Kingsley Baby Trilogy: The Hero's Son\The Brother's Wife\The Long-Lost Heir (64 page)

“I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Such an honest proclamation of her feelings…and so like Bradlee. There were no half measures with her. It was all or nothing, and she would never try to hide her emotions. She would never try to pretend that tonight meant nothing to her. But that was exactly what David intended to do.

It would hurt her, he knew, but what choice did he have?

As quietly as he could, he rose from bed and slipped on his clothes, then stood for a long moment, gazing down at her.

He couldn’t allow her to put herself in danger because of him. He didn’t yet know who the target was—himself or Bradlee—but the fact remained that she could have been killed last night. Or at the very least, seriously injured; and that just wasn’t acceptable. David had to do whatever he could to protect her, and that meant sending her way.

She wouldn’t want to go, of course. Especially not after they’d made love, but David would somehow have to convince her it was in his best interests that she return to L.A.

And, he thought grimly, there was only one way to do that.

* * *

W
HEN
B
RADLEE AWAKENED
she was alone in her bed. She sat up, reaching for her nightgown. “David?”

“Out here.”

She slipped the nightgown over her head and stepped onto the balcony. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking.” He was perched on the railing, staring into the darkness. When she approached him, he put an arm around her shoulders, but there was no warmth in the touch.

Bradlee shivered. “What are you thinking about?”

He glanced at her then, but she couldn’t read his expression in the darkness. “About everything. Us. What happened earlier.”

“Oh, no,” Bradlee said, a sinking sensation in her stomach. “Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it.”

“What?”

“You regret it. It never should have happened. It was all a mistake.”

“Bradlee, it was.” His voice was gentle, but that did little to assuage the disappointment, the pain that tore through her.

She took a step back from him. “How can you say that? It was wonderful. It was—”

“Fireworks? Explosions? The earth moved?”

She hated the cynical tone in his voice. “For me, it was,” she said softly.

He was silent for a moment. “Look, I’ll admit it was great for me, too. But it doesn’t—”

“Mean anything?” It was her turn to finish his sentence.

“Not the way you want it to.” He straightened from the railing and came toward her. She could suddenly see his expression in the moonlight, and Bradlee shivered again. His eyes were dark and shuttered, not at all what she’d hoped to see.

“I told you once before, I don’t believe in fairy tales and destiny and all that stuff you talk about. You’ve built a fantasy in your head, kept it alive all these years by hoping Adam Kingsley would someday come back and sweep you off your feet. When you look at me, you don’t see the man I really am. You see the fantasy. The man you want me to be.”

Bradlee shook her head. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” His gaze hardened. “Then why did you call me Adam?”

“I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. At a…shall we say…critical moment earlier you called out Adam’s name.”

Bradlee started to deny it again, but then she stopped.
Had
she called him Adam?

As if sensing her hesitation, he said, “Bradlee, I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t give you what you want right now. I just got out of one entanglement. I don’t need another.”

Was that all he thought she was? An “entanglement”?

She drew her fingers through her hair. “That didn’t seem to stop you earlier,” she said angrily.

“No, but it should have. I can’t deal with a relationship right now. There’s too much happening in my life. I have to have some space.”

“Meaning?” She followed him back inside the room, watched him walk toward the door.

He turned, his expression resolved. “Meaning I think you should go back to L.A. Give us some time apart. Maybe that’ll put everything into perspective for you. At any rate, I’ll be going back to New York in a few weeks and…” He trailed off with a shrug.

“We may as well end it now, right?” Bradlee marveled at how calm she sounded, how in control she appeared when her life was crumbling around her. She was in love with a man who didn’t love her. Who didn’t even want her around. What did that say about her?

“Look, it’s for the best,” he said at the door. “Once you get back to Los Angeles, you’ll probably agree with me.”

Bradlee folded her arms and glared at him. “Maybe I already do.”

Something flickered in his eyes. Was it disappointment? Pain?

Wishful thinking, Bradlee told herself. Because in the next instant, he turned and walked out the door without looking back.

* * *

B
RADLEE DIDN’T GO BACK
to bed after David left, but sat up instead and tried to figure out what had gone wrong. She was hurt, angry, and not a little embarrassed, but she wouldn’t give in to those emotions. Not just yet. What she had to do now was decide her next move.

Sometime just before dawn, she realized there was actually very little she could do. This was David’s home now, and he’d asked her to leave. She’d become an unwelcome guest, and Bradlee had enough pride left not to hang around where she wasn’t wanted.

She would go away quietly, with dignity, she decided. Like any good guardian angel who’d overstayed her usefulness.

* * *

T
HE NEXT MORNING
, David decided he’d better figure out a way to avoid Bradlee while still keeping an eye on her. He couldn’t be sure how much danger she was in, or whether he himself might be the target, but he knew he would breathe a lot easier once she was on a plane back to L.A. Having to witness the pain in her eyes last night was a pretty big price to pay for his own peace of mind, but no price was too high for her safety.

To her credit, she hadn’t broken down last night when he’d told her he wanted her to leave. She hadn’t made accusations or threats as some women would have done, nor had she ranted and raved, though he knew she’d been angry.

What she had done was agree that he could be right. Once she got away from him, she might find she was over him. Might even find there’d been nothing there to begin with.

That still smarted, David had to admit, but he couldn’t blame her. He’d been deliberately cold and callous, and she’d had no way of knowing his real motive.

He walked out into the gardens, where he could see the front drive. If anyone came in, he wanted to know about it.

He’d been outside for about fifteen minutes when his cell phone rang. He flipped it open and lifted it to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Adam Kingsley?”

David frowned. “Who is this?”

“Don’t you recognize my voice, boy?”

It came to him then. “Colter.”

“Don’t hang up. I used my weekly phone privilege to call you.”

“What do you want?” David asked impatiently. He wasn’t about to hang up, but he wouldn’t let Colter know that.

“You still want to talk?”

“I might.”

Colter paused. “Bring some cash. We’ll see if we can cut a deal.”

He hung up before David could query him further, but the first question that came to mind was how the hell Colter had gotten his cell-
phone number.

David stared up at the mansion, thinking. It would take him hours to make the drive up to the penitentiary and back. He wouldn’t be here to watch out for Bradlee until she got on a plane. Something about this whole setup didn’t smell right, but then again, if Colter
was
willing to talk, David wanted to listen.

He put in a call to Sergeant Packer, but was told he’d stepped away from his desk for a minute. David left his name and number and a message for Packer to call him as soon as possible.

Then he went around the house to the garages, got into his Thunderbird, and drove off.

* * *

B
RADLEE’S FATHER DIDN’T
seem surprised that she was leaving town.

“That’s probably for the best, darlin’,” he said, ordering them both a drink.

It was a little early in the day for Bradlee, but when the waiter set her glass of wine in front of her, she took a sip and grimaced.

“Where’s Crystal today?”

“She’s out shopping with a friend.” Her father glanced away, looking guilty.

“Dad, is there something you’re not telling me?”

Her father sighed. “Never could hide anything from you, could I, darlin’? You’re like your mother in that regard.”

“So out with it,” Bradlee said.

“Crystal’s with Rachel Hollingsworth.”

Bradlee’s mouth dropped open. “Crystal knows Rachel?”

“Not exactly. I mean, she does now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m the one who called Rachel and told her about the party. Told her about you and David.”

Bradlee couldn’t have been more stunned. Or confused.
“Why?”

He shrugged. “I thought it for the best. It seemed to me that boy was stringing you along while he had another one dancing on the line. I thought if I got his girl down here, she might straighten things out with him.”

Bradlee shook her head. “How did you even know about her?”

His gaze lifted to meet Bradlee’s. “You think Iris Kingsley is the only one who can hire a private investigator?”

“You had David
investigated?
” Bradlee’s shock was fast turning into anger. “You had no right. None of this is any of your business.”

“You’re my business. I don’t want to see you hurt, darlin’.”

“Oh, don’t `darlin’ me!” Bradlee retorted. “You’ve never taken any interest in my affairs before.” Bad choice of words, she thought with a grimace, but nevertheless, she’d made her point.

He leaned toward her, folding his arms on the table. “I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but I care about you, Bradlee. I want you to be happy. You’ve spent your entire life pining for that boy, and I thought if you could see for yourself that he hasn’t exactly been waiting around for you, you’d wake up and face reality.”

“So you called Rachel. I suppose she was only too happy to oblige.”

Her father’s face clouded. “I may have gotten more than I bargained for with that one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rachel Hollingsworth is not a woman I’d want on my bad side. I have to say, darlin’, I think you’re making a smart move getting the hell out of Dodge.”

* * *

W
HEN
B
RADLEE ARRIVED
back at the Kingsley estate, she still had several hours before her flight. The wine she’d had with her father—or perhaps the conversation—had left a sour feeling in her stomach, and the prospect of a long plane ride that evening was a bit daunting.

She met Illiana in the foyer. “The house seems so quiet. Where is everyone?”

“Miss Pamela and Mr. Jeremy are out, Mr. Edward is in the library, and Mrs. Kingsley is upstairs resting.”

“What about Mr. Powers?”

“I saw him out in the gardens earlier.”

Bradlee nodded.

“Most of the staff are off this afternoon,” Illiana said. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks. I’m not feeling very well,” Bradlee told her. “I think I’ll go upstairs and rest.”

“Very well. I’m taking off, then.”

“Have a nice afternoon.”

In her bedroom, Bradlee closed and locked the door. Her lack of sleep the previous night was starting to take its toll. She decided to lie down for a few minutes and take a brief nap. At least that way she wouldn’t have to think about David, she thought drowsily.

But she dreamed about their lovemaking, and when she woke up, the hurt she’d been trying to keep at bay all day descended over her. She suddenly felt more depressed than she ever had before because she knew once she got on that plane, the chances were good she would never see David again.

Getting up, Bradlee started across the room to wash her face in the bathroom, but stopped when she saw that someone had shoved a note under her door. She picked it up and read:

Bradlee:

It was signed “David.” Not “Love, David,” of course.

Still, he did say he needed her. Bradlee warned herself not to read more into those words than he actually meant, but excitement shot through her anyway. David needed her, but what’s more, he’d remembered something.
“I think this could be it.”

Bradlee went into the bathroom and hurriedly washed her face and combed her hair. Slipping into her shoes, she let herself out of her room and headed toward the nursery.

By the time she got to that part of the house, her excitement had begun to fade. An uneasiness crept over her. What if David hadn’t written that note? What if this was some sort of trap?

But who would be foolish enough to try something in broad daylight? The only people in the house besides her and David were Edward, who was probably in a drunken stupor by now, and Iris, whose strength seemed to be fading fast these days.

Still, Bradlee wasn’t about to make the same mistake she’d made the night of the party. She wouldn’t enter the nursery until she knew for sure David was in there.

Pausing in the hallway, Bradlee was just about to call out to him when a shadow appeared in the doorway. A scream of terror rose in Bradlee’s throat.

* * *

D
AVID HAD GOTTEN CAUGHT
in a traffic jam due to road construction and hadn’t even made it out of the city when his cell phone rang again.

“Hello?”

“Powers? This is Sergeant Packer.”

“I’m glad you got my message,” David said.

Packer hesitated. “Message? What message? I just got back in. Oh, wait a minute. Here it is.”

David frowned. “That’s not the reason you’re calling?”

“No, I guess that’s just what they call a happy coincidence. Actually, I thought you might want to know we turned up a match on some of the fresh prints we found in the nursery.”