The Corporate Raider's Revenge / Tycoon's Valentine Vendetta: The Corporate Raider's Revenge / Tycoon's Valentine Vendetta

“Is everything satisfactory?” the waiter asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Evan answered. “That’s all for now.”

Laney picked up a forkful of greens and put them in her mouth. She chewed as if she were accomplishing a great feat. “I’m not sure what I believe about you, Evan. But I need to know what happened that day between you and my father. And I’d appreciate the truth.”

Laney didn’t believe Evan Tyler. She sat back in the limousine after their dinner, rehashing his denials. Her traitorous stomach refused to calm. Her head swirled. She gazed out the window at the passing moonlit scenery as they drove home, so she wouldn’t have to deal with Evan’s close scrutiny.

It had been business as usual with Nolan Royal that day. Evan had said nothing out of the ordinary. He’d made his case, presented her father a fair deal and was willing to negotiate. He’d generously offered Nolan Royal a consulting position in the company once the deal was completed.

Laney could only imagine how that had gone over with her father. And even as Evan had spoken those well-rehearsed words to her, Laney knew he’d masked his contempt for her father. She’d done her homework and learned that Evan and his brothers had pursued the chain of Swan’s Inns for a long time. They’d wined and dined Mr. Swan personally and spent a good deal of money trying to convince him to sell to Tempest. They wanted to expand, and the Inns would fit perfectly into their plans. But her father had an ace up his sleeve that no one had known about.

His tactics left something to be desired, yes. But Nolan Royal had come up from the ranks the hard way. He knew how to fight dirty if need be to save something he treasured. He had something damaging on the proud, elderly Clayton Swan, something personal and something that might compromise his family life.

What Laney didn’t know, was just how much coercion, if any, it had taken. It could have been simply that her father had made him a better deal all around. Laney wanted to think so. And that meant the Tempest Hotels lost out. And if there was one thing Laney had learned about Evan Tyler, it was he didn’t like losing.

“I’m not giving up, Laney,” Evan said as the driver pulled in to her driveway.

“I’m not selling, Evan.” She couldn’t betray her father’s wishes. She’d made him a solemn promise. She’d work doubly hard to find out the cause of The Royals’ problems, if need be. Preston had increased the security in the hotels and he’d persuaded her to hire a private investigator to get to the root of the trouble. Laney was sure that would help turn things around.

“Thank you for dinner. This concludes our business,” she said rather stiffly. “Goodbye.”

The limo driver opened the door and she feigned a smile at Evan Tyler before getting out.

It was best she didn’t see him again until absolutely necessary. She didn’t trust him. She wouldn’t tell him about the baby. It was too much to deal with right now.

As soon as her feet hit the brick driveway, Laney’s head spun in all directions. She straightened up, but that only made things worse. Her legs went weak and she fought dizziness. She tried blinking it away to gain her equilibrium but when she turned toward her front door, she nearly keeled over.

“What the hell?” Evan was beside her instantly, casting her a concerned look. He grabbed her arm and guided her to the front door slowly. “Damn it, Laney. You should’ve eaten something back at the restaurant.”

He took her purse and rummaged for her house keys, then opened her front door. Her mind fuzzy, she couldn’t very well argue with him; she struggled just to keep upright. “I…can…manage…from here.”

“Right,” he said, lifting her up into both his arms and kicking the door open wide.

“I…didn’t…invite…you…in.” She stared into Evan’s dark eyes for half a second, then her world went black.

It didn’t take Evan long to find her master bedroom, the cottagelike home had airy open rooms. He carried her in and set her carefully onto a king-size bed. “Laney,” he said, tapping her cheek. “Laney, wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered opened. She stared at him. “What h-happened?”

“You fainted,” he said. “You’ll be fine in a second.”

“I’m okay,” she said, her eyes growing wide as she tried to lift up from the bed. “You don’t have to stay.”

He grabbed her shoulders and gently set her back down. “Stay put. You’re in no shape to get up yet. I’ll be right back.”

Evan entered her master bath and grabbed a face towel off the towel rack. He rinsed it under the faucet with cold water and squeezed out the excess. As he turned off the faucet and exited the bathroom, something he’d glimpsed struck him as odd. Quickly, he retraced his steps and glanced down into the wastebasket beside the marble sink.

The box lay at the bottom of the trash, its initials angled up toward him, leaving no room for doubt.

e.p.t.

A home pregnancy test.

Evan stared at the box a good long moment.

And then it all made sense.

Laney was pregnant.

The last few times he’d seen her, she’d appeared pale, sort of washed out, so unlike the healthy tanned Laney he’d known in Hawaii. He’d known her body intimately and noticed she’d lost some weight, as well. Hadn’t he heard the account of his own mother’s pregnancy enough times to recognize it when the symptoms stared him right smack in the face?

How could he have missed those signs?

Laney passed it off as stress. He’d known it was something more. But he wouldn’t have guessed it was that much more. A child. Evan could hardly believe it. If she hadn’t fainted, he might not have found out. Damn it. He had a right to know. When the hell did she plan on telling him?

Anger boiled just below the surface.

Laney’s eyes were closed when he entered her bedroom again and sat on the bed. He set the cool moistened towel across her forehead.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “That feels good.”

Evan noted the serene look on her face, then he glanced around the room filled with girlie things, lace and frills and walls tinted with deep rose-colored shades. On those rose-colored walls, were framed photographs, black and whites, color prints and sepias. She’d surrounded herself with what she loved. Her photographs told her story better than anything else. Her father hadn’t recognized her talent. He hadn’t known the true Elena Royal.

He stared at the one photo he recognized, a view of the Pacific from atop the Haleakala Crater and memories flooded in, banking his rising fury. “When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

He sucked in a breath. “About the baby.”

Her eyes popped open. Reflexively, her hand braced her abdomen. That gesture spelled it out better than a dozen pregnancy tests.

With a panicked look on her face, she tried getting up again, but he blocked her and shook his head. “You are pregnant, aren’t you, Laney?”

Fear, regret and defeat all registered on her face. She laid her head on the pillow, then nodded.

“How…pregnant?” he asked tersely.

Laney had to know what he was asking. Was he the father? After all, she’d been engaged and ready to be married right before he’d met her.

“Seven weeks.”

He did the math. She’d been with him exactly seven weeks ago on that island.

“Are you sure?”

“The doctor confirmed it.”

“When? How long have you known?”