Like a repentant sinner taking his first confession, he arrived at Lenna’s apartment with a package tucked snuggly under his arm. Evening had come, and the hours since he’d talked to Farris in his office had passed with grueling misery, creating a knot of guilt in his stomach that had grown into a nasty case of indigestion.
He knocked on his daughter’s apartment entrance and waited, shuffling his feet uncomfortably to ease some of the pressure his roiling innards generated behind his belt. Seconds ticked by; his anxiety mounted. He wasn’t looking forward to this, but it had to be done. He’d wronged his baby girl, his firstborn. That wasn’t something a fellow could look back on and be proud of.
When she finally pulled the door open, his heart dipped into his knees. As soon as she saw him, she burst into tears.
“Oh, hell,” he muttered. “Sweetheart.” He stepped inside, arms open to tug her into his embrace.
But Lenna pulled back.
He stopped in confusion. “Lenna?” he whispered, already dreading the worst.
She licked her dry lips and glanced away. “How long have you known?”
He knew exactly what she meant but wasn’t ready to address the subject yet. He’d wanted to butter her up first, give her the present, and tell her how much he loved her.
Unable to meet her eyes, he hedged. “Known what?”
“Cut it out, Dad. I’m talking about Braxton and me, and you know it. How long have you known what we did?”
Tom winced. “He told you what I did?” His guilt shifted into panic. The indigestion moved up his esophagus, and here came full-blown heartburn.
Had Farris brainwashed her away from him again?
“He told me you lied,” Lenna said. “That was all. But I didn’t believe him.”
There was no way to swallow down the lump in his throat. Bowing his head, Tom closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing through his nostrils.
“I didn’t want to believe anything bad about you, Dad. I didn’t think you were capable of something as underhanded as this. That’s why I haven’t been able to confront you. I don’t want to look into your eyes and see what you’ve done. But you did, didn’t you? You lied about those other women. Braxton never flaunted any redhead around Farris. He never sent anyone roses. Did he?”
Tom shook his head. “No.”
“Why?” she whispered. He could hear the tears in her voice, and it tore him up inside. “Why’d you do it?”
He shrugged helplessly, lifting his hands in meek surrender.
Lenna caught sight of the gift he held; her eyes went wide with recognition. “Oh, my God. Where’d you get that?”
Having forgotten he still had it, Tom glanced down. “Oh,” he said. “Here. I brought this as a...a peace offering, I guess. I was going to wait to give it to you at Christmas, but...” He shrugged again.
She might not be speaking to him by the time December rolled around.
When he held out the present, her eyes only widened more. Then it struck him. She’d seen the cream-colored wrapping before and probably even knew what was inside.
“That’s right,” he murmured. “You went to Paris with him, didn’t you?”
Lenna’s head snapped up.
Tom ran a hand over his face. “God, I forgot you were seeing him even then. I bet you even picked out your own gift.”
Lenna just blinked. “What’re you talking about?”
Tom sighed. “When he announced his business trip to Paris, I approached him and gave him some money, asking him to get a souvenir for my daughter, who adores everything French.” He smiled then and let out a low laugh. “Little did I know you two were seeing each other, and he’d already invited you along. You could buy your own souvenirs.”
Lenna’s gaze fell back to the gift. When Tom held it out to her, she didn’t take it.
Her eyes welled. “It was for me all along,” she whispered and covered her mouth. “He wouldn’t tell me who it was for; I thought he’d bought it for another—”
Lenna couldn’t seem to finish her sentence before a sob overtook her and caught her breath, robbing her of the ability to speak.
“Honey.” Tom stepped forward and opened his arms again. “I love you. I’m so sorry. I—”
“Don’t,” she said, holding up a hand. When he stopped, she wiped at her face with shaking fingers.
He nodded. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I’m so God damn sorry. I was wrong. I admit that.”
She snorted out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, well, we were all wrong, weren’t we? I was wrong to keep my relationship with Braxton a secret. You were wrong to lie about him. And he was wrong to suspend you just because I’d broken up with him.”
Tom grimaced. He reached up to squeeze at the bridge of his nose, realizing he had a lot more to confess than he’d originally thought. “Lenna,” he said, “he had every right to fire me. And no one would’ve blamed him if he had.”
His words had Lenna jerking back. But he gripped her hands. “Ben had been hacking into his computer. And I covered for him.”
“Ben?” she said. “What? Why?”
Tom shook his head. “He didn’t trust the kid. Hell, we were all wary of him. As far as we knew, he was some wet-behind-the-ears punk, coming in off the street to run our company into the ground. We were all scared for our jobs. Ben was just curious about Farris’s plans. So, he did a little snooping.”
Lenna tugged her fingers from his grip and lifted them to her mouth.
“He wasn’t hurting anything,” Tom defended. “He just wanted to look around. And that’s when he found the pictures.”
She shook her head, baffled. “Pictures? What pictures?”
“Pictures of you,” Tom admitted. “Pictures of you in France. Pictures of you...everywhere. Farris even took pictures of you while you were sleeping... in your apartment. He stored them on his office computer.”
Lenna’s eyes glazed, but she said nothing.
“Ben made copies of them and brought them straight to me. That’s how I found out about the two of you. And that’s when I lied to you about him. I, ah, I was pretty desperate to break you two apart.”
She shook her head again. “I don’t understand. That doesn’t explain why he suspended you. Why not Ben?”
Tom nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’m getting there.” He took a deep breath and continued.
“About the same time Ben was snooping, someone else was also getting onto Braxton’s computer and looking around his files. But they were downloading confidential information and planning to sell to a competitor. They stole some money from company accounts while they were at it.”
Lenna’s mouth dropped. “No,” she whispered. “He had to deal with a thief at the same time as our breakup?”
Choosing to ignore that comment because it could only add to his guilt, Tom nodded. “He discovered he had hackers and called a meeting for everyone who had access to his office. He announced someone had been on his terminal and wanted to know who. I didn’t want Ben to get into trouble. I mean, he was doing me a favor by keeping those pictures of you quiet. So I...” He glanced away guiltily. “I knew Farris wouldn’t punish me as severely as he would Ben because of your involvement with him.”
He lifted his face, letting her see the regret in his eyes. “I used his feelings for you to my advantage and said I’d been in his computer.”
Lenna closed her eyes. “Oh, Dad.”
“Lenna,” he whispered achingly, not sure how to explain.
She shook her head. “No. Don’t even try.”
Tom knew shame. It wasn’t often one of his children saw his flaws. Only one thing could make it up to her.
Lowering his eyes to his hands, he admitted, “I honestly think the only reason he didn’t fire me on the spot was because he’s in love with you. That’s pretty much what he told me, anyway.”
Lenna said nothing. Tom finally lifted his face to gauge her reaction. She stared at him until one of the tears clinging to her lashes fell. Sucking in a deep breath, her body shuddered when she released it. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “I’m not proud of myself. I know I shouldn’t have done what I did to him. And I shouldn’t have kept the truth from you. I see that now.”
Reaching the grueling part of his speech, Tom cleared his throat. “And honestly, in the past few days, I’ve come to actually respect him. I’m sorry I’m responsible for keeping the two of you apart. I never should’ve interfered in your life. I think he would’ve been good for you. Good to you. Hell, if the ring he bought was any indication of how he would’ve treated you, you’d be living like a queen right now.”
“Ring?”
Tom nodded. “He gave his secretary a box to return to the jewelry store. It was an engagement ring. He wanted to marry you.”
She pressed a hand to her chest. “He bought me a ring?”
When Tom nodded, her lips curved. She sent her father a wet, sloppy smile and then covered her mouth with her fingers before bursting into more tears.
“Now, don’t go starting that again,” Tom told her grumpily, reaching out to try for one more hug.
This time, she let him. He clung tight and buried his face in her hair. “You know I’m awful with girly things.”
Lenna wrapped her arms around him. She squeezed briefly before pulling away and boring a hole through him. “You’re my father,” she finally said. “You always will be, and I do love you.”
His shoulders relaxed a split second before she added, “Someday, I’ll even forgive you for what you did. But...it won’t be today.”
His mouth opened and closed. “Lenna—”
“I love him too, Dad, and you broke us apart. You lied, and I believed you over him. I shouldn’t have done that. And now he doesn’t want me.”
“Yes, he does. He—”
“No,” Lenna stated firmly. “He doesn’t. He returned my ring, and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t take me back either. I was so horrible. I accused him of—”
“Lenna,” Tom tried. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d fallen—”
“Well I did,” she cut in. “You’re not the number one man in my life anymore, Dad. You need to accept that
and him
before we ever talk again. Now please leave. And don’t come back. I’ll call Mom if I’m ready to talk to you again.”
As Lenna pounded on Braxton’s front door, she realized she should’ve planned this better. She was still dressed in her moping clothes, flannel pants and an old high school t-shirt. Her hair was a disaster, and after the two-week crying spree she’d just survived, she hadn’t bothered to put on makeup in days.
Frankly, she’d never looked worse.
But when she saw how certain her father had been when he’d said Braxton loved her, she could only think about how fast she could make it to the quiet brownstone condo that housed the love of her life.
So, here she was.
Before she had time to pat her hair into place, his door opened. And there he was. Barefoot and wearing an old pair of jeans with a worn t-shirt, he hadn’t shaved in a while. His eyes were bloodshot. Deep grooves of exhaustion around his face told her he hadn’t been sleeping well.
But to Lenna, he’d never looked better.
His eyes lit when they saw her, a brief spark of surprise and excitement. But just as quickly, they frosted into guarded distrust. Crossing his arms over his chest, he braced his feet apart, physically baring her way. “What do you want?”
Lenna licked the seams of her dry mouth and was surprised to see his eyes track the movement.
It made her want to press her dehydrated lips against his and moisten them that way. Swallowing, she remembered how he could make her body sing with one kiss.
Needing that again and everything else that came with it, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’d like to come in and talk.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You can say whatever you want out there.”
Lenna closed her eyes and sighed wearily. “Braxton...please let me in.”
“Sorry,” he sneered, “but it’s already too crowded in here, what with my
harem
of women I have keeping me company.”
Grinding her teeth, Lenna moved forward.
Braxton didn’t bother to step out-of-the-way. She had to turn sideways to squeeze by him; even then, her breasts brushed his arm. He sucked in a breath at the contact and jerked backward.
She stopped, her spine still pressed against the inner wall of his foyer as he kicked the door shut. The glower he sent was like a punch to the gut.
Realizing her plea for forgiveness had to be a lot better than what she’d planned, Lenna’s eyes filled with hopeless tears. She didn’t want to lose Braxton. The last two weeks without him had been hell.
He noticed the trickle down her cheek and paused. Then he jerked his head to the side.
“Well?” he demanded, his voice raspy and hoarse.
“I’m sorry,” she said. Pathetic attempt, yeah, but it was all she could think to say. “God, Braxton, I’m so sorry. Dad finally told me everything. He admitted to lying about you having other women. He told me
why
he was suspended. He even apologized for breaking us up.”
Braxton jiggled his knee anxiously as he stuffed his hands into his back pockets and gave a derisive snort. “It’s about time he confessed.”
Lenna’s shoulders slumped. “Braxton.”
“Don’t,” he growled. “Jesus, you can’t just come crawling back—God, will you
stop
crying? I can’t handle seeing you cry.”
She sniffed and wiped at her tears. “I’m sorry, but I had to come. You know I had to
try
to get you back.”
“It’s too late,” he ground out and turned his face toward the wall this time. She wasn’t sure whether he was trying to hide the agony creased into his features or keep from seeing hers. The muscles strained in his neck as he clenched his teeth.
Betting everything, Lenna took a cautious step forward. “I don’t agree,” she murmured and stroked his back.
At the light touch, he leapt desperately away. He spun to nail her with a sharp frown. “You didn’t believe me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said and reached for him again. “I’ve missed you so much.”
He evaded her hands. “Don’t touch me.”
She pulled her fingers to her chest and sucked in a loud sob that made him wince. “I want to be with you, Braxton.”
He snorted, but it wasn’t as effective this time, especially when his eyes misted and his chin quivered. But he sounded plenty condescending when he scathed, “Yeah, until Tom throws a fit and you once again choose him over me.”