LITMIR.BIZ

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should have told me before,’ she said quietly, dark eyes pained. ‘Why didn’t you?’

      Good question, why hadn’t he? Perhaps it was due to a misguided sense of loyalty? At any rate, now Brenna had another good reason to view him with suspicion. Damn.

      ‘The plan was for Nick to be here and tell you himself.’

      ‘Well, he’s put you in a rather uncomfortable position now, hasn’t he?’ Forcing a smile to lips that felt strangely frozen, Brenna glanced round at the other hotel guests who had slowly started to enter the dining room for breakfast. She wished she could be like one of them, she thought vehemently – just an ordinary woman taking a quiet break away from the daily grind like any other ‘normal’ person. Instead, she was here under duress and suffering all kinds of agony because once upon a time she’d believed a man loved her …

      ‘I didn’t realize he was so famous that the Press would hound him like that,’ she said quietly, dragging her gaze away from Fin’s to stare down at her now cold piece of toast with a sinking heart.

      ‘It’s not totally because of Nick,’ Fin reluctantly confessed, wishing he could spare her this added blow. ‘It’s because he married Andrea Denny – the movie star.’

      Andrea Denny … the top of America’s ‘A’ list of screen actresses. No wonder the Press was on their trail. Brenna went hot then cold. Nick really had hit the big time, hadn’t he? Good luck to him … but only if he left her and Nancy alone.

      ‘Well, that’s that then, isn’t it?’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      Was she going to break down, have a fit or storm off in a rage? Fin seriously hoped not. He didn’t want to see her any more distressed than she’d been already. One thing was certain, when he next set eyes on Nick, Fin was going to make sure the other man knew exactly what excruciating torment he had put his ex-girlfriend through. There was no way he was going to cushion the truth for him.

      ‘I mean, he obviously isn’t coming now, is he?’ The huge dark eyes in front of him glistened with what looked like sadness and resignation as her skin turned visibly pale. ‘It’s been a complete waste of time coming here. Why on earth would he arrange to meet me so soon after he got married anyway? I don’t understand. Shouldn’t he be on honeymoon or something?’

      ‘He was planning on honeymooning in Europe. The UK was going to be his first stop. I’m really sorry, Brenna. I didn’t expect to have to tell you all of this myself. I actually believed Nick would make it and tell you in person.’

      ‘I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. It’s done now and I’m not as surprised by his behaviour as you might think I am. But the next time you see your infamous friend, please tell him from me to stay out of our lives. Nancy needs neither his money nor his interference. We’ve managed well enough without him all these years and we’ll continue to do so just as long as I have breath left in my body!

      ‘I’m serious about this. I know he has my mother’s address because that’s where he sent his letter, but he doesn’t know mine and that’s not something I’ll be divulging in a hurry. My mother won’t tell him either, so he needn’t waste his time trying.’

      ‘I’m afraid it’s not going to be as simple as that.’

      The gravity of Fin’s rich transatlantic drawl made Brenna’s brown eyes widen in fear. Her mouth suddenly felt like it was full of sand.

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘I mean that the Press are going to hound you too when they find out you’ve got a child by Nick. Think about it. They’re especially going to have a field day if they get as much as a sniff of animosity between the pair of you. Things could get very awkward and unpleasant all round.’

      ‘No.’

      But even as she uttered the word, Brenna knew it was futile. They lived in a world dominated more and more by the media. Anyone with so much as a hint of fame or a connection to somebody who did was fair game in their book. They didn’t care about the lives they disrupted or the misery their invasive intrusion inflicted on their targets. What would such an intrusion do to Nancy? Right now she was happily settled in her pre-school class and it hadn’t been easy making the transition between being looked after during the day by her grandmother, to joining a class of fifteen enthusiastic little four-year-olds in a completely new environment. Nancy had spent the first four weeks of term there in tears. To imagine that their already sometimes difficult lives were going to be even more disrupted was unspeakably horrible. Right now she could cheerfully strangle Nick. The waiter appeared at Fin’s side with his breakfast but the American waved him perfunctorily away.

      ‘Take it back. Just bring us some more coffee, could you? Brenna? Are you okay?’

      Fighting off despair, she folded her arms wearily across the table.

      ‘Am I okay? This is like some horrible nightmare. I just want to go home and forget all about it but I can’t, can I?’

      Meeting her hurt gaze head on, Fin despised himself right then. His discomfort deepened, took another uncomfortable dive then surfaced again leaving a trail of anger and profound regret in its wake. As much as he’d been loyal to his friend, Fin had had no idea what he was getting into when he’d agreed to do him this ‘small favour’. And it was only now when faced with the consequences of Nick’s behaviour that he realized what deep implications it had all round. Brenna didn’t deserve this. She’d done a damn good job as far as he could detect of bringing up their daughter alone. The last thing she needed right now was the kind of routine invasion of privacy that Nick and many of their colleagues had to contend with. This wasn’t Hollywood and she had every right to just be allowed to get on with her life unimpeded.

      ‘Nick’s enjoyed terrific success in his work. He directed two of the top box-office rated movies last year. He just reached a point where he knew it wasn’t the be all and end all, I guess … he wanted family. He wanted to finally know what it was really like to be a father. That’s what he told me, anyway. I honestly don’t believe he wants to hurt you, Brenna. It was Andrea who pressed him to bring their wedding date forward. They’d originally planned to get married in the spring. Knowing Nick, I can honestly say he wouldn’t have wanted things to get as complicated as this.’

      ‘That doesn’t help me or Nancy, does it?’

      ‘Look … why don’t you both try to get away for a while? Maybe even out of the country? At least until things die down a bit.’

      The ache in Brenna’s throat got worse.

      ‘Get away? It’s impossible. I have to work, Fin. I’m our total means of support – mine, Nancy’s and my mother’s.’

      ‘Nothing’s impossible,’ he answered. ‘I’m on a month’s leave. I’d planned to tour round the country for a while before heading off to see a bit of Europe. I’ve even rented a house. You and Nancy could come with me. You won’t have to worry about money. Whatever you need you can have, I mean it. I’m a wealthy man and I don’t have a family of my own to take care of. I’d gladly do this for you and the baby.’

      Something tingled inside her at the way he referred to Nancy as the ‘baby’. It was the same term she often used herself when referring to her daughter. But acknowledging Fin’s kindness was one thing, accepting it was quite another. And in Brenna’s book it was totally out of the question.

      ‘None of this is even anything to do with you. You shouldn’t feel remotely responsible for our welfare. It’s bad enough that Nick would put you in such an untenable position in the first place. Thank you, but I can’t possibly accept your offer. Whatever happens concerning the Press I’ll just have to deal with it in the best way I can.’

      Fin scowled. He found it almost unbearably painful that he had to tarnish her innocence with the tawdry truth.

      ‘You can’t possibly know what you’re letting yourself in for,’

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