Betrayal

‘You never can tell. We could become friends. Wouldn’t that be the surprise of the century?’

Chapter Two

The heat of the fire was making her drowsy. Brenna deliberately widened her eyes as she reached forward for her cup of tea. Before she could get to it, from the other side of the ponderous oak table, Fin beat her to it. With a charming smile that was bordering on dazzling, he handed her the delicate porcelain cup and saucer and completely disarmed her. Feeling like she’d just reached the end of a path with a sheer drop at the end of it, she managed to stop her hand from shaking as she accepted it.

At all costs she had to keep a level head round this man, especially until she met up again with Nick. She didn’t want either of them to have the advantage over her.

‘Thanks.’ Taking a sip of fragrant Earl Grey tea, she leant back against the comfortable upholstery of the sumptuous sofa. Immense fatigue washed over her, just as though someone had slipped a sleeping tablet into her beverage. She supposed it was due to the combination of an early-morning start, then the long drive to reach the hotel, then the banked-up emotion that had been simmering constantly since she’d received Nick’s letter. Right then Brenna had the strongest desire to succumb to it – to simply give in and not fight it. But she couldn’t. Not when there was so much at stake. ‘So … do you work in the film industry too, Mr Malone?’

His eyebrow shot up at the question. Fin didn’t intend to give up on getting Brenna to call him by his first name but for now he would let it go. At least the lady was making conversation, not simply glaring at him with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers in deep suspicion as she was apt to do.

‘I was once. Up until a couple of years ago I’d worked as a stuntman for fifteen years. I busted my leg once too often, I’m afraid. Now I’m a stunt director with my own company. Less action but more pay so I’m not complaining.’

‘And how did you meet Nick?’

‘We met on a film set a few years back. He was between shots and I was on a break so we got talking. I guess you could say we hit it off and from time to time we meet up for a beer.’

They were friends yes, but not ‘bosom pals’, Fin acknowledged silently, the thought surprising him. The truth was he had college pals he was closer to than Nick Balcon. The British director wasn’t someone he’d ever exactly refer to as a ‘buddy’.

It was hard for Brenna to imagine Nick enjoying a close friendship with anyone. He wasn’t the kind of man that seemed to crave such a bond with another human being. Because of his self-contained character he’d naturally created an aura of aloofness around him – a mystique. He hadn’t really needed Brenna either in the end. How else could he have left her so easily and moved to the States? Not even the knowledge that she was carrying his child had interrupted his plans.

A jolt of pain assaulted her insides. Five years … Five years with no word, and now this. Their affair had lasted a bare six months but it had seemed like a lifetime to Brenna, such had been the intensity of her feelings at the time. If he had any memory, any compassionate feeling for the hopeful, unsophisticated, unconfident young woman she’d been, how could he do this to her? How could he contemplate putting her through such agony, to churn up emotions best left alone to fade away in peace?

‘Tell me about Nancy.’

Her spine went rigid at the unexpected request. What was Fin Malone really doing here? Was he gathering information to pass on to Nick to use against her in some way? She hated being so cynical. It really wasn’t in her nature. But Nick Balcon had been the instigator of that cynicism and she was sorry to say that here in this plush country hotel, it was growing by the second.

‘Why?’

‘Because she’s your daughter and I’m interested. Do you have a photograph?’

There were two in her purse but Brenna wasn’t about to admit it. ‘No. I’m sorry.’

Fin exhaled a sigh and her eyes went reluctantly to his face, flicking over the disturbing blue eyes with their long feathery lashes, the strong almost aquiline nose, and the sensuously straight slash of his mouth. Disturbingly, there was a feeling of intense trepidation in the pit of her stomach as she cautiously examined him.

‘That’s a pity. I would have liked to have seen one.’

‘Do you have children yourself?’

‘No.’ A shutter came down, along with a definite wariness that hadn’t been evident before. Well, what did Brenna expect? She’d been anything but open with Fin Malone but then she had reason to be cautious. This man was Nick’s friend. That made him dangerous in her book … very dangerous.

‘Nick tells me that you taught dance?’ he commented conversationally and it was very evident to her that the previous topic was strictly off limits.

‘I still do. I teach ballet, jazz and tap at a local private school.’

‘Is that how you’ve supported yourself and Nancy?’ Leaning forward in his armchair, Fin rested his elbows on his big, jean-clad thighs and Brenna’s tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth at the sheer unfettered physicality of the man.

‘That and a bit of bar work,’ she answered. Damn, she thought. She hadn’t meant to tell him as much as that. She could just imagine Nick looking down his nose at that particular snippet. And neither would it help her case if he took her to court for custody. No doubt his lawyers would make the whole scenario sound vaguely seedy.

Flushed with heat from the fireplace just a couple of feet away, her pinked cheeks grew even rosier.

‘I work in a local restaurant. I mean, it’s not an actual pub or anything like that. A friend of mine owns it. It’s a nice little place with a friendly atmosphere that serves exceptionally good food and it’s quite popular locally … to where I live, I mean …’

Realizing she was rambling because she was nervous of making any more unwitting mistakes, Brenna put her cup back down on the saucer with an inadvertent clatter and rose to her feet. She shouldn’t be talking to this man. It was too easy to let the suggestion of strength and dependability he exuded lull her into a false sense of security. Before she knew it, she’d be telling him her life story, including how difficult it had been to raise a child on her own with minimal money and support and that for four years she’d endured very little sleep because Nancy was a bright but anxious child plagued with nightmares that regularly woke Brenna during the night and cut her to the quick.

Then finally, she’d be confiding in him that she’d kept cuttings from all the newspapers or magazines she’d ever discovered about Nick so that one day she could show them to her daughter. Then Nancy could learn who her daddy was and maybe even be proud of him … But that would be far too much information to give to Fin. It would only provide ammunition for Nick and his more-than-likely slick and clever lawyers to enable him to get custody of Nancy. Her heartbeat slowed to an anxious thud inside her chest.

‘Thanks for the tea but I’m so tired I could literally drop. I think I should probably just go back to my room and lie down for a while.’

‘Are you sure?’

Fin got to his feet at the same time as she did, towering above her. He couldn’t deny he was fiercely disappointed that Brenna was cutting short their conversation. She might be as prickly as a porcupine with its needles erect, but with her gorgeous face and sexy curves she was so easy on the eye that he found he could easily overlook her less-than-friendly manner for a while. ‘I was just getting to know you a little bit better.’

‘No you weren’t.’ Slowly, Brenna moved her head from side to side. ‘That’s not going to happen because I won’t be here long enough.’

And with that, she fled from the seductive warmth of the Library to hurry along the thickly carpeted corridor to the lift back to the top of the house where her suite was located.

When she heard the phone ring a couple of hours later, Brenna rushed into the bedroom from the shower, a towel hastily wrapped round her sarong-style. Reaching for the receiver, she flopped down onto the big antique brass bed, spearing her fingers through her long damp tresses as she did so.

‘Hello?’

‘It’s Fin.’

She gulped down a breath and let it out again slowly.

‘You’ve heard from Nick?’

‘No. I just wanted to remind you about our dinner reservation.’

Another reprieve from the dreaded confrontation with Nancy’s father …

Brenna couldn’t curtail the strong sense of relief that swept through her. Glancing down at the little travel alarm clock she’d placed on the bedside table she saw that it was seven-thirty … dinner time. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t hungry, even to save her pride. A girl couldn’t survive on tea and complimentary biscuits alone. But the thought of spending even the shortest time with Nicholas’s enigmatic emissary made her body tremble with disconcerting trepidation.

Oh, why had Nicholas done this to her? It was bad enough she had to be here at all without having the added dilemma of wondering how to conduct herself with his friend. A friend he’d apparently dispatched to ‘look out’ for her while she was there … whatever that meant. He obviously imagined she was still the same vulnerable, inexperienced young woman she’d been when they’d first met. Was he in for a surprise!

‘You’re not backing out on me?’ Fin’s voice with its disturbing rich timbre inadvertently caressed her ear and Brenna clutched the towel more securely to her chest, as if subconsciously protecting herself from too much sensation. That sexy voice seemed to have the power to reach parts of her that no other male had reached in five long years. Her body was pulsating in response to its sensual cadence, like a cat stroked into a state of bliss by its loving owner.

‘Not at all, I’m far too hungry to refuse your invitation,’ she admitted honestly and was doubly disconcerted to hear him chuckle.

‘Does that mean you’re feeling better after your lie-down?’

‘You could say that.’

‘Good. Then I’ll meet you in the bar at eight.’

Laying out his shaving gear on the bathroom shelf beneath the mirror, Fin confessed to feeling more than a little bit pleased that Brenna hadn’t flat out refused his dinner invitation. Whether he could ultimately placate her fears or not where Nick was concerned was not something he was going to fret about. Nick was a clever, articulate guy who could perfectly well state his own case without needing Fin to do it for him. Already Brenna was suspicious of his friendship with her ex – clearly believing he’d been sent on ahead to promote Nick’s ‘good name’ and convince her that he meant only the best for Nancy. Now that he’d met his friend’s arresting and feisty ex and gleaned the situation from her point of view, Fin had to confess to not feeling entirely comfortable in the role of flag bearer for Nick.

It was clear to him that the woman was in a lot of pain over her situation – who wouldn’t be in the circumstances? Brenna obviously believed that she was under threat and maybe she was? Perhaps her fears that Nick’s wealth and position would have an influential bearing on any desire he had regarding custody of Nancy were actually founded in some truth?