Chapter 1 - THE SECRET DAUGHTER AND A DANGEROUS KISS
“You used to be beautiful.” Tristan Cole said it loudly enough for the woman beside the champagne tower to stop mid-sip.
For the first time she noticed they were trembling.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her anger returned instantly.
“I did.”
His eyes narrowed.
“No.”
“I called your office twice.”
“When?”
“Three weeks after that night. Then again two days later.”
“Who did you speak to?”
“A woman named Celia Morrow.”
Marcus stopped moving.
Mara saw something dangerous pass through his expression.
“Celia.”
“You know her?”
“She was my executive liaison.”
“Was?”
“I fired her four months ago.”
“Why?”
“She was selling confidential information.”
The cold night suddenly felt colder.
Marcus looked toward the city.
“What exactly did she tell you?”
“That you’d left for Europe. That you couldn’t be contacted. The second time, she told me you had received my message and didn’t want personal complications reaching your office.”
Marcus turned toward her.
“I never received anything.”
Mara laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect nothing from you.”
That answer stopped her.
He came closer but left space between them.
“I am telling you what happened.”
She searched his face.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“Because you disappeared before I woke up.”
“We had one night.”
“I know.”
“You don’t hunt women across Manhattan because of one night.”
His mouth moved slightly.
“No. Apparently I do it because of one woman.”
Her heart betrayed her with a painful beat.
“Marcus—”
“Did you think I abandoned you?”
“What was I supposed to think?”
His face tightened.
She continued before courage failed.
“I found out I was pregnant while standing in the employee bathroom of a flower warehouse in Queens. I took three tests because I thought the first one was wrong. I called you because I was terrified. Your office basically told me I was an inconvenience you had already forgotten.”
“Mara.”
“So yes. I thought you abandoned me.”
He looked away.
She expected anger.
Instead he said, “I’m sorry.”
The words were so simple they nearly hurt more.
“Do you know what everyone says about you?”
“Yes.”
“Some of it’s true.”
“Yes.”
“You frighten people.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to walk into my life because you’re the father and decide what happens next.”
“I know.”
She stared.
Marcus met her eyes.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he said.
Something in his voice shifted.
The feared man disappeared for half a second.
“What?”
He looked at her stomach.
“This.”
Mara followed his gaze.
“Being a father?”
“Being something a child shouldn’t be afraid of.”
The honesty silenced her.
Then he asked, “Boy or girl?”
“A girl.”
Marcus blinked.
“A daughter?”
“Yes.”
He looked almost stunned.
Mara had seen newspaper photographs of Marcus standing beside politicians, executives, athletes, celebrities, men with enough money to purchase entire city blocks.
She had never seen him look small.
He did now.
“A daughter,” he repeated.
His phone vibrated.
He checked it.
Whatever softness had entered his face disappeared.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
Someone had already posted a photograph of their kiss.
Below it were dozens of comments.
One had been sent directly to Marcus.
Enjoy the family while you can.
Mara felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus looked through the glass doors toward the ballroom.
May you like
“It means someone who hates me just learned what I care about.”
