, but I’d never forget the disappointment in their eyes every time they’d looked at me that year, or the shame of betraying their trust. With Venetia, things were different. I was a man now, with the means and ability to care for a child, and I intended to act like one.

  Venetia shifted on my lap. She wore one of my baseball caps with her ponytail pulled through the back, cargo shorts, and hiking boots. As she moved, the long strands of silk brushed the hand I held on her back. I don’t know how I’d convinced her to accompany me on one of my early morning hikes, but now it seemed like one of the best ideas I’d ever had. This was my private place, a place to contemplate and decompress from the mounting pressures of work, but it seemed right to have her here.

  “I can see why you want me to h
ave it.” Her gaze drifted to my mouth then flitted away. “Thank you for telling me. I understand better how you must feel.”

  “I‘ll always be honest with you, V. You can count on it.” But was I lying to her by keeping Maxwell’s secret? I pushed the topic out of my head. After all, he was my client, and I was sworn to uphold his secrets by the law.

  Our eyes met, and I couldn’t deny the irresistible pull of my lips to hers. The soft, moist feel of her flesh caused an eruption of need deep in my groin. I didn’t push for more. I just wanted to taste her, to enjoy the relief of sharing a secret hidden away for so long. To my surprise, she opened her mouth and her tongue swept over mine. I groaned, overcome by her sweetness and the feeling of a pretty girl on my lap. Her hands fisted in the front of my hoodie.

  We were already in a fragile place. I didn’t want to upset the balance of a perfect morning, but damn if I could resist. Her breasts flattened against my chest. My hands gripped her bottom and pushed her down hard on my growing cock.

  “Wait.” The instant she resisted, I loosened my grip. We moved apart, open-mouthed and panting. A pretty pink blush tinted her lips from our frantic kiss and the scrape of my stubble. “I thought we weren’t going to do this.” The raw edge of her voice buzzed in my ear, heating my blood. “I don’t want you to be sorry.”

  “I’m not going to be sorry,” I said.

  “Kisses like that make me forget we’re just friends.” Her gaze locked on my lips in a way that made my mouth dry. “You said this wouldn’t happen again.”

  “Don’t friends kiss?” I was playing with dynamite, but to hell with caution.

  “What about Sam?” She kept staring at my lips until I could only think about how they might feel wrapped around my cock. “What about your ‘bro code?’”

  “I have nothing but the deepest respect for Sam. He and Tuck are the best friends a guy could have.” I cupped her chin and redirected her gaze to meet mine. “But right now, I’d ditch them both for another kiss like that.”