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  “Your wife was writing a series of articles on Gerald Robinson, wasn’t she?” Connor recalled, addressing the question to Jayden.

  “Yes, she was.” He looked around for Ariana, who had wandered off to talk to someone else at the party. “That’s how Ariana and I initially met,” Jayden explained.

  “I’d love to pick her brain and ask her a few questions sometime if I could,” Connor told the man.

  Jayden saw no reason to wait. “Now’s as good a time as any.” Turning toward an attractive woman who was talking to Billie, the next mother-to-be, Jayden put out his hand. “Honey, I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to my wife, the reporter,” he told her. “Do you have a few minutes to talk shop?”

  Ariana’s smile was warm and relaxed. “Always,” she told him. Turning toward Connor and Brianna, she asked, “What would you like to know?”

  Connor didn’t hesitate. “Everything.”

  Ariana looked mildly surprised.

  “Connor here thinks that Charlotte is bent on getting revenge against the family,” her husband explained.

  Ariana automatically shivered at the mention of the other woman’s name.

  “It certainly wouldn’t surprise me,” the reporter told the small gathering. “I think Charlotte could probably trace her lineage back to Lucrezia Borgia.”

  “She hasn’t poisoned anyone,” Nathan’s wife, Bianca, pointed out.

  “Yet,” Jayden said.

  The others laughed, but it was an uncomfortable laugh that had an element of truth in it.

  “Personally, I don’t know what Mother sees in Gerald,” Grayson told them. “The man cheated on Charlotte so many times he’s probably lost count. I don’t know how many illegitimate offspring he has. In fact, I don’t think he knows.”

  “I bet Charlotte does,” Jayden told the others.

  This was his cue to speak up, Connor thought. “Brianna and I are trying to locate as many of those offspring as we can.” He saw Bianca and Ariana look at him quizzically. “I want all of them to know that Charlotte potentially might have them in her sights. They need to be warned so she doesn’t catch them off guard and wind up doing something awful to them,” Connor said.

  “You do know that Julius Fortune, Jerome’s father, had four illegitimate sons himself,” Ariana asked.

  Jayden’s wife seemed uncomfortable telling him that, perhaps because she didn’t know how much Connor knew about the so-called family patriarch and she didn’t want to be the one telling family secrets.

  “Oh, I know,” Connor replied, effectively negating her concern. “I even know their names.” He proceeded to recite them. “There’s my dad, Kenneth. There’s also Miles, Gary and David,” he told the small gathering. “I met Miles and his family at the family reunion in January. I haven’t made contact with Gary or David or any of their families yet,” he confessed, “but I’m going to see if I can get in contact with them next. Provided no other major disasters take place,” he added, thinking of the estate fire that had set everything off.

  “Hey, everybody,” Bianca cut in, calling their attention to the front of the room. “They’re bringing out the cake.”

  The present conversation regarding the devious Charlotte Robinson was tabled until after the gifts were opened and everyone had gotten at least one slice of the multi-tiered cake.

  * * *

  “So, did my family manage to overwhelm you?” Connor asked Brianna when they left the party and were finally on their way home.

  “I’m not sure if overwhelm is the correct word here, but there certainly are a lot of them,” Brianna replied with a quiet laugh.

  “And there’s even more.” Connor smiled. He was a little overwhelmed himself. “It’s kind of hard to tell all the players without a scorecard,” he admitted, then sighed. “It’s not exactly a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.”

  “Families can be messy,” Brianna agreed. She tried to be kind in her assessment. “I guess parents don’t always realize the kind of damage they can do to their children by their actions.”

  “No argument there,” Connor agreed. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’m really lucky to have grown up in a happy home with two parents who loved each other and still do.”

  The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Connor realized his mistake. He shouldn’t have drawn attention to that. He saw Brianna wince and he knew she was thinking of her own children, who had never really had a father on the scene.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out,” Connor apologized.

  But she waved off his guilty reaction. “There’s no need to apologize,” she told him. “You’re right. Parenthood is a heavy responsibility and it’s definitely not for everyone,” Brianna said, thinking of Jonny again. He just hadn’t been cut out to take care of a family.

  To him they had been a burden, not a blessing.

  She’d finally come to terms with that.

  Connor was silent for a moment. “Do you ever regret having Ava and Axel?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “Not for one second of one day,” Brianna told him. “Those kids are everything to me. I love them more than life itself and I’ll always put them first.”

  They had reached her house. Connor pulled up into her driveway and turned off the ignition. Rather than get out, he shifted to face her.

  “And who puts you first?” Connor asked.

  Brianna had no answer for that. She’d been so busy giving and taking care of people and animals, she hadn’t thought of herself. It felt that she hadn’t had any alone time until Connor had showed up.

  Shrugging, she looked away because the answer to his question was no one.

  Connor crooked his finger beneath her chin, turning her head so that she faced him and he could look into her eyes.

  “Let me be the one, Bri,” he told her softly. “Let me be the one who puts you first.”

  It wasn’t a proposal, she knew that. But it was a sign. A sign of hope.

  She knew she was setting herself up, that she was as likely to be disappointed as she was to be elated, but she refused to dwell on the downside, to think that this wouldn’t lead anywhere.

  She had lived so long without being in love, without any hope that the future was going to turn out the way that she wanted it to, that Brianna found herself grasping not at straws, but at the mere promise of a straw.

  For now, that was enough, and who knew? Maybe that promise, that hope would swell and take root, becoming something that would flower into the happiness she so desperately craved.

  Craved not just for herself, but for her children, as well.

  Because her children deserved to be happy and to grow up feeling loved not just by one parent but by two parents.

  “You’re crying,” Connor realized. About to open his own door to get out, he stopped and looked at her. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No,” Brianna answered, shaking her head. “No, you said something right.”

  He rubbed his thumb along her cheek, brushing away traces of her tears. He brought his thumb up to his lips and tasted it.

  “Salty,” he commented. “I need something sweet to counterbalance it.” Connor leaned in closer to her, lightly taking hold of her shoulders. “I know just the thing,” he whispered.

  The next moment, his lips met hers. Instantly he could feel passion taking hold of him. There were no regrets over what he had said to her moments ago. He’d meant it. He wanted to take care of her. This was the woman he wanted to have in his life. The woman he felt he’d been looking for. He realized that he had done a one-eighty from the man he had been such a short while ago—and he liked it.

  “Definitely sweet,” he whispered just before he kissed her again.

  And then, after a beat, Connor drew his head back. “We’d better go in before I get carried away,�
�� he told her. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he asked, “By the way, when are the kids going to go on another one of those sleepovers?”

  The sound of her laughter returned everything to normal.

  Chapter Sixteen

  She was in love.

  Brianna had to be honest with herself and admit the truth. Although she had tried to resist this, she had definitely fallen in love with Connor Fortunado.

  Connor was spending more and more time with her and he was no longer hiding behind an excuse. He wasn’t coming over because she was working for him or with him. He was coming over for the simple reason that he wanted to spend time with her, as well as with her kids. That, for her, was the cherry on the sundae.

  Although Brianna told herself she needed to put the skids on, to go into this relationship slowly, she knew it was too late for that. She’d opened up her heart to this man. Connor didn’t shut out her kids or pretend to put up with them when he actually secretly wanted them to be elsewhere. On the contrary, he included them. He took them along on their dinners out and let himself be pulled into the games that Ava and Axel wanted to play at home.

  She knew it was still early and she shouldn’t get too far ahead of herself, but it was so hard not to. So hard not to just love this man who her children adored.

  * * *

  “He seems like a really nice guy,” Beth Wilson said to her one afternoon while their kids were playing together in the backyard. “But if you don’t mind my butting in, I’d proceed slowly with him if I were you,” her friend cautioned.

  “Because I have an awful track record,” Brianna said, guessing at the reason why Beth was attempting to warn her.

  “No, because Connor might not be as committed to this relationship as you are,” Beth explained. The older woman smiled at Brianna. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  She appreciated the concern, but she wasn’t going to change anything. “Until he came along, I was convinced I couldn’t feel anything at all anymore. Connor woke up my heart—and it’s really wonderful to be able to feel again,” Brianna said with enthusiasm.

  “Well, then go for it,” Beth told her. “And I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you—and maybe my toes, too,” she added with a smile.

  “Just not while you’re walking,” Brianna advised with a grin.

  * * *

  “Mama, I don’t feel so good,” Ava complained a couple of days later. She presented herself listlessly in front of her mother. “My hair hurts.”

  Brianna immediately thought of Ava’s brother. Things could get physical very quickly between the siblings. “Axel, did you pull your sister’s hair?” she wanted to know.

  The little boy was sitting on the sofa. “No, I didn’t,” Axel denied indignantly. He pointed to the TV. “I was playing the video game. The dragon keeps trying to eat me,” he complained.

  Ordinarily, Brianna tried to limit the amount of time Axel played video games every day. But right now, her mind wasn’t on video games. She was concerned about her daughter.

  She turned to look at Ava. The little girl looked very pale and there was sweat pasting her hair to her forehead.

  “What do you feel, baby?” she asked Ava.

  The normal enthusiasm she always heard in Ava’s voice was missing.

  “Hot,” the little girl told her in a quiet voice. “I’m hot.”

  “Come here, let me see.” Brianna beckoned her over closer. Rather than going to get a thermometer, she decided to rely on the tried and true, old-fashioned method. She lightly pressed a kiss to the little girl’s forehead. “You are hot,” Brianna confirmed. “Stay right here.”

  She went to get a thermometer out of the medicine cabinet and brought it over to where Ava was slumped against the sofa. She pressed the button, bringing the thermometer to life. The word low flashed across the tiny screen where the numbers usually registered.

  “Okay, you know how the drill goes,” she told her daughter, trying to sound cheerful and turning this into a game. “Put this under your tongue,” Brianna said. “Can you do that for me?”

  “I can do that for you, Mom,” Axel volunteered, raising his hand and waving it at her while still holding his video controller in his other hand.

  “Next time, Axel,” she told her son. “Right now I need to see how high Ava’s fever is.”

  “Is it high?” Axel asked before she had even taken Ava’s temperature. “Is she going to die?”

  The question was jarring, but she tried to remember that he didn’t really mean it the way it sounded.

  “No, she’s not going to die, Axel,” Brianna said, doing her best to sound patient. Ava still hadn’t opened up her mouth. “C’mon, baby, I need to see what your temperature is.” After some more coaxing, she finally got the thermometer under Ava’s tongue.

  When the noise went off, she took thermometer out again.

  “What is it? What is it?” Axel wanted to know, coming over and trying to see over his mother’s shoulder.

  Brianna knew that Ava had to be sick because she wasn’t even asking what the temperature was.

  “Well, you definitely have a temperature, but it’s not too high,” Brianna emphasized. A hundred wasn’t too high when it came to children under seven. She’d heard that somewhere. “But I am putting you to bed, young lady.”

  Ava didn’t protest. That definitely worried her.

  * * *

  When evening came, Brianna transferred the little girl to her bed. She didn’t want Axel catching the cold she figured her daughter had.

  Axel looked overjoyed to finally have his own room. “Cool. I get the whole room all to myself,” the boy crowed happily.

  His elated mood lasted all of half an hour before he came into Brianna’s bedroom, a sheepish look on his face as he peered in.

  “Mom, can I sleep here, too?”

  “What about having the whole room to yourself?” Brianna asked him, surprised that he wanted to give up the temporary arrangement.

  “It’s too big,” he finally said after a few minutes. “And it makes noises. I can hear it,” he complained.

  “That’s just your imagination, honey.” She knew that both of her kids had exceptionally vivid ones.

  “My imagination makes noises, too,” Axel told her solemnly.

  She started to tell Axel that he needed to be brave and return to his room when Ava’s breathing suddenly became labored.

  Axel’s head instantly whirled in his sister’s direction. “Why’s she breathing so funny, Mommy?” he wanted to know. For all of his blasé attitude, the little boy looked worried.

  That makes two of us, Brianna thought, still trying to maintain a brave front for her children’s benefit.

  This time Brianna didn’t bother with the thermometer again. She had already taken Ava’s temperature over half a dozen times since she had brought the little girl into her room and put her to bed there.

  Putting her hand against her daughter’s forehead, Brianna pulled it back almost immediately. Ava’s forehead felt as if it was on fire.

  “Go get dressed, Axel. I’m dropping you off at Mrs. Wilson’s house,” Brianna told her son as she reached for the phone.

  “For a sleepover?” Axel asked eagerly.

  There was no point in alarming him and telling Axel the truth. “Yes. For a sleepover,” she answered instead.

  “Ava, too?” Axel wanted to know.

  The fact that he was including his sister squeezed her heart. The phone on the other end was ringing and she was waiting for Beth to answer. “No, I’m taking Ava to the hospital.”

  Rather than run happily off to get ready for the sleepover, Axel stood where he was, looking at his sister. He had a sad expression on his face. “She’s really sick, isn’t she, Mommy?”

  Rather than say yes, Brianna told her son, “The doctors’ll
get her well.” She heard Beth pick up. “Now hurry and get dressed!”

  Axel hurried out of the room.

  * * *

  “Don’t worry about a thing,” Beth told her twenty minutes later as the woman met her at the car. As she spoke, Beth took hold of Axel’s hand. “Just get Ava to the emergency room. I’d come with you, but Harry’s not home,” she said, referring to her husband. “He’s working the late shift tonight and there’s no one to stay with the kids. Meredith’s not answering her phone,” she added, mentioning her younger sister.

  “I really appreciate you letting me leave Axel with you,” Brianna said, getting back into her car.

  She had barely heard half of what Beth was saying to her. Her attention was entirely focused on Ava. Ava was her baby and she looked so small right now, almost curled up in her car seat.

  She should have brought Ava to the emergency room earlier, Brianna upbraided herself angrily. Had she waited too long? Had she been too cavalier about her daughter’s condition, mistakenly chalking it up to just a cold?

  Or had she hesitated bringing Ava in because the health coverage she had wouldn’t pay for an ER visit? Since she was self-employed, she had bought the only policy she could afford. The ER fee would go toward her very large deductible and she would have to pay the bill out of her own pocket.

  A pocket that was very limited, Brianna thought ruefully.

  How could she have even thought about money at a time like this? she silently demanded, recriminating tears beginning to fall.

  Ava was moaning. It was making her feel even guiltier.

  “It’s going to be all right, baby. It’s going to be all right,” Brianna promised. “Mama’s going to get you to the hospital and they’ll make you all better.”

  Ava merely moaned again.

  She wished that Connor was here. If he was, he could reassure her that everything was going to be all right. She needed to hear his calm, soothing voice, Brianna thought, fighting back the ever-growing feeling of desperation.