Dangerous Relations (28 page)

She watched him bite back his impulse to tell her to stay put and felt a surge of love for this
beautiful, caring man. Finally, he said, "Are you sure?"

She nodded, hugged him tight, and followed him to the garage.

* * * *

They made their entrance just as Corey was urging a potential customer to slide behind the
wheel of an SUV. His eyes widened when he caught sight of them, and then narrowed with fury.
Apprehensive, Ardin moved closer to Brett. He squeezed her arm and let her go. She was glad. She
had to face her ex-husband standing on her own.

Corey spoke to the customer, who nodded and got into the vehicle as Corey strode toward
them. "What the hell do you two want?" he said under his breath.

"We'd like to talk to you," Brett said.

"Can't you see I'm busy?"

His barely suppressed irritation was making Ardin more anxious. "We'll wait," she said,
and was stunned at how cool she sounded.

Corey looked from one to the other, and then at the man stepping out of the SUV. "I may be
a while. You can wait in my private office."

They sat in the two plastic chairs and smiled at each other. Ardin had the odd sensation of
being caught in a dream. She'd done something to anger Cory, and soon he'd be coming to punish
her. She shivered, dreading the blows, the hateful insults.

"No!" She leaped to her feet.

Brett reached up and rubbed her back until she stopped hyperventilating. "This isn't on my
list of favorites, either."

"And I wanted to come," she reminded them both.

"We can always leave."

"I want to stay. I have to stay!" She took deep breaths and sat down, pressing her folded
arms into her lap.

Corey burst through the doorway and slammed the door shut. "All right, what's so damn
important you had to come here, smack in the middle of a sale?" He slid into his seat behind the
desk.

"Oh," Brett said in mock surprise. "I didn't realize the customer had decided on the
SUV."

Corey's nostrils flared; an angry red burned his cheeks. "Just about. He's bringing his wife
to see it tomorrow. Not that it's any of your damn business."

Ardin cleared her throat, intent on speaking. She was glad to have Brett beside her for
moral support, but she was determined to pull her own weight.

"We're here to talk about something that is our business. Leonie."

Corey's body twitched as if someone had poked him with an electric prod. "Leonie?" He
gave a hoarse laugh. "What the hell do I have to do with Suziette's bastard?"

Brett slammed his hands on the desk. "Watch that mouth!"

Ardin shuddered. She was trapped between two volcanoes about to erupt. Controlling the
waver in her voice as best she could, she said, "Both Brett and I want to adopt her, but the process is
being held up because the judge wants to know the identity of her biological father. And so..."

Not missing a beat, Brett continued, "We're asking you to tell us if Leonie's your child."

The blood that had rushed to Corey's face now drained away, leaving him ashen. "Of course
she isn't! Where did you get a crazy idea like that?"

"We checked out blood types," Ardin answered. "You and Suziette would produce an AB
positive, and that's Leonie's blood type."

"Blood types!" Corey's upper lip curled in disdain. "Nowadays people use DNA tests.
They're more accurate, or didn't you know?"

Brett glared. "Are you offering us a sample so we can get this damn business over
with?"

Corey stood. "I most certainly am not. I just told you I'm not her father, didn't I?"

Ardin reached out to touch his arm. "Please, Corey. We won't tell anyone if you are--except
the judge. We need to know."

He brushed her hand away. "You fool!" He laughed. "You never learn. You're still after
Suziette's leftovers--her husband, her child."

"What about her lover?" Brett's voice was dangerously soft.

Ardin felt a jolt of pleasure when Corey stumbled backward until he hit the wall. "We found
out about you and Suziette in high school. I wish I had known."

"Then what?" he jeered. "You wouldn't have married me?"

"That was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Mine too." He sounded more sullen than angry.

"Only you knew it from the start." She pushed on, wondering where she was getting the
nerve to talk about this most painful, humiliating period of her life. "I had to find it out for
myself."

She forced herself to meet his gaze. "I had to have it beaten into me that you were poison. It
was the only way I could admit our marriage was a failure from day one."

"You were the failure, Ardin." He had the nerve to smirk. "Because Tiffany and I are doing
just fine."

"Oh, really?" Brett drawled. "That's not what we hear."

Fists raised, Corey moved toward him until there was barely an inch between the two men.
Brett held his ground.

Ardin flinched, waiting for Corey to strike, but he stood there, crackling with fury and
frustration.

"Get out!" he shouted. "Both of you! And don't come back!"

"Why would we?" Brett motioned for Ardin to pass through the door, and very deliberately
turned his back on Corey.

The sound of the slammed door rang in their ears as they went out into the spring
afternoon.

* * * *

Brett sped down Main Street until a red light stopped them. He turned to Ardin and
grinned. "You were awesome."

"You weren't bad yourself."

She was being self-deprecating, and he refused to let her get away with it. "No really. Facing
that creep on his own turf took guts."

"I'm glad I did," she said. "I'm finally free of Corey MacAllister."

"And you weren't afraid of him."

"Hey, I wouldn't go that far. I knew you were there."

"I watched you push on into painful territory. You were after something, lady, and you held
fast."

He loved the sound of her laughter--clear and tinkly, like a running stream. It made him
want to laugh, too.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but we still don't know if Corey is Leonie's father."

"I think he's our man," Brett said. "Why else would he go bananas when we asked
him?"

Ardin shrugged, a soft, sensual gesture that pierced right through his heart. Everything she
did--every motion, each word she spoke--affected him. Man, if he wasn't turning into a love-crazed
sap.

"I don't know what's going on in his head," she said. "I've never seen him so upset. Almost
bizarre."

"Maybe he's grieving for Suziette. That is, if he didn't kill her."

"Could be both," Ardin said. An idea occurred to her. "What if Corey found Suziette's black
book, and something he read there made him realize he was Leonie's father? It would account for
his acting so weird."

"Can't be. Someone was paying her money all along."

"Maybe she was blackmailing someone for something else. Or letting the guy think he was
Leonie's father."

Brett pounded the steering wheel. "Damn it! We're nowhere on this!"

She flinched, and he was about to apologize. Instead, he rubbed his knuckles along her
cheek. "Hey, you have to stop thinking a guy's about to bop you one when he's just letting off
steam."

She gave him a sheepish grin. "I'm trying."

He turned into Rolling Hills. The new houses glistened in the sunlight. "I have to admit, part
of me's relieved Corey denied parentage. I'd hate to think Leonie's his daughter."

Ardin sighed. "Me, too. Only it would settle things, wouldn't it?"

He finished her train of thought as he drove onto the driveway. "And the judge would make
his decision, for you or for me." When she didn't respond, he said, "Will you go back to Manhattan
either way?"

"Of course." Her voice sounded muffled. "As it is, my job's on the line."

"Too bad," he said softly, as the garage door made its noisy way upward. He wasn't certain
if she'd heard him. At any rate, she made no reply.

* * * *

Ardin felt unbelievably drained. Maybe confronting one's ex and one's past sapped a whole
lot of energy. She could barely keep her eyes open at dinner, and was relieved when Brett offered to
clean up.

"Thanks. I'll get Leonie ready for bed in a little while."

"Okay."

The tension between them hummed like a hive of bees. They spoke only when
necessary.
Take note because this is how things would really be between us
, she told herself.
Brett would turn moody and quiet; she would grow more and more unhappy. And with
nothing to sustain their passion, the frequency of their lovemaking would dwindle down
from rarely to never.

She went into the family room and turned on the TV low. Leonie was sitting at Brett's desk,
drawing pictures.

"Am I going to nursery school camp?" Leonie said. "Michelle and Dawn and Petey are."

Startled, Ardin looked at her. "I don't know, honey. Your daddy and I will have to talk about
it."

"Well, I want to. Daddy will let me."

Ardin opened her mouth to say she and Brett still had to discuss it, and shut it again. The
child had suffered enough traumas, and didn't need to feel insecure about her future as well.

After she bathed Leonie and read her a story, Ardin kissed her forehead. "Your daddy will
be up any minute to say good-night."

Leonie grabbed her hand as she was leaving. "Isn't this house nice, Cousin Ardin?"

"Yes, it is," she said cautiously.

"Good! Because I want you to stay here forever and ever."

Heartsick, Ardin went to her bedroom and changed into her nightgown and bathrobe. What
fantasies had she woven, imagining she could uproot Leonie and bring her to live in Manhattan?
The child's home was this house. Here was where Leonie wanted to live. With Brett and with
her.

Of course that was impossible. A child's fairy tale of happily-ever-after. But after all she'd
been through, Leonie was entitled to have two of her three wishes come true.

A sickening feeling churned in her stomach as she faced the truth. She'd been selfish and
self-serving, trying to take Leonie away from Brett. What she wanted ran counter to the child's best
interests. And all because she was destined to live the rest of her life as an old maid--unloved and
unloving till the day she died.

It was too much! Ardin turned her face into the pillow and sobbed, her shoulders heaving
as she poured out her grief. She wasn't meant to marry or to have a child. Any child. Not even
Suziette's daughter.

Exhausted, she drifted into a light sleep. When she awoke half an hour later, she felt
weightless, almost airborne, as though she'd shrugged off a sheepskin coat that had been pressing
down on her. She'd withdraw her petition to adopt Leonie and return to Manhattan immediately.
She'd tell Brett of her decision in the morning.

* * * *

The solution to their problem struck him like a bolt of lightning. Brett kissed Leonie
goodnight, and went to his desk in the family room to consider his plan from every angle. He
grinned, his excitement mounting, because it covered all bases and then some. Now all he had to do
was convince Ardin that, despite its one unconventional element, his brainstorm suited the three of
them just fine.

He dashed up the stairs, two at a time, and knocked on her door. When she didn't answer,
he knocked again. Light showed from beneath the door, so he knew she wasn't sleeping. He turned
the knob and walked in.

Ardin was sprawled on the bed, rubbing her eyes like a little kid. Without lipstick and her
hair loose, she looked like a kid--small and vulnerable.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were sleeping."

"It's okay. I'm getting up."

Her eyes and nostrils were red. Had she been crying? He felt ill-at-ease and wished he
hadn't barged in.

"Are you up to talking?"

She shrugged.

This wasn't going according to plan. Still, he forced enthusiasm into his voice. "Good, because I
think I've come up with a way to make everyone happy."

"You thought what?" Ardin glared up at Brett while her insides sizzled with outrage. "We
can get around the problem of custody by marrying? That's supposed to give Leonie a secure
home?" She pounded her thighs with her fists. "What's secure about a marriage of
convenience?"

His wide-eyed shocked expression told her he'd thought she'd welcome his stupid idea
with open arms. His trying to make her see the reasonableness of his plan only made it worse. "I
figured that since neither of us plans to marry again, why not marry each other? It's not as though
we don't get along."

She was too hurt by his callousness to respond.

"Leonie would have a home with two people who love her," he went on, clearly mistaking
her silence for reconsideration. "You could still work in Manhattan, maybe cut it down to fewer,
longer workdays, and spend long weekends with us here. Of course we'll get a nanny or a
housekeeper."

"Enough!" she shouted, and leaped to her feet.

He shut up and stared. Ardin almost smiled at his expression of total shock. He didn't know
she could shout. Probably never imagined she could rise to a rousing fury. Well, she damn well did
when someone insulted her, and was too dumb not to realize he was ripping her heart to
shreds.

It took all her will power to clamp down on her wildfire feelings. She needed to draw on
her cool rationality--the trait that made her a good attorney--and bring this unfortunate period of
her life to a speedy end.

"Brett, I won't marry you under those circumstances." She felt her cheeks heat and feared
she was giving the wrong impression, that she'd marry him under other circumstances, which was
ridiculous, especially since he'd made it painfully clear that love had no part in this arrangement. "I
mean, I don't intend to ever marry, and I can't marry you, not even for Leonie."

He started to speak, but she held up her hand.

"I've made a decision, too. I'm not going to dispute the issue of custody." She swallowed as
she forced herself to continue. "You're right. Leonie belongs with you. I'll write a letter of
recommendation to the judge, telling him I think you'll make a wonderful father. That you are a
wonderful father."