Authors: Shirley Wine
"You are." She folded her arms across her chest, her gaze steady. "When I marry it will be because I’m loved, not because it’s expedient to do so."
He huffed out an impatient breath. "What about Connor?"
"What about him?" She lifted her chin and a thrill rippled down her spine at his expression.
"He’s my son."
"You sure about that?"
His eyes glittered, dark with a turbulent fire. Stance stiff, nostrils flared, he had a very dangerous edge. "Don't even try to play that card, Victoria. Connor is my son."
For all that they were quietly said, the words held a steel edge. Only a fool would ignore the menace sheathed within them.
Victoria wasn't a fool.
"So what's new?" She met his gaze boldly, not prepared to back down. "He was your son when he was born, and for the past five years."
"What's new is that after this obscene length of time, I finally know he exists." He paused looking at her from beneath hooded lids, a dangerous sparkle lit his dark eyes, his mouth set in a grim line. "And you could well be pregnant with another child. Both good reasons we should marry."
Head on one side, she studied him.
Keir stood there, all sartorial elegance in his tailored charcoal suit, a suit any as formidable as a suit of armor worn by a mediaeval knight of old.
And it was more than time she tweaked his ironclad control.
"That’s certainly possible," she agreed softly, touching a finger to the corner of her lips. "But pregnancy in itself, is no longer a valid reason for marriage."
She didn't think it possible, but his spine stiffened further. "I have one son born a bastard Victoria; I won’t have a second child born with that label."
She sucked in a harsh breath at the brutal words, her heart racing, the sound like thunder in her ears.
"And whose fault is that?" she asked through clenched teeth. "I tried to find you when I realized I was pregnant, only to discover that the man I knew as Seth Donahue didn’t exist."
There was a loaded pause, then in swift strides, he crossed the space to stand in front of her. Too late, she remembered his anger when he learned of Connor’s existence.
"And what about the letter I left for you with your uncle?" He asked with lethal softness, his brown eyes blazing. "Did you ask him?"
Victoria stared at him in disbelief. Did he think she was still that naive eighteen-year old? "You left a letter for me? With Uncle Tom?"
Keir watched her, eyes laser keen, never leaving her face. The hard cast of his jaw could have been carved from granite.
"If you recall, you left before we had a chance to say goodbye."
The stab of grief caught her by surprise. She lifted a trembling hand to her throat. "Of course I remember. My uncle had just told me my mother was dead."
"Yes." A bleak expression shadowed his eyes. "And I never had the chance to tell you I was sorry, or to leave you any contact details."
"You wanted to stay in touch?"
He raked a hand through his hair leaving it disheveled, and took a step toward her, body vibrating with a feral menace that made her breath hitch. The knot churning in her stomach tightened.
Keir in this mood was intimidating.
"I’m not completely irresponsible," he said with lethal softness. "I knew I should never have touched you that summer, and as much as I regretted it, it also occurred to me you could be left with a permanent memento of that holiday, so yes, I left you a letter. And how you could contact me, should the need arise."
His words lacerated her heart. Too late she remembered his uncharacteristic silence. Did he regret their lovemaking?
Shaken by his vehemence, her legs refused to support her and she sat down abruptly on the sofa.
"I never, ever received a letter from you Keir," she whispered aghast. "I asked Uncle Tom—"
"Who no doubt colluded with your father, denying you of any means of contacting me," he said harshly, his searing fury scarcely leashed. "They denied me almost five years of my son’s life. I can never get those years back."
The knot of nerves already cramping her stomach, tightened viciously.
"Dad wasn’t happy that I was pregnant, but he would never do that," she refuted in an appalled whisper.
Surely he wouldn’t have withheld a letter?
She didn’t want to believe her father capable of something so underhand. Had he deliberately lied to her? Hurt and confused after Connor’s birth, she'd pleaded with Andrew, begged him to see if he could find Seth.
Yet if she was to believe Keir, her father had known Seth’s identity all the time.
"Wouldn’t he?" The cynical question made her flinch. He leaned closer until his face was a scant few inches from hers. "Has it occurred to you to question how he knew who I was at the hospital that day?"
He rubbed a hand over his jaw in a reflexive action.
Too late, she remembered the fleeting look of guilt she’d seen on her father’s face after he slugged Keir. At the time, anxiety over Connor precluded registering little else.
And then she remembered their conversation in the hospital cafeteria. Her heart raced at a suffocating pace.
"It appears your uncle and father had me investigated and decided you and Connor would be better off without me in your lives." He paused and then added bitterly, "A sentiment you obviously share."
She shook her head trying to make sense of this quantum leap. For a few moments she could only stare at him and then she gave a strained laugh. "When have I ever said you don’t fit in our lives?"
"Why else won’t you marry me?"
Victoria inhaled a shaky breath in an effort to dispel her frustration. "Refusing a very offhand proposal of marriage is a far cry from saying I don’t want you in our lives."
Keir rocked back on his heels thrusting his hands deep in his pockets, a cynical smile curving his lips. "So it starts."
She frowned, staring at him perplexed. "What starts?"
"The demands you want satisfied in return for marriage and allowing me access to my children."
"Pardon?"
She knew he despised Muriel and from his guarded remarks, guessed he barely tolerated his mother, but his words demonstrated a new and disturbing knowledge. Why did he have such a low expectation of women?
What was he suggesting?
That he’d have to buy access to his son.
He was obviously confusing her with some-one else. His ex-wife?
Not wanting to get into such loaded territory she settled on the least contentious. "I’m not pregnant."
"You can guarantee that, can you?" The edge in his tone increased her annoyance.
Victoria huffed out a frustrated breath, jumped up from the sofa and paced across to the window aware all the time of his silent presence and goading question. At last she turned.
"No," she admitted bleakly. "It’s too early. But you have to know I would never deny you access to Connor or, if I’m pregnant, another baby."
"And just how would I know that?" He asked with ruthless precision. "After the unscrupulous way you dumped Davina out of my life, you expect me to trust you?"
The accusation was unanswerable.
"Look," she gripped her hands together. "I know I should have told you about Connor at Darkhaven. But that’s all that you can hold against me, Keir. I’m not responsible for some other woman’s sins."
A grim smile did nothing to ease her tension. "Not necessary. You have enough sins of your own,"
The mocking words scored her heart.
It would be an uphill battle to earn his trust. She’d always known that. After all Keir had learned from his cradle women were not to be trusted. The people who should have nurtured him had found it far too easy to betray a young child’s trust. And Muriel, Davina and now her actions were enough to confirm women only lived down to his low expectations.
Such ingrained distrust was not easily overcome.
She wiped her damp palms surreptitiously on her skirt praying for patience and wisdom. She would need a good dose of both to win this battle.
One thing she was certain of, was that she refused to settle for less.
"When can we collect Connor?"
Keir watched her through half closed eyes, his expression unreadable. For long moments she thought he wasn’t going to reply. "Do you want me to bring him home? So you don’t have to run the gauntlet of the media scrum?"
Victoria huffed out an impatient breath.
She was no coward. It was more than time he realized she was no hot-house flower that needed coddling and protecting.
"Connor’s my son, Keir. I’m going with you to bring him home from hospital," she said with vehement emphasis. "I refuse to give Davina or her objectionable father, the satisfaction of thinking they’ve got me running scared. I’m tougher than that."
A hint of approval softened his austere expression and she knew she’d made the right decision.
"That’s the spirit. The hospital is expecting us and will notify security." He turned to leave and paused in the doorway. "Wear something to set them on their ear, Victoria."
That sally came from the man she’d known. Perhaps the future wasn’t hopeless. Would Connor’s innocence work its magic on his father and soften Keir’s scarred heart?
*****
Victoria’s agitation grew when she saw the phalanx of reporters and cameramen waiting outside the hospital entrance.
It was obvious someone had leaked the news that Connor was being discharged.
Squaring her shoulders, she gripped her son's hand tightly, grateful for Keir’s silent bulk at her back. A group of security men stood just inside the doors.
"Ready?" Keir looked at her across Connor's head.
She stiffened her spine and nodded.
The pack outside grew restive. Keir signaled the security guards and they moved forward forming a protective shield.
"Who are all those people, Mommy?" Connor asked looking up at her.
As she looked into her child's innocent eyes, her heart broke a little more. No child should have to face this.
"They’re just nosey cameramen Connor," Keir’s mater-of-fact tone was reassuring. "They think we’re zoo animals."
"Like monkeys?" Connor laughed, the sound so infectious Keir and Victoria couldn't help smiling. "They think we’re monkeys?"
"Yes, just like monkeys." Keir chuckled. "Just shows how silly they are doesn’t it?"
"Monkey men! Monkey men!" Connor chanted pulling them toward the doors. "Come on Mommy."
Victoria took a deep breath, wishing she could find something amusing in this on-going blaze of notoriety. Keir’s arm slipped around her shoulders and he gave her a squeeze. The silent support boosted her confidence.
She gripped Connor’s hand and stepped through the door to face the screaming pack.
"This way, Ms. Scanlan."
"When’s the wedding?"
"Is this your son, Donovan?"
A cacophony of noise assaulted them. The throng pressed forward, the barrage of flashlights almost blinding them.
Keir swept Connor up on one arm, tightening his other arm around her shoulders.
The noise, the pushing and shoving mass, had Connor cowering against Keir’s chest, his stuffed monkey clutched in a death grip, joyful laughter silenced.
Fury gripped Victoria.
No child should be subjected to such frightening behavior.
These reporters were worse than a pack of animals, preying on the weak. One sidestepped a security guard, thrusting a microphone in Connor's face. "How do you like having a daddy, Connor?"
"Touch my boy and I’ll shove that thing down your throat." Keir was pure lethal menace. "Do you get your kicks out of scaring little kids?"
The man took a hasty step back. Security guards surged forward shoving him back beyond the cordon.
In that moment Victoria decided she'd had enough. When press harassment impacted on and frightened her child, she would fight back.
How she didn't know, but she would find a way to put a stop to this persecution.
The security guards formed a protective shield so they could reach their car. As she was getting into the car Victoria caught an intrusive question Keir totally ignored, one strident voice penetrated the din.
"Donovan? Can you confirm the rumor that this scandal is impacting on your position at Donovans?"
Victoria’s gaze swung toward the voice, her frown deepening.
Had she misheard?
Was that man implying Keir’s position with the family firm was threatened by the adverse publicity being generated by the Strathmore scandal machine?