Broken (5 page)

Max had snorted his disagreement.

“Look, you’ve always wanted to travel. Between school, the business, and building your career, you’ve never had the opportunity. Why don’t you take time now, go see the world? Your passport is valid, you have more than enough money, and you don’t have to punch anyone’s time clock,” Nicco said.

The denial was instant. “No, I don’t want to leave Cassidy.”

“You’re not with Cassidy,” Nicco argued. “You’re waiting for her and making yourself crazy doing so. Go, see the world. Take the opportunity while you can. Once you and Cassidy are together, unless you go alone, you’ll be tied to her work schedule.”

When Max still hadn’t been persuaded, Nicco had said, “Momma’s been wanting to go and reconnect with the family in Italy. Poppy can’t fly, and the rest of us can’t get away for any length of time. You can. None of us want her going alone, and you know she will if she can’t get anyone to travel with her. If the situation with Cassidy changes, I’ll call and let you know. I promise. But Max, if you stick around here, how long will you be able to stay away from her? If you really love Cassidy, do what’s best for her.”

Max had believed Nicco to be firmly in their corner. So why had Nicco gone from defending Cassidy to driving a wedge between them? Max pulled his phone out of its clip, ready to call and ask Nicco just that, and slowly secured it again. This was one conversation they needed to have face-to-face, and Max wouldn’t let Nicco use any of that psycho-babble bullshit to confuse him or get him off track.

When he thought of the hell he’d been through this last year believing Cassidy hadn’t loved him enough to choose him over her unfaithful husband... The pain, the jealously, the feelings of betrayal… To find out now it might all be a lie?

He wanted to hit, throw, or punch something or someone. What he wanted was a goddamn drink. And, damn it, he still wanted to know why the hell Cassidy and Erika both believed he was married. Surely they hadn’t heard it from Nicco. He strode briskly, trying to work off the violence of his thoughts.

Erika said she’d tried to find him after the accident. At the time, he hadn’t believed her. Now he wondered, because if true, it meant Nicco had known about Cassidy’s tragedy. Had known the woman his little brother loved beyond all reason was potentially lying on her deathbed and had been asking for him despite believing he was married to another woman.

Max paused. That didn’t sound right. Cassidy wasn’t the type to chase after a man. If she believed he was with someone else, she’d have never interfered in what she considered his new relationship. Hell, she’d spent years disliking Amber and hadn’t said a word because, as she said, “Amber was your choice. Who was I to interfere?”

Cassidy didn’t have a manipulative or conniving bone in her body. She’d simply let him go and wished him well, even if the pain had been crushing her inside. Even now, Max could tell she was still hurt by his supposed abandonment. So why had both Erika and Cassidy been seeking him so insistently?

Glancing around suddenly, Max realized he’d traveled halfway around the block. He picked up the pace to return to Cassidy’s. He had more questions.

When Max reached the door, he knocked. It took a few minutes for Cassidy to answer. She’d left the wood door opened but locked the storm door. Once again, her expression was closed in and guarded as she allowed him entry.

“Why are you really here, Max?” she asked quietly as he stepped past her.

Abruptly, Max decided he didn’t want any more lies between them. He turned so she stood trapped between him and the door she’d just closed. “It’s been two years and I can’t get you out of my mind.” He came closer and she retreated so her back was against the wood. “I thought—
hoped
—we could start over now that Phillip was no longer an issue. I miss you, Cassidy.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek. She didn’t jerk away from his touch, but neither did she lean into it the way she once would have.

Her eyes were deep brown pools of misery. “Max, it would never work. We had our—”

Max kissed her. Simply leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers. Groaning at the taste of Cassidy, something he hadn’t savored for far too long, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her slender body against his hard one. The blood drained from his head in a dizzying rush to pool in his loins. Ravenous for her, Max used the hand cupping her cheek to grip her ponytail. He tugged her head back for a better angle and deepened the kiss.

He wanted her. Needed her. Would go crazy if he didn’t have her.

Max craved to pull her to the hardwood floor and plunge into her warmth until she forgot where he ended and she began. Longed to make up for every minute, every second they’d been cheated of being together. He wanted to gorge in her and never let her go.

Suddenly the warm, willing woman in his arms stiffened and began pushing at his shoulders. Max tightened his hold. No, he wouldn’t let her go. Not now, not ever.

Cassidy managed to twist her head away and say urgently, “Max, let go. I have to get Zoe. She’s crying.”

The haze from his mind lifted and he heard it. A small, childish voice crying, “Mama!” in a demanding voice.

“I’m coming, Zoe,” she called out.

Max abruptly released her, but it’s all he managed. The feel of her frame dragging against his as she slid by sent a shudder through him. He heard the smack of bare feet on the wood floor as she hurried off.

Leaning over at the waist, he braced his hands on his knees and dragged in gulps of air. If the child hadn’t made its presence known, he’d have taken Cassidy where they stood. No finesse, no foreplay, and probably very little control. Shit! The woman went to his head faster and hit his system harder than hundred-proof liquor.

He could hear her now, soothing the hiccupping, crying child. “It’s all right, Zoe. Momma’s here now.” It was petty of him, Max knew, but he resented how easily Cassidy seemed to have switched gears. Maybe he no longer had the same effect on her as she had on him.

Or maybe, you idiot, she’s simply putting the needs of her child before her own
.
Like she’s always done.

Cassidy’s daughter. The one Phillip fathered. The child he’d been so certain was his until the DNA paternity test results revealed he wasn’t. He concentrated on his breathing and bringing his rampant arousal under control. By the time Cassidy returned with the toddler, he was calmly seated on the couch.

She bypassed the living room and headed straight for the kitchen. Underneath the steady stream of soothing murmurs, he heard the opening of cabinets, the fridge, and the running of water into the sink.

Max closed his eyes and let himself imagine this was all his—the woman, the child, and the house. He and Cassidy were simply two people relaxing at home on a quiet Sunday morning with their small child. Maybe they’d been debating having another one and increasing the size of their small family. He’d be for having their children close together in age. Cassidy would want to wait until their little one was a bit more independent before having another small baby in the house. While they argued and debated the pros and cons, he’d be content in the knowledge everything he wanted in life was right here under this roof.

Cassidy entered the living room, shattering the daydream. “Sorry. She’s teething and I think she has an ear infection. We didn’t get much sleep last night. Ms. Grumpy here couldn’t get comfortable and wanted Mommy to hold her and rock her all night.”

She settled on the recliner with the child on her lap. The toddler’s head rested on Cassidy’s breasts and she drank from one of those no-drip cups, head back, eyes closed.

She was gorgeous, just like her mother. In fact, she resembled Cassidy so strongly, Max couldn’t see anything of Phillip in her features. She had a mop of dark brown, almost black curly hair that stood up in tuffs like she’d been pulling on the strands. Her skin was a tawny-brown, just a tad lighter than Cassidy’s butterscotch complexion. Long black eyelashes lay on satin smooth skin. Max was enraptured.

“Is she feeling better now?” he asked, concerned. He knew from his sisters’ children how rough the teething stage could be for both parents and child.

At the sound of his voice, those baby eyes opened to pin him with a suspicious glare. Max drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes were the same shade of blue he saw in the mirror every morning.

Cassidy watched the color drain from Max’s face.

“She has blue eyes,” he said, his voice raspy with shock.

Holding Zoe a little closer as though Max would rip the child out of her arms, Cassidy said, “I know.”

“How…?” He cleared his throat and raised his stunned gaze to meet her wary one. “How is that possible? They said…”

“I know,” she repeated when he trailed off, obviously at a loss for words. Sighing, she added, “Erika and I believe someone in Dr. Manning’s office screwed up. They won’t admit to it, but the samples were sent in as Donor A and B. We think they accidentally switched the donor designations on the paperwork.”

“You
knew
, and you didn’t tell me?”

Cassidy could see temper spark in those hypnotic eyes Zoe had inherited from him. “How?” she asked and saw the simple question stop his budding fury cold.

She rocked in the chair, as much to soothe Zoe as herself. “I spent the first eight or nine weeks of my daughter’s life in and out of surgery. Between the hospital and rehab, Zoe was three months before I came home. Even then we needed help.

“Erika stepped in and tried to find you for me. She got nowhere with Nicco. She didn’t tell him everything, just that I’d been in an accident and it was vital she get in contact with you. She didn’t feel the news you had a child should be given over the phone. I agreed. When I’d recovered enough from my injuries, I also phoned Nicco and got nowhere. Since your brother was stonewalling me, I called your mother and told her it was very important I speak with you. She said you were in Italy getting married and, for the sake of the family, she’d appreciate it if I never called again.” Cassidy met his gaze squarely. “I didn’t.”