Caught in the Act (The Davenports) (21 page)

Brody was a Harrison?

Fury began to simmer inside her. He was Congressman Thomas Harrison’s brother?

How?

Her fingers clenched at her side as she tried to piece things together. The reporter was still rambling, not making a lot of sense, but the picture behind the woman changed, and suddenly Thomas Harrison’s face was there. Next to it was Brody’s. The air left Cat’s body.

Oh, shit.

It wasn’t completely obvious, but yes, she saw it. The same nose. The same chin.

She’d always thought he looked like his mother, but he’d also gotten features from his father. Features that matched his brother’s.

Nausea rolled through her as she stared at the two photos. An unconscious niggling pulled at her, as if she was missing something else, and she tilted her head to study the shots more closely. But what could she be missing? What she saw was enough.

Brody was Thomas Harrison’s brother.

Her hands began to shake. She’d slept with the enemy.

Another thought entered her mind. This one leaving her entire body trembling.

She’d told him about her mother writing a check to Lexi Dougard. She’d told him that they hadn’t
just
found out about her father’s illegitimate kid!

What had she done?

She’d had the stupid notion that if she wanted to have something real with him, she had to share who she truly was. Where she came from. And where she came from was a family who wrote million-dollar checks to keep mistresses quiet.

“Oh, God,” she moaned. She was going to be sick.

“What have you told him?” Her mother clued right in on the problem.

“Nothing!”

Fuck. She wasn’t about to tell her mother what she’d told him.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm down. Reminding herself that this was Brody they were talking about. He cared for her. He wanted more than sex with her.

He had not been sleeping with her to get information for his brother!

She hoped.

She’d even admitted that Lexi had been only seventeen!

“It’s time to come home, Catherine,” her mother stated in a monotone. “Enough is enough. Quit playing these games and get on a plane.”

Cat shook her head; no words would come out. Brody was a Harrison?

“Do you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Cat whispered. But she had no idea what her mother had said.

“Get away from that boy,” her mother insisted. “I already fixed this problem for you once. I’m not sure I can do it again.”

The harsh words registered, reminding Cat of her mother’s involvement in her past.

“You shouldn’t have stepped into things before,” she growled out. “He told me you did.”

“Oh please, Catherine. If I hadn’t, you would have run off with the boy. You thought you were in love.”

“I was in love!” she shouted. She rose and began to pace. Something else was bothering her, just right outside of her consciousness, but she couldn’t quite connect the dots.

“You were sixteen. You didn’t know what love was.”

“I was pregnant, Mom. With Brody’s baby.”

“With a Harrison’s baby,” her mother spat out.

And that was it. The missing piece. “You knew.”

Cat stopped walking as it all fell into place. Nineteen years ago, she’d come home from her summer vacation and told her mother about her new love.

Her mother hadn’t said much at first, thinking Cat was silly and immature. But she had asked about Brody’s parents. Who were they? What did they do? Cat had assured her Brody was just someone she’d met in Maine. Her mother wouldn’t even know his parents.

A few weeks later, when Cat complained that Brody hadn’t called her lately, her mother had had plenty to say then. Namely,
stay away from that boy
.

But how had she known? And did it even matter?

The fact was, her mother had scoured out the information. Then she’d put a plan into action. A plan she hadn’t let Cat in on.

“Well, of course I knew.” Her mother’s words snapped out. She’d known nineteen years ago that the son of the “enemy” had gotten the daughter of the “upstanding, moral family” pregnant. That would have been reason enough to get rid of the baby.

At least in her mother’s eyes.

Yet she’d gone on and on about how it would be the best thing for Cat. For the baby.

“You were never worried about
me
.”

“Of course I was. You were sixteen. You couldn’t—”

“I could have,” Cat interrupted calmly. “
We
could have. You lied to Brody. You called his mother to make sure he didn’t take my calls. You hurt me, Mom. And I didn’t even know about it.”

“I don’t know what he’s been telling you.”

“He’s been telling me the truth. Far more than you have.”

“So you knew he was a Harrison?” her mother asked coldly.

That ripped at her. Because no. She hadn’t known he was a Harrison. Brody had kept that piece of information from her. And she didn’t yet know what to do about it.

“You didn’t need him in your life, Catherine. You had the baby to think about.”

Hurt and betrayal clogged Cat’s throat. Had her mother ever done anything out of love? Or was it all for PR?

“I was only thinking about you,” her mother tried again.

Tears began to flow down Cat’s cheeks. Her life could have been vastly different had her mother not gotten involved. What the difference might have been, she didn’t know. But it wasn’t right that she’d been cheated of the chance to find out. The pain sliced her from front to back. “I’m not sure you’ve ever thought of anyone but you,” she whispered brokenly.

“That’s ridiculous. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

“Right.” The garage door burst open and Brody stood there. His face was white, his eyes panicked, and there was a newspaper gripped tightly in his fist. “Only you love you more.”

She turned her back to Brody.

“I had to protect you,” her mother insisted.

“You had to protect
you
.”

The two families may have been political adversaries for decades, but Cat had never understood the absolute hatred her parents had for anyone with the Harrison name. It went too far.

“Don’t send the plane,” she whispered. She didn’t know what would come next, but she could not go back to Atlanta and face her mother right now. Not yet. “I won’t get on it.”

She hung up before her mother could say anything else, her hand gripping the phone so tightly she worried it might crush under the pressure. Her breathing came out ragged. She forced herself to calm down, turn off the phone, and wipe the tears from her face. Then she faced Brody.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

B
RODY REMAINED JUST
inside the kitchen door, his eyes carefully watching hers. Everyone had lied to her. Everyone kept things from her. And he was no different.

“You slept with me,” Cat accused. “Without telling me who you were.”

“I didn’t know the first time.” He looked as pained as she felt. “You can’t blame me for that. I found out after I met you. I told you that this morning.”

“You didn’t tell me you were a
Harrison
this morning.” Her voice rose. She felt shattered.

“I had planned to.
Before
you took that call from your brother.”

Before she’d let her family come before her relationship. So it was her fault?

Which sounded about right. Her throat ached with more tears.
She
was the one with the shitty mother. The mother who’d intervened and reshaped their past.
She
was the one with the family secrets invading her life—and the grand need to constantly try to cover them up.

And
she
was the one who’d given away their baby. Oh God, she had to tell him.

But she wasn’t the one whose family was dragging hers through the mud.

“What have you told them?” she bit out coldly.

Fury exploded across his face. “Told them?” He took a step forward. “What? You find out who my biological father is, so you immediately assume that
I’m
the one sharing your family’s dirty laundry?”

She didn’t know what to think. “I told you things.” Her voice broke. She couldn’t believe she’d blurted out family secrets to a Harrison. “Yesterday, in your office. Things I shouldn’t have.”

“And you know I would never do anything with that information.”

“Do I? I didn’t know you were a Harrison!”

“I’m not a Harrison!” he bellowed.

He moved across the room so that he stood directly before her. His body was tight with rage. Hers shook with each breath she took. He scrubbed a hand over his face as if trying to rein in his emotions, and blew out a harsh breath. They looked like two strangers facing off.

“You know me, Cat. You know who
we
are. I’m not one of them. I never have been.”

“But you’re—”

“Do not lump me into that category just because you’re used to everyone in your family using people.”

She gasped. “Not everyone in my family uses people,” she spat out. “JP is the best person I know. Bennett has served our country for twenty years. My father—” She paused. Her father may have loved her, but he was a bad example in this situation. “We’re good people,” she finished defensively.

“Yet even the good ones stand behind the lies. Your family has made its nest, Cat. Maybe it’s time they lie in it.”

The sounds of her breaths were heavy in the room. He was her family’s enemy. That kept repeating in her mind. He was one of them. She couldn’t be with him. Only . . .

She didn’t know who he was or what she
could
do anymore.

“Brody,” she whispered. She just wanted all the problems to disappear.

“I’m not a part of them, Cat. Come on. You know that. Think about it. I’m thirty-four years old and no one has ever been made aware that Arthur Harrison is my father. Why do you suppose that is?”

She stared at him. She hadn’t thought about that. But he wouldn’t have kept this a secret simply to use against her family. That made no sense. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

“I don’t talk to Arthur. Never. I met him at the age of sixteen, and my ex got me back in front of him when I was twenty-three. Twice in my lifetime. Two times too many. And I only speak to Thomas on the rare occasion. Only then because . . .” His words trailed off. He clenched his jaw and held his hands out to his sides. He looked defeated. “Because he’s my brother. And I once thought that might mean something.”

She wanted to believe him. What he said made sense.

She wanted to trust in her own feelings.

“But you didn’t tell me.” She ignored the inner voice calling her a hypocrite.

“No, I didn’t. Because we were supposed to just be sex.”

“It doesn’t matter. I deserved to know.
Before
sleeping with you.”

“Maybe. Yeah, okay,” he growled. “I should have told you. Given who you are and that it could—
does
—impact your life, you had a right to know. I’m an ass. I’m sorry. I knew that going into it. But admit it, you wouldn’t have come near me if you’d known. It would risk marring your perfect public image.”

“That’s not fair.”

“But it’s honest.”

They glared at each other. She didn’t want to continue arguing with him, yet she couldn’t stop herself. “You also should have told me that my mother knew who you were.”

His eyes frosted over. “She should have told you that herself.”

Fed up with going in circles, Cat crossed to the front windows and peeked out. She needed time to think. To decide what all this meant. To get away from the people in the many cars lining the street, just waiting for a chance to get a picture of them.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to get control of her emotions. Then she thought about what Brody had previously said, and she turned back to him.

“Why
hasn’t
anyone ever known who your father is?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Because I hate him. I hate the way he does things, the way he uses people, and his lack of regard for others’ feelings. And I do not want to be associated with that behavior.”

She nodded. She could understand that. “Like you hate the way my family does things?”

“I don’t care about your family one way or the other, Cat. I care about you. I hate the way you jump every time there might be something to cover up. It’s not right,” he said. “It’s not honest. And it’s not the real you. The girl I met as a teenager was the real you. You were vibrant and full of life. Willing to take a risk. You didn’t stick strictly to the line drawn out for you.”

She gulped. He had a point.

“The real you is the woman who walked into my office yesterday afternoon.”

More tears filled her eyes. She
wanted
to be the person who’d walked into his office yesterday afternoon.

Nineteen years ago she’d been that person. But she’d followed her instincts, and the results had changed her for good. Her heart—her spirit—had been crushed. She’d put her family’s reputation at risk, and she’d made a decision that still haunted her today.

Since then, she’d behaved. She’d gone to an all-girls school, had gotten degrees to help her work behind the scenes with her family. She’d dated the man her parents had picked out for her. She’d even
married
the man her parents had picked out for her.

Joe had been good for her and she’d loved him, but he had been her parents’ choice.

She’d done everything right.

She’d been a perfect daughter.

And in return she’d lost her husband and ended up with a life she no longer recognized.

Fast forward to today, and damned if she didn’t feel as if she’d just stepped off a cliff by repeating history. Only this time she was taking Brody down with her.

She wiped away a tear. “You’ve been outed. Those cameras out there aren’t just looking for me anymore.”

He deadpanned. “Why do you think I’m so pissed?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be sorry for me,” he said. “It’s not me I’m worried about at the moment. I’m worried about my mother.”

“Oh, no.” Cat moved to his side. “Your mother. She’ll be pulled into this.”

“Exactly. And the only thing she ever did wrong was fall for the wrong guy. She doesn’t deserve to be sucked into this mess.” He tone was accusing.

“Meaning, you think my mother does?”

He shot her an incredulous look. “Seriously, Cat? Who do you think leaked it?”

“But my mother didn’t—” Cat pressed a hand to her mouth. Her mother had known who Brody was all along. It hadn’t occurred to her that this secret could have come from a different direction than the Harrisons.

“Yesterday the Davenports had an illegitimate son,” Brody started sarcastically, “today the Harrisons do, too. Couldn’t have worked out better for her, don’t you think?”

“It could have been Thomas,” Cat argued. “He knew we were together. He called and asked you about it yesterday.”

“He actually called to get the scoop on your mother. You were merely an afterthought.”

“But was I really?” she asked. “Maybe I
was
the reason he called. He wanted to ensure we were together before leaking the news.”

“That makes no sense. Why would Thomas expose us? Expose me? It would harm him.”

“Because he now has a long-lost brother to win him sympathy,” she pointed out. It pained her that she thought so much like a politician. “One he never knew existed.”

“But he did know I existed.”

“Yet that part of it didn’t come out.”

She saw the shock in his eyes as the truth of her statement registered. The shock was followed by worry. And possibly a streak of pain.

“My mother would have used it,” Cat stated flatly. “It would do far more damage to Thomas’s campaign.”

“Your mother probably doesn’t know that we’ve ever talked.”

“Do you believe that enough to be sure?” She didn’t know why she was defending her mother on this, other than that was what came naturally to her. Also, she very much didn’t trust Thomas Harrison. “This could be his doing, Brody. He’s been taking a hit in the numbers right alongside my mother. What do you want to bet he contacts you now? He’d be the big guy if he extended a warm welcome to his newest family member.”

Brody’s cell began to ring.

“I’ll pay off your mortgage if that isn’t him,” she said, her words as cold as stone.

Brody didn’t reach for his phone. “It doesn’t matter who it is.”

She nodded. “I know. And I think I should go.”

“None of this changes anything, Cat,” Brody said.

“Do you really believe that?” She peeked out the blinds again. She had to cross their yards to get back to her place, and she knew long-lens cameras would zoom in on her the instant she stepped off Brody’s deck.

All she’d wanted was a short escape from her world, and instead she got this.

“We can figure this out, Cat. We just need some time.”

“I don’t know if we can.” She looked at him then. At his unruly hair and his unkempt whiskers. At his glasses framing his gorgeous green eyes. She also took in the books and papers scattered across the room. She missed him already. “But I’m pretty sure standing here continuing to argue isn’t going to solve anything. I need time to think. We both need to figure out if this is worth it. And you need to go check on your mother.”

He didn’t disagree.

Without another word, she went to the garage. The clothes she’d worn the night before were still in there, as well as her purse in his car. She took her time dressing, holding his shirt to her chest and inhaling the smell of him deep into her lungs. She did not let herself get emotional when she looked at Brody’s backseat. They’d taken a giant step on that seat this morning. A step she’d thought might lead to a new kind of forever.

And now it felt as if that backseat might have just been the end.

When she came back into the house, Brody was waiting by the back door. “I’ll walk you to your house.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. There are photographers hiding in your bushes. I’ve already called the cops.”

Her jaw dropped open. She hated paparazzi. “I’ll have to move out to the compound.”

“I would expect so.”

Her life had gotten completely out of her hands. If it wasn’t for finishing the playground and still being determined to give her kids a vacation here, she would go home today.

When Brody reached to open the door, she put a hand to his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

He nodded solemnly. “Me too.”