Her Sworn Enemy (Men of the Zodiac) (17 page)

“I’m sorry.”

When the cold look in her eyes refused to thaw, and she didn’t respond, he realized he was in way deeper shit than he’d anticipated. He tried again. “I was taking care of some personal business so I could come back to you.”

“Were you? Well, it would have been fucking nice if you’d let me know!” she yelled, chucking a pillow from the couch at him. “Did you forget how to pick up a phone? Did you lose the use of both your thumbs and become unable to text? Tell me, Tuck, if I was so important to you—if our child was so important to you—then why didn’t you come sooner? Why the hell did you leave me alone?”

She sobbed, and it tore a hole in his heart. He’d been so focused on getting rid of his past, he’d forgotten to embrace his future and now it was slipping like sand through his fingers. He wanted to tell her about his plans for the future—their future. But a bullet of doubt was lodged in his chest making it hard to breathe, and his chest ached with each beat of his heart. What if she wouldn’t forgive him?

“I’m sorry. I was an idiot. I was trying to get rid of my demons so I could be a decent father. I just had to—”

“We all have crap in our past, but you can’t do this. You can’t leave me alone wondering what happened to you and think this is all right.”

“You’re right. You’re 100 percent, totally right.”

“And where’s the crystal ball? You never answered me, never sent it.”

Panic tore through his system, sending shockwaves of alternating cold and heat through him. “I sold it.”

Her head shot up. “You
what
?”

“I needed to finance the takeover of the McCormack Group in a hurry, and it was the only piece that could help me get my hands on that much cash. So I sold it.”

Bella uncurled her legs and put her feet flat on the floor. Her face was pink, and her fingers curled into fists. And while the rest of her looked like steam was about to come out of her ears, her pale green eyes were like chips of ice—cold, unforgiving. She stood up in one fluid movement and strode over to him and slapped him hard.

“That was mine. Mine! Not yours.
My
family’s history.
My
family’s curse. Did you think because you slept with me it gave you carte blanche to fuck up my finances as well? What gave you a right to steal from me? What damn right did you have to sell my property? God, I thought you leaving me would kill me. But this—
This
is beyond too much, Tucker. I deserve better than this.”

“I did it so I could come back to you a changed man, a man ready to settle down, to do right by his family.” Ashamed, embarrassed, filled with emotions too complicated to name, he kept his eyes on her. “No, I didn’t. Bella, this is no excuse, but I’ve spent most of my life plotting to ruin my sperm donor and his legitimate son. The obsession blinded me to the exclusion of all else. The crystal ball became a means to an end.
My
end.”

“And not once did you think to
ask
me what
I
wanted.
Your
wants and needs superseded mine. Is
that
how you express your love, Tuck? You say this was revenge for the way your father and his legitimate family treated you and your mother. Fine, you should’ve figured out how to do that without stealing
someone else’s dream
. I’ve spent my entire life attempting to find the
Rapid
and that crystal ball. The crystal ball was supposed to change
my
life, my
family’s
life, for the better. You financed the salvage and
stole
from me. That sure as hell doesn’t say, Bella, I love you. It says, Bella, I don’t give a damn about you
or
your happiness.”

“That’s not true. I did it for— Okay. Shit. No. You’re right. I was selfish as hell. You’re right about all of it.” Tuck plowed his fingers through his slicked-back hair, ruining his polished look. “I’ll get it back for you. I didn’t buyout the company after all. I realized there were more important things to me than getting back at the McCormacks for screwing up my life.”

She crossed her arms. “From this side, it looks like you’ve done a fantastic job screwing up things all on your own. You didn’t need them.”

“You’re right. I was a moron, and I had no damn right to take something you valued as much as that crystal ball. But I was desperate, Bella. Desperate and scared that I wasn’t enough for you. I thought that by buying out my half brother I could make things right. I’d own a multimillion-dollar corporation, and I could come back to you—
un
screwed up, without all that emotional baggage I’ve been carrying around for years. But I realized, almost too late, that it isn’t a corporation I need, it wasn’t validating what the McCormacks put my mother through and paying them back. When I confronted my half brother with the buyout, I realized I’d been chasing revenge for so long, I didn’t need or want it anymore. I don’t need
them
, but I do need
you
. I love you, Belladonna Dupré.”

He bent down on one knee before her, pulling the box from his pocket that he’d been carrying since his second day in New York. It was his reminder of what he intended to do, of what mattered.

“Bella, I’m an idiot when it comes to doing the right thing in relationships and family, but I hope, I pray, you’ll still consider being my wife.”

“Get up. You don’t have to do this because of the baby.”

“What makes you think it’s because of the baby?”

“Because you’re loyal to a fault. Generous to those you care about, and you’d tear yourself inside out to do the right thing. I’ve seen it every day since I’ve met you. You’re a good man, misguided but decent, no matter who your family is.”

“Does that mean you’ll marry me?” He stood up, unable to stop smiling.

“No.”

The world came to a dead stop. Tucker was sure the earth wobbled on its axis because the ground shifted out from under him, making him unsteady, even on bended knee before her. All he could hear was the roar of his own pulse in his ears. “But, Bella, I love you.”

Her bottom lip trembled a bit. “I don’t think you understand what love is. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the women in my family, it’s that love is sacrifice. It’s about doing something for someone else at the expense of yourself because you know how much it means to the other person. I believe that you think you’re in love with me. But I don’t believe you love me. I don’t think you know how. If you really loved me, you’d show me I’m the most important thing to you in your actions, not your words.” The sadness and heartbreak in her eyes ate through him like acid, leaving a jagged, burning sensation right through the core of him.

“But what about the baby?”

“We Dupré women know how to take care of our own. I’ll be fine and so will the baby.” She turned away, refusing to look at him. “I think you’d better go.”

Tuck staggered to his feet. His world turned dark around the edges as shock took over, and he went on autopilot. Somehow he made it back to his car. He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten there. He sat there behind the wheel staring straight ahead. Maybe Phillip was right. Maybe he’d screwed up everything in his quest to release his own demons. Maybe Bella was right, and he didn’t even know how to love.

He’d avoided it for so long, how could he even start to understand it?

Her words tumbled back over him in a rush, each one a pointed barb that dug in deep and tore him apart.

Sacrifice. Bella had said love meant sacrifice. He’d offered her marriage. What more of a sacrifice could a man like him who’d avoided it like the plague all his life make? Tuck slammed his hand against the steering wheel in frustration and cursed.

Fuck it. He needed a drink.

L
ater that night, after far too many drinks had made his anxiety and loathing fuzzy around the edges, Tuck sat on a park bench at the edge of Jackson Square, staring at the steps that led to the visitors’ center. Even at this late hour, tourists walked in and out of Café Du Monde for a taste of the city. The warm, humid air buzzed with the sounds of cicadas in the trees and a faint, muddy breeze stirred off the river. Where had he gone wrong?

The crystal ball. Maybe the damn thing
was
cursed.

Tuck forced his fuzzy brain to think back. Bella had been angry he’d been so bad at communicating with her while he’d been working on the business deal of the century, but she’d been more pissed about him selling the crystal ball. It meant more than quick cash to her. He knew that. He shouldn’t have underestimated its inherent value to her.

What could he do to show her the truth? That he loved her, hell, needed her?

Sacrifice.

That’s what she said love meant. She didn’t want his money. But she had debts. He knew that when he’d done his fiscal research on the recovery project before he’d ever approached Mr. Palmer. Without buying out the McCormack Group, he had more than enough to pay off her debts. He’d do that first, but deep down he knew that wouldn’t be enough.

Bella loved this city. She loved her family. She loved history and had worked so hard to make the recovery of the
Rapid
a possibility. He took another shot of bourbon and let it trail hotly down his throat. Bella was worth fighting for. He needed a gesture. A
big
gesture. Something that would let her know he cared about what mattered to her.
Her
dreams. He tossed what was left of the bottle into a trashcan. Time to stop drinking and use his skills to formulate a plan. He was about to lay siege to Belladonna Dupré.

Chapter Fifteen

B
ella stared out the window of Fontanel & Company at the changing leaves. Traffic ebbed and flowed and a long, black limousine pulled up at the curb outside the building. Now that she was well into her second trimester, it was getting harder to move. She’d had plenty of time to analyze Tuck’s reason for doing what he’d done once she’d gotten past the blinding red anger that had washed away all reason. Considering her own single-minded determination to recover the
Rapid
and find the crystal ball, could she fault him for being single-minded about his own personal quest?

Yes, she could. But should she? She was still mad and hurt that he’d taken that decision out of her hands. That hadn’t been his call to make. But being angry at him, being unforgiving, was punishing her as much as it must be punishing him. She missed him every moment of every day. She loved him, but they couldn’t resolve anything between them if he insisted on disappearing just because she told him to go.

She’d told him to leave…and he had. Didn’t he have any clue that pregnant women could be emotionally unpredictable? Yes, of course she’d been mad, but when she told him to leave, she’d meant for the night. Maybe for a day or two. Definitely not for forever. But the curse didn’t care.

And while her scientific mind still couldn’t accept the fact that such a thing existed as a curse, her heart knew better. The Dupré curse had gotten to her just as surely as it had her mother and her aunt, her grandmother and her great-grandmother. Would it ruin her daughter’s life as well? The baby kicked, and Bella splayed her hand over her belly. “Don’t you worry. Mama will find a way to make sure the curse never touches you.” The ultrasound last week had revealed her daughter’s developing form, and while she was thrilled to see her baby, she was also sad Tuck wasn’t there to share it with her. The simple fact was she missed him. She was still mad as hell at him, but she missed him.

Her office phone rang, and she turned away from the window to pick it up.

“Doctor Dupré, you have a visitor.”

Bella sighed. She assumed it was one of the avid collectors who were snatching up items from the
Rapid
as fast as Fontanel & Company could put them up for bid. “Have them come up.”

“Actually, they’d prefer if you came down.”

Bella pressed the tips of her fingers against the dull ache starting between her eyes. “Fine, I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
After a quick trip to the bathroom
, she added silently. She hung up and walked out of her office.

D
own in the lobby of Fontanel & Company a chauffeur in a black suit and cap and crisp white shirt waited for her. He tipped his cap as she approached. “Doctor Dupré?”

“Yes, I’m Doctor Dupré. I understand you wanted to see me?”

He gave her a smile. “My employer would like to see you, miss.”

Bella glanced around the lobby and on either side of the man, her eyes finally drawn to the limo parked at the curb. She lifted one brow. “Is your boss out in the limo?”

The chauffeur extended his hand, indicating the long black car. “Please, this way Doctor Dupré.”

Bella huffed. She was not in the mood to be ordered about when her baby was demanding lunch be served. “Is this going to take long?” she asked as she followed him.

“No, miss. We’re very close, but too far to walk,” he said as he opened the car door for her and held her hand to help her inside the limo.

The seats were buttery soft black leather, and she sat back as they pulled away from the curb. “So who exactly is your employer?” she asked from the rear seat. She figured it wasn’t a kidnapping. Who’d want a broke, pregnant woman who was pining for a man who was too pigheaded to talk things through?

“A great admirer of your work. My employer has been particularly impressed with your recent discovery of the
Rapid
and has been purchasing a number of the items you’ve auctioned off.”

A collector. Bella shifted in her seat. Making nice with the well-financed people who bought art and antiquities was both a skill and a necessity in her line of work. Fine. She’d make nice with the collector. Perhaps go to lunch and earn another commission for her sale.

A few minutes later the limo pulled up just outside the Café Du Monde across from Jackson Park. Surely if he had enough money to purchase the artifacts she’d been selling, he could have picked somewhere more expensive for lunch. “Are we meeting him here?” she asked as the driver opened her door.

“No, miss. Across the street.”

Bella glanced at the beautiful old building that had been recently restored. She’d noticed the new paint and the rehabilitation of the ornate stonework in the last two months. Someone had sunk a pretty penny into refurbishing it. The driver escorted her across the street and opened the large double brass and glass doors for her.

A woman dressed in a crisp blue business suit and heels waited for her. “Doctor Dupré?”

“Yes.”

“Good afternoon, I’m Aubrey Wilmont, the curator. Would you please follow me?”

A new museum? A new art gallery? There was no signage on the door or outside the building to indicate exactly what kind of business was housed in this wonderful old building. Whatever it was, it would have something to do with the treasure acquired from the
Rapid
. That was good news and could be incredibly lucrative.

The restoration of the building was exquisite and spoke to her love of art and history. She wanted to spend more time enjoying it, but the woman’s heels tip-tapped on the cream marble floors so quickly it was hard enough moving her cumbersome body to keep up. Curiosity was eating away at Bella as they walked into the large marble entryway with a bubbling fountain, and huge signs advertised the find of the century and sailing ships from the era of the
Rapid
.

“Excuse me, Ms. Wilmont, is this a museum?” There hadn’t been any mention of such a thing in the local media. She wondered why anyone would keep something as grand as this, with such a potential to impact the tourism of the city, so hush-hush.

She turned and smiled. “It is, but we haven’t had our grand opening yet. That will be next month.”

Bella’s steps slowed as she passed some of the lit-glass cases. Items she knew by heart were displayed on polished wood pedestals. Items she’d cleaned with her own hands. “Those bottles and dishes are from the
Rapid
.”

“Yes, Doctor Dupré. We’re proud to feature an excellent collection of artifacts from your discovery.”

“Is this museum owned by a private collector?” Perhaps she’d finally get to meet the anonymous collector that had been the chief buyer of the
Rapid
’s artifacts. It made sense now that someone would want to keep the discovery as a cohesive collection.

“I’m afraid that would be me.” The familiar male voice sent shivers down Bella’s spine. She looked up the marble staircase to see Tucker, dressed in a business suit, descending toward her. For a moment her heart stopped. He looked good; hell, he looked amazing. But inside she fractured a bit. He looked so different from the man she’d fallen in love with out on the open ocean. The easygoing guy who had callused hands and sun-burnished skin.

“That will be all, Miss Wilmont.”

She nodded and walked off, leaving Bella frantically thinking of what to do. She grasped the mermaid pendant on her necklace and pulled it back and forth along the chain.

“Hello, Bella.”

“I’m surprised to see you. Why did you come back?”

He chuckled. “Always blunt. No filter. That’s part of what I love about you. I can always count on you to be honest with me.”

She frowned a little. “I wish I could say the same.”

“How have you been?” His eyes trailed down to her now-rounded belly. “How is the baby?”

“We’re doing fine.”

He nodded and held out a hand to her. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”

For a moment Bella hesitated, then slipped her hand into his. The familiar arc of awareness sparked between them, both comforting and exciting at the same time, causing her stomach to swoop and her heartbeat to speed up. The familiar scent of ocean and sea still surrounded him, and God help her, she drank it in with every breath to stave off the ache of longing. He walked with her in silence along the display spaces, the pieces highlighted and shown to their best advantage. He didn’t push her to talk, simply walked with her.

In some ways, the silence was comforting. It gave her time to think. Being without him had been much harder than she wanted to admit. And now being this close, his skin against hers, was almost an overload to her senses.

She tried to focus on her surroundings, instead of the man walking beside her and the way her body instinctively sought to be close to his. “I don’t understand. What do you have to do with a museum? Did you contract to sell them the
Rapid
artifacts?” She looked around at the elegant, well-lit space with longing then glanced back at Tucker with a small frown. “What is all of this?”

“It’s yours.”

Bella’s steps faltered, and he grasped her hand more tightly. “Careful. I don’t want you to fall.”

“What do you mean, it’s mine?” She searched his face, those familiar blue eyes, that stubborn, chiseled chin, for a sign this was all a joke.

He smiled and led her up a set of marble steps to the gallery beyond. “This museum, The Dupré Museum of Antiquities and Sea History, is yours.”

Her frown deepened. “The Dupré Museum of— Why?”

“Because we needed a suitable space to showcase this.”

They reached the top of the stairs, and there, in the center of the gallery, spotlighted so it glittered, was the crystal ball from the wreck.

Bella gasped, dropping his hand. “Is that—”

“T
he crystal ball? Yes. I bought it back, but it didn’t seem fitting for it to just sit and gather dust on your aunt’s mantle. Not when it could bring so many here to the city and be the centerpiece to show the world what an amazing find you made. You deserve to have the whole world know your name.”

She clasped her hands in front of her and brought them to her mouth, like a prayer, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. He was hoping to God he didn’t make her cry. “You did this for me?”

He smiled. “Of course I did this for you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t sacrifice for you.”

She turned, tears streaming down her face and grabbed him around the middle, burying her face in his shirt. For a moment he stood, frightened to do anything that might make her cry more. But he couldn’t stop himself from touching her, not when she was so close. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her and letting her cry.

The soft scent of lemon and sugar cookies drifted up from her hair, making his heart do a double-clutch with need. God, how he’d missed her. He stroked the silk of her hair and rested his cheek against the top of her head. “Bella, are you okay?”

She nodded, and he let out a sigh of relief. Thank God. If he’d done something else to break her heart, he had no clue how to make up for it. He’d given it everything he had to get the museum renovated and open for business in this short amount of time to show her how much she meant to him.

“It’s beautiful,” she said softly.

He lifted her chin with the crook of his finger, forcing her to look up into his face. “The diamond?”

She shook her head. “All of it. The museum, the crystal ball, all of it. It’s amazing. I never could have pulled off something like this.”

“I did it for you.”

She smiled. “I know.”

“I want the world to know how proud I am of you. How much you’ve accomplished and to have a place to show all the wonderful things that you’ve found. There are also teaching labs at the back of the museum so you can give classes if you want.”

Her eyes sparkled far more than any diamond could have. “Really?”

“This time I tried to think of everything.” He sank down to one knee in front of her and pulled a ring box from his pocket, flipping it open to reveal a three-carat diamond ring. “At the risk of being rejected again, Belladonna Dupré, I love you. I know I’ve screwed up before, but I want to be with you.” He placed a kiss on her belly. “I want to be a father and grow old with you. Will you marry me?”

She nodded. Relief flooded his system. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

“Yes, I’ll marry you. I’ll be your wife, the mother of our child—”

“Children,” he corrected, leaning his forehead against hers. “I don’t know about you, but being an only child sucked most of the time. I’d rather not repeat that for my own kids.”

She laughed. “I’ve always wanted a full house. See, we have way more in common than you ever realized. But there’s one thing.” She pulled back, looking him in the eye. “I’m not so sure I can become a McCormack.”

He gave her a ten-thousand watt grin, plucked the ring from the box, and slid it on her finger. “Good, because I was hoping you’d let me change my name to Dupré.”

“What?”

“Never wanted to be a McCormack; still don’t see the need. Besides, don’t you think Tucker Dupré sounds more southern?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, if we’re going to raise our children here, they’ll need to feel at home.”

She glanced at the ring on her finger then looked up at him with a smile that lit up her whole face and melted his heart. “You’ve always had a home, right here in my heart.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. She melted into him, and he realized for the first time in forever he was content, happy to be in this time and place with this woman in his arms. He caressed her face, loving the look that was in her eyes, the one that told him
welcome home, you are loved
. “Do you think fate brought us together?” he asked.

“No,” she said and kissed him lightly, the familiar spark arcing between them once again, “but perhaps it was written in the stars.”