I deserve a man who will love me beyond reason, and though I’m not perfect, he will love me perfectly.
If Baron, Helena and Gabriella made you choose between them and me, I have no illusions about whose side you would come down on.
You betrayed my trust.
Do you love me?
Her words haunted him, lacerated him...indicted him.
But goddamn, he’d been crystal clear that he hadn’t gone into this arrangement for love. He’d been more than upfront that he’d wanted to save the Wellses and her from an ugly custody battle. To protect Baron from any future health risks that a custody suit could inflict. To provide for Aiden. To unite the boy with his father’s family. And everything he’d done—the engagement, the dinner with the Wellses, the DNA test—had been to work toward those ends.
He’d never lied. Never had a secret agenda.
He’d never asked for her love. Her trust.
When you let people in, they leave. He’d learned this lesson over and over again.
Isobel had left him.
Like his parents.
Like Faith.
Like Gage.
Anguish rose, and he bent under it like a tree conceding to the winds of a storm.
She’d begun to hope. Well, so had he.
In this dark, closed-off room, he could admit that to himself. Yes, he’d begun to hope that Isobel and Aiden could be his second chance at a family. But just when he’d had it within his grasp, he’d lost it. Again. Only this time... This time didn’t compare to the pain of his marriage ending. As he’d suspected, Isobel had left a gaping, bleeding hole in his world. One that blotted out the past and only left his lonely, aching present.
A knock reverberated on his study door, and Darius jerked his head up. Before he could call out, the door opened, and Baron appeared. Surprise winged through Darius, and he frowned as the older man scanned the room, his gaze finally alighting on Darius behind his desk.
With a small nod, Baron entered, shutting the door behind him. Darius didn’t rise from his seat as Baron crossed the room and lowered himself into the armchair in front of the desk.
“Darius,” Baron quietly said, studying him. “We’ve been trying to contact you for the past few days, but you haven’t answered or returned any of our calls. We’ve been worried, son.”
The apologies and excuses tap-danced on his tongue, but after taking another sip of bourbon, “Isobel left. Her and Aiden. They left me,” came out instead.
Baron grimaced, sympathy flickering in his eyes. “I’m sorry, son. I truly am.”
“Really?” Darius demanded, emitting a razor-edged chuckle. “Isn’t this what the plan was from the moment I announced my intentions to marry her? Trick her into complying with my proposal long enough to order a DNA test. And once the results were in, take her son and free me from her conniving clutches?” he drawled. “Well, you can tell Helena and Gabriella it worked. Congratulations.”
He tipped his glass toward Baron in a mock salute before downing the remainder of the alcohol.
“I’m sorry we’ve hurt you, Darius. I truly am,” Baron murmured. “Their actions might have been...heavy-handed, but their motives were good.”
“Why are you here, Baron?” Darius asked, suddenly so weary he could barely keep his body from slumping in the chair. He didn’t have the energy to defend Helena and Gabriella or listen to Baron do it.
Baron heaved a sigh that carried so much weight, Darius’s attention sharpened. For the first time since the other man had entered the room, Darius took in the heavier lines that etched his handsome features, noted the tired slope of his shoulders.
Straightening in his chair, Darius battled back a surge of panic. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay? Is it Helena? Gabrie—”
“No, no, we’re fine.” Baron waved off his concern with an abrupt shake of his head. “It’s nothing like that. But I...” He faltered, rubbing his forehead. “Darius, I...”
“Baron,” Darius pressed, leaning forward, bourbon forgotten. Though his initial alarm had receded, concern still clogged his chest. “Tell me why you’re here.”
“This isn’t easy for me to say because I’m afraid to lose you. But...” He briefly closed his eyes, and when he opened them, a plea darkened the brown depths. “I can’t keep this secret any longer. Not when the reasons for keeping it are outweighed by the hurt it’s inflicting.”
