by Eve Black
As the Escalade pulled away from the curb, Diana nearly came out of her skin at the sound of David’s voice.
“Your next OB appointment is on Monday,” he intoned, his accent pronounced.
He knew that? Her shock at his knowledge allowed for her first brain fart of the night. “Yes…would you like to come?” God, had she actually asked that? What if he said no? What if he said yes? Then she’d have to go through the embarrassment of the pelvic exam with David in the room.
It’s not like he hasn’t seen and touched and licked it all before.
“Yes. Yes, I would. Very much.”
She grinned, her heart floating. “It’s a date, then.”
Suddenly, David’s expression shut down, his charming and scorching demeanor from the lobby all but gone. Had she said the wrong thing? Damn, she hated now knowing what to say or do with him.
“A date, yes,” he finally replied before looking out the window at the city passing by.
The silence dragged on, the elation she’d felt earlier dissipating. What she wouldn’t give to know what the hell was going on in his head. Since moving in to the Incantata, her life—her future—was one big guessing game. She had nothing solid on which to build her plans, and she hated that.
You could just ask! What happened to the pragmatic, practical, and driven professional woman she was before she met David?
She got fucked and then fucked up.
Damn it! “You know…we haven’t actually talked about, you know, what will happen after the babies are born.”
He stiffened, his face hardening. He didn’t turn to her before he answered, “I’d like you to stay with me.”
Her breath lodged in her chest. “Stay with you?”
He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yes. You and the babies will stay with me. You will have your own room, right next to the nursery, so you will always be close to them.”
The mention of her own room dashed the fledging hope that she and David would…
What? Be sleeping together? The man hasn’t touched you in weeks. You’re the carrier for his babies, not his girlfriend. He got what he wanted from you and now he will get what he needs from someone else. Someone skinny and pretty and tall and rich. He’ll probably meet her tonight, then ditch you to get his rocks off while you head back to your cage and await his summons once again.
He turned to her, and she wondered if he could read her thoughts through her expression.
“We are partners, are we not? We will raise the babies together,” David’s tone was questioning, but there was also an uncertainty, as if he wasn’t completely sure of her commitment to their cold, detached partnership.
Well, it wasn’t what she really wanted—he couldn’t give her that, but for the sake of her children, she’d take what she could.
“Partners. Of course, David.” Her voice sounded solid enough, but it had taken concentrated effort to keep it from breaking.
As the Escalade pulled up in front of the large circular museum complex, Diana felt the hairs on the back of her head stand on end. This was it. Tonight she would stride into David’s world, a world of the see and be seen, a world she knew nothing about. But…she wasn’t alone. David would be there beside her, guiding her, right?
The door opened and David slid out first before turning and extending a hand for her to take. She did, swinging her legs out the door before standing. The flashing lights were blinding and the cacophony of voices trying to outdo one another was deafening. She couldn’t see, couldn’t think, but David was right there, leading her through the throng of paparazzi, up the red carpet, and into the building.
Once inside, she sucked in a deep breath, her gaze unfocused.
“Breathe, darling. Those vultures aren’t allowed in the building,” David murmured, his hand making slow circles between her shoulder blades. Immediately, she felt both comforted and turned on.
She tensed, pulling her shoulders back and meeting his gaze. The concern there nearly made her heart trip. She sighed. “Are they always like that?” she quipped.
He grinned, his smile lopsided. “Yes, but you get used to them.”
“I’d rather not,” she remarked, turning her head to finally take in the room. She been in the Guggenheim before as a visitor, but never at night when the space was done up for a fancy charity party. It was gorgeous…but also gaudy. Perfect for people with money to burn.
Hating the bitterness that coated her tongue, she forced a smile.
“Wow.”
David cleared his throat. “Wow, indeed,” he remarked, his voice husky. Curious, Diana glanced over at him to find his gaze pinned to her, the steel gray depths turned molten. “You will put all women to shame tonight,” he murmured, raising his hand to slide his fingers into the fall of her hair over her shoulder.
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “Your charm is in full force this evening, isn’t it?” she said, laughing nervously.
“I speak the truth, Diana. Always.” There was something in his voice that gave her pause. Had he always been truthful with her? Thinking back…she couldn’t remember a time when he’d lied to her. The man wielded the truth like a brutal weapon, using it to cleave and tear asunder.
“You’re right.”
His lopsided smile made a return. “I always am.”
Offering his arm to her, she took it, leaning into him, trying to ignore the intoxicating scent lifting from him in waves. It didn’t help that the rest of him was just as mouth-watering. The man could fill out a tux as if he were born in it, and his black hair glinting beneath the lights drew all eyes to him. He was power and masculine beauty, in the perfectly imperfect package of human male.
“Let us take a look around before I begin introductions. I want you to myself a little longer,” David urged her as he led her toward the exhibits. She didn’t mind, she wanted to keep him to herself forever.
David was partially right, she was greedy. For him. Not his money. For his attention, his affections. For his love and loyalty.
Keep dreaming, Di.
She didn’t know how long they walked slowly, gazing upon the art, but David stopped her just outside a small crowd of exquisitely dressed men and women.
“Are you ready?” he asked, taking her chin in his hand to make her meet his gaze. His touch was gentle and she trembled into it.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”
He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, which she then licked nervously.
Did he just growl?
Dropping his hand, he relinked their arms and led her forward into the den of the wealthy lions and lionesses.
“David Brenner, as I live and breathe! Come on over here and introduce us to your lovely companion!” a loud and rotund man called out.
And so it begins…
Chapter 24
Her feet were killing her, her back was aching, and her stomach was growling. The tiny plates of unidentifiable food just didn’t hit the spot (at least the garlic rolls had been tasty). And how much had David paid for each plate? It didn’t matter…it wasn’t worth it—at least not for the food anyway. The charity they were there supporting was a noble one; raising funds to help lift Nicaraguan orphans from poverty. As a human being, she’d been touched by the organization’s mission. As an expectant mother, she’d been heartbroken by the reports on what those children endured, having lost their parents to hunger or civil war.
Having excused herself from the table to go potty, she entered the empty bathroom and sighed. Good. She couldn’t deal with any more fake smiling and shallow conversation. She’d had enough to last her a lifetime. How did David do it? She shook her head, opening the stall door and entering.
She’d just finished peeing when the sound of the door opening and the recognizable click-clack of heels sounded through the room.
“Holy shit, Barb, did you see David Brenner?” woman number one exclaimed, making Diana stiffen and hold her breath.
Did those women know David?
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“Yes, I saw him, though, the last time I saw David, he was gloriously naked and begging me to come back to bed,” the bitch named Barb cooed haughtily.
“He didn’t!” woman number one practically screeched.
Barb cackled like the witch she was. “Oh, he did, but I couldn’t stay. I had a photo shoot that morning. It was Milan, after all.”
“Oh…but if I had a chance at a repeat with David Brenner, I would have taken it. It’s like the golden goose. He only ever sleeps with a woman once.”
Diana almost gasped, giving up her hiding spot in the stall. David only slept with women once? But…he’d slept with her twice, and that first night was more like three times than one.
What did that mean?
“That’s true. Accept when Rinna got her claws into him.”
Could she go nowhere without being reminded about the harpy that ruined David?
“Come on, Sarah. We all know the only reason David kept Rinna around was because he was bored. Once he got tired of the same old face and the boredom, he tossed her out.”
The other woman—Sarah—snorted. “What about all that talk about her getting pregnant and him forcing her to have an abortion?”
Blistering anger plowed through Diana’s veins. How dare those bitches spread such ugly lies about David? Was that actually what all those people out there thought about him?
“I heard she wasn’t pregnant at all, just angling for some money since her meal ticket had been punched.” Both women cackled this time.
“Speaking of meals, or someone who should skip them…who was that porpoise with him tonight? Have you ever seen her before?”
Porpoise? It hit her then, like a sledgehammer to the chest. They were talking about her.
“No, and when would I ever see her? She obviously doesn’t belong here. Did you see the way she ate all the bread at the table? Doesn’t she know that carbs are why her ass is so big and her thighs rub together like that?”
The other woman—Diana had lost track of who was who in the conversation—laughed as though the first woman had said something hilarious.
“I asked Maisie Disher about her, the porpoise, and she said she’d pulled David aside to ask about her. Apparently, we aren’t the only people disgusted by his choice of plus one.”
Barb or Sarah, Diana didn’t care which one, grunted prettily. “What did he tell her?”
The other bitch-witch chuckled. “He said she was doing a favor for a friend, that the woman was a charity case.”
Diana’s heart thundered to a noisy halt. David had said that about her? Thinking back, she really couldn’t remember how David had introduced her to the other guests throughout the evening. She’d been so caught up in David, in the glitter of the evening, that she’d hadn’t focused on the empty conversations around her.
Perhaps you should have. You could have saved yourself from being his charity case all evening.
“David always has been generous with his time—”
“And his body. Damn…the things that man can do with his tongue….”
The voices died down as the women click-clacked back out the bathroom door, leaving a decimated Diana sitting on a throne of humiliation.
Stumbling from the stall, Diana couldn’t remember if she washed her hands before leaving the bathroom. Dazed and heartbroken, she leaned against the wall, attempting to gather her thoughts.
“Charity case…” the words dripped like tears from her lips.
Suddenly, a prickling rage began building in her gut until it grew into a full-blown blaze.
Fuck him! She wasn’t a charity case, she was the mother of his babies, the woman who had dealt with more loss, and accomplished more hard work in her life than any of those plastic women David preferred to be with.
Snagging the attention of a passing waiter, she intoned, “Please tell Mr. Brenner that his ‘charity case’ has gone home.” The man lifted his brows quizzically but nodded in acknowledgement before proceeding on his way, a tray balanced expertly in one hand.
Pulling her cell from her clutch, she clicked on the Uber app, requesting a car to pick her up down the block. She couldn’t stomach another moment with David, especially surrounded by people who thought she was as much a money grubber as all the women who’d come before. It wouldn’t matter that she was a ‘charity case,’ it still made her look like something out to get money, attention, or fame from an association with David Fucking Brenner, Billionaire asshole.
Gritting her teeth, she headed toward the door, immediately noticing the throng of paparazzi still gathered outside. They looked like a ravenous horde of zombies, hungry for the next hot scoop.
Well, she’d give them a hot scoop alright.
Straightening her spine and throwing her chin into the air, she pushed the doors open and stepped into the fray. Camera flashes and rapid-fire questions all hit her at once.
“Who are you?”
“Were you the one with David Brenner earlier?”
“Who are you to David Brenner?”
All good questions…which one to answer first. She forced a smile, eyes unfocused so she wouldn’t go blind.
“I am Diana Bluth, formerly a paralegal at Kilgore, Ayers, Beecham,” she answered loudly and calmly, giving herself an inner high five.
“Who are you to David Brenner?” Now that was the question of the evening, one she’d answer smartly.
“She is the mother of my children,” a familiar, deep voice announced from behind her, turning every bone in her body to pudding. She wouldn’t turn to look—she couldn’t.
The voices got louder then, the people moving closer until she could smell the miasma of the mixture of cologne, perfume, sweat, lies, and desperation.
As sickness rose in her throat, she forged ahead, pushing through the jostling bodies until she was out the other side. She hurried up the sidewalk toward where the Uber car was waiting for her. The paparazzi didn’t follow, the much juicer piece of meat was still there with them.
But why had he come out of the building, and why did he tell them about the babies? About her?
Her chest heaving with breaths and emotion, she practically jumped head first into the waiting Uber. Trying to catch her breath, she gave the friendly-looking man the direction to Margie’s condo. She refused to go back to the hotel. She couldn’t, not now, and not ever—if she had a choice.
You have no choice. He is the father of your babies, you cannot hide from him forever.
No, she couldn’t, but she’d be damned if she continued being his “charity case”—even though he was the one who forced everything on her. She was fine living with her mother and sister, looking for work, and budgeting to the last penny. Then he’d come along, blowing her plans and life right out of the water. He was the reason she was holed up in a luxury hotel room. He was the reason she had used his money to buy all those baby things—for his babies. He was the reason she was at the goddamn event where she had to overhear another woman talk about David’s gorgeous naked body, his generosity, and his tongue.
It made her sick, and not just because they were speaking about him as though he were nothing more than a piece of beef. It was also because she was jealous as hell…even though she had no right to be.
She wasn’t his girlfriend, his lover, or even his friend—though up until the incident in the bathroom, she’d hoped they were.
So much for being partners.
Her phone beeped, announcing an incoming text.
DAVID: WHERE DID YOU GO, DIANA?
She wouldn’t answer him. He didn’t deserve to know.
DAVID: THAT WAS A NASTY THING YOU DID, MAKING ME TELL THOSE SHARKS ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY.
Rage choked her. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on! He didn’t have to do anything! He didn’t have to follow her out into the throng of photographers. He didn’t have to open his mouth and say a goddamn thing. Yeah, she was considering telling them that she was David’s baby momma, but she decided against it. Her ba
bies weren’t tabloid fodder, they were her treasures, the most precious things in her life.
DAVID: YOU CANNOT AVOID ME, DIANA. I WILL BE AT THE SUITE THIS EVENING. WAIT UP. WE **WILL** BE HAVING A CONVERSATION.
She gave his text the finger. She wouldn’t be there, and David could bluster and bellow into the empty hotel suite until his face turned blue. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t hurt her.
Because, fool she was, she had given him that power.
What the fuck did she think she was doing? He’d come to the charity event, excited to show off the woman he’d fallen for, hoping that she’d enjoy an evening on the arm of the man she said she loved, and she’d done the one thing he didn’t think her capable of doing…selling out their children to the paparazzi. Truth, he’d been the one to announce her pregnancy, but he wasn’t a fool to think that she wasn’t about to do the same. She’d gone out there to tell the greedy wolves about the babies she carried, desperate for her fifteen minutes of fame and all the money and interviews that would come of it.
But that doesn’t seem like Diana. She doesn’t care about the spotlight or the money…
Growling, he punched the wall beside the cloak room door, his fist making contact. The pain shot through his hand and up his arm, a welcome sensation. The pain cut through the haze that had descended the moment Diana had disappeared from view, her perfect body swallowed up in the swarm outside the museum.
“David?” Rick’s voice sounded from behind him, and David turned to see his friend’s frowning face.
“Rick. I see you’re better late than never,” David drawled, ignoring his friend’s scowl.
Rick waved off the comment. “What is this I hear that you knocked up my best paralegal?” Rick growled, and David growled right back.
“I didn’t plan it, for God’s sake,” David snapped, noticing the curious eyes of the nosy, glittery people milling about. Turning, he pulled Rick farther down the corridor, away from the crowds. “And what does it even matter to you? You all but fired her.”
