Brides, Babies And Billionaires. Rebecca Winters
in his eyes.
‘I married a woman I barely knew because she pulled at my heartstrings. My father insisted that we sign a prenuptial agreement, and we did—though she made some noise about that. The right noise, too. About how we didn’t need a prenup when we were going to last. We were a family, and we were going to make it work. And for a year we did.’
He joined her on the couch again, and Callie took his hand, wanting to provide as much comfort as she could.
‘Callie, I didn’t think I would ever be as happy as I was being a husband and a father. We were a family. I had a family.’ He rubbed a hand across his face. ‘But I was in a bubble, and I only noticed the way Julia had changed when it began to affect Brent. She had become snarky and mean. Only to me, luckily, but she was doing it in front of Brent, and I could tell that he hated it. When I challenged her on it she told me it was none of my business because Brent wasn’t even my son.
He looked at her, and then lowered his eyes.
‘I tried to save the relationship—I really did. I even went so far as to look into adopting Brent. I hired an investigator to find Brent’s father so that I could ask him to relinquish his parental rights to me. I was going to surprise Julia with it. But then one night she told me it wasn’t working, and that what was happening between us was hurting Brent. That was the last thing I wanted, so I agreed to a divorce. I had just wanted to give Brent a home, a family.’
‘I’m so sorry, Blake.’ Callie spoke because she had to. She couldn’t take the pain in his voice any longer.
He looked at her now, smiled sadly. ‘Thanks, but I was in that relationship for the wrong reasons. For my own reasons. Julia had her reasons, too, so we were both wrong—though I do think she thought she was doing the right thing for Brent. She wanted to make sure that he never lacked for money.’
‘Wait—what?’
Blake shot her a confused look. And then he nodded. ‘Oh, yeah, I didn’t mention that. When we spoke about the divorce she told me she had only married me so that she could live the life she knew she and her son deserved. And then she realised that she was hurting him instead, and she didn’t want that.’ He shook his head. ‘That was pretty much the end of it.’
‘Did she get anything in the divorce?’ Callie didn’t want to ask, but it was one of the pieces of the puzzle she needed to understand him better.
‘No, the prenup prevented that. And Brent didn’t either, since the contract stated he needed to be legally mine before I was required to pay anything.’
‘Do you still see him?’
‘No, I don’t. Julia resigned shortly after we divorced and moved to back to Namibia, where she’s from.’
‘Blake...’ Callie shifted over and put an arm around him. ‘I’m sorry.’
He lifted his own arm, put it around her, and sat back so that she could lay her head on his chest. They sat like that for a while, and Callie wished she had words to say that would take the pain away. Suddenly everything made sense to her. His resistance to dating an employee. His pushing her away when she got too close. He was broken inside, and he didn’t want anyone to know.
‘I’ve created a trust fund for him.’ Blake spoke softly. ‘When he’s twenty-five—old enough to decide what to do with his own money—he’ll get something from me. It may not mean much to him—’
‘But you needed to do it.’ She leaned back and watched him nod, before putting her head on his chest again. ‘You’re a good man, Blake Owen.’
CALLIE LOOKED AT HERSELF in the mirror and tried to be critical. She was wearing a blue floral dress with a white jersey and matching heels, and her hair was tied into a loose bun. She had to lead a meeting about the gala event that day, and she wanted to look her best. She placed a hand on her nervous stomach and forced herself to admit that she wanted to look her best for Blake, too.
He hadn’t stayed for very long after they’d spoken last night. Callie knew that telling her about his past had made him feel uncomfortable, so she hadn’t pushed him. Instead she’d brushed a kiss on his cheek and waved him away, all the while worrying about what it meant for them. She could no longer deny that there was something between them, but even the thought of it terrified her. Especially as they hadn’t defined it yet, and she didn’t even know how long Blake would be staying in Cape Town.
Or if he would be staying at all.
She shook her head and told herself that there was no point in worrying about it now, when everything was still so new and fresh. She would just have to wait and see how it played out. She sighed, and wished that was enough for her.
She grabbed her handbag when she heard a car hoot outside and locked up quickly, not wanting Connor to wait. Her car would probably be ready after the weekend, her mechanic had told her, and he had also cautioned her that it didn’t have much life left in it. This she knew—though part of her wanted to keep it, even if she left it in the garage, just because it reminded her of the days when she had been part of a family.
‘Hey, Cals. How are you?’ Connor asked as she climbed into the car and kissed him on the cheek.
‘Fine—no thanks to you. What were you thinking, throwing me to the wolves yesterday?’ Callie wasn’t sure why she’d said that, but somehow she felt it was what he would expect her to say if she hadn’t shared anything personal with their boss.
‘Sorry about that.’
He grimaced and she thought her gut instinct had been right.
‘Urgent matter at home.’
She looked at him in alarm. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Not really.’ Connor focused hard on the road ahead of him and didn’t even look her way.
‘Connor,’ she said, in the stern voice she only used with him, ‘what’s going on?’
After a few more moments of silence he said tersely, ‘Elizabeth is pregnant.’
Her jaw dropped before she consciously realised. ‘Oh, Connor...’
‘She only found out a few days ago. Told me yesterday.’ He shrugged, though the movement was heavy with tension. ‘I guess I’m going to be a dad.’
Callie wished she had the right words for him, but she didn’t. Connor had been dating Elizabeth for less than six months. And, while she was a perfectly lovely girl, she knew Connor didn’t want to start a family this way. Family was a responsibility that deserved attention, and she and Connor had lived by that because that was the way they had been raised.
Her heart cracked for him, but she knew that all she could do was offer her support. ‘How do you feel about this?’
‘I’m not sure. I think I’m still a little numb from the shock. It wasn’t planned.’
She laughed a little. ‘Yeah, I got that part.’
He gave her a wry smile, and then sobered. ‘But...I want it, Cals. I want to keep the baby. And so does she. You know how much family means to me. And after Mom and Dad died I thought I’d lost that. Do you know what I mean?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Now I get to have my own...and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.’
‘Of course it isn’t!’ She felt excitement bubble inside her at the prospect of seeing her brother as a father. And ignored the voice in her head that threatened to temper it. ‘I think you’re going to be an amazing father. I mean, an amazing brother, not so much—but definitely an amazing father!’
He laughed, and she could tell some of the tension had gone from him. Feeling an urge to make even