“How could he not know how much you love your work, and that you would never do something like that? That you could never even have it in you to think of it?”
“Probably because he didn’t care about what I did. He didn’t respect my career, or me, either. I would never in a million years want to become a kept woman. Never. But since he didn’t believe that, he told me my trick of getting pregnant wasn’t going to work. When I swore to him that it was an accident, that he knew we had used protection, he didn’t want to listen. And he told me...” Her stomach twisted. “He told me to undo it.”
Dylan’s curse was soft, but powerful nonetheless. “The bastard didn’t deserve you.”
“I know he didn’t. I think I knew it long before that night, actually. We were always alone, just the two of us on a yacht or in a fancy hotel suite or my apartment. I thought it was because he wanted to get to know me better before he introduced me to his friends and family. But what he was really doing was hiding me from them and from the other woman he was actually going to marry—one who was infinitely more appropriate in his world. But I didn’t want to be alone, so I didn’t stop seeing him even though I should have.”
She paused, took another sip of wine to try to steady herself. But it was no use. Not when she had an even worse part of the story to tell.
“I was still reeling from his reaction the next day—and trying to wrap my head around having a baby on my own—when I had a couple of unexpected visitors. His parents didn’t want to risk leaving anything to chance. And, I think they were used to cleaning up their son’s messes over the years by throwing money at them. They gave me the money and tried to act like it was a gift. But I made them tell me, made them say aloud what it was for. They expected me to get rid of Mason and forget I’d ever had anything to do with their son.”
“Tell me his name, Grace.”
She knew she shouldn’t, but since she’d already been crazy enough to tell Dylan this much—more than she’d ever intended to tell anyone—it wouldn’t be hard for him to put the pieces together. “Richard. Richard Bentley.”
His eyebrows went up with surprise even as his gaze simmered with obvious fury. “The former senator and his wife gave you money and told you and your baby to disappear?”
“That’s why I left Washington. Not because they paid me to—I didn’t cash their checks—but because I couldn’t risk letting them or Richard see that I’d decided to have the baby.”
“Do they know where you are?”
“No. At least, I don’t think they do.” She tried to keep the rest from spilling out, but couldn’t. “Richard is having trouble conceiving with his new wife. I’ve seen a couple of news reports online about it this week. Before now, I was pretty positive that Richard and his family thought I was so insignificant, and so lacking in strength, that they wouldn’t bother trying to track me down once I’d left Washington. Especially given that they’d told me that if I tried to say a word against them, their charity—one that helps disadvantaged women, ironically—would be what people sided with. Not a woman who had clearly gotten knocked up on purpose to try to lock their son into marrying her to set her up for life.” She took a shaky breath. “But now that I know Richard might not be able to have the Bentley heir they were all expecting his wife to give them...”
“I can help you, Grace. I can help keep you and Mason safe from them.”
She gave him a small smile to let him know she appreciated his offer even if she couldn’t possibly take him up on it. God, she could only imagine what a mess that would be, especially since she’d seen for herself that afternoon that at least one of Dylan’s cousins ran in the same circles as the Bentleys. Dylan’s family had been nothing but nice to her and Mason. She wouldn’t drag them into her mess.
“When you were talking about sailing through a storm during our interview, I realized that I’ve been there. Finding out that I was pregnant and then realizing that I was going to have to be a parent all by myself has been one of the most frightening things I’ve ever done, but also one of the most beautiful. My parents raised me to be strong, but I was never really tested before and never knew what I was capable of. Or how tough I could really be. Now I do, and I have a plan for how to fight them just in case I ever need to. But thank you for offering to help us. Honestly, it’s enough that you agreed to do this story with me. That already helps a great deal.”
“You’re so damned strong, Grace, that anyone who can’t see it is a total idiot.” Had anyone ever looked at her with such respect and admiration? “But my brother Rafe is a P.I. And Ian is one of the wealthiest men in the world, with business ties to pretty much everyone. My brothers can help make sure nothing ever happens to you and Mason. Let me talk to them. Let us make absolutely sure that your ex and his family aren’t up to anything.” He took her hand in his. “I promise you that they’ll stay totally below the radar. They won’t stir anything up.”
It was so overwhelming, the way he was offering to help in any way he could to keep her and her son safe. “But we—”
She stopped herself before she could protest that they’d only just met. What did it matter how long she’d known Dylan when he was offering to do whatever he and his family could to keep her son safely with her?
“Yes,” she finally said. “Okay.”
“You’ll let us help?”
Utterly overwhelmed with emotion from all sides, she nodded. “I’d appreciate it, actually, not having everything fall on me for once.”
“Thank you for trusting me not only to help, but also by telling me about your past.”
“I couldn’t let you think there was something wrong with you.” Realizing that sounded strange, she quickly added, “I mean, obviously you’ve looked in a mirror, so you know that’s not the problem.” Ugh, that only made things worse, even though he’d smiled when she said it. “It’s just now that you know where I am in my life and where I’ve come from, you can understand why I promised myself that I wouldn’t make that same mistake again. I can’t jump into a relationship right now and don’t honestly know when or if I’ll be able to again. Not now that everything inside of me has shut down.”