Dark Demands 04: Bound to Him (6 page)

“Is it true, Gina,” he faced her.  “That’s Dark’s child in your belly, not mine?
”  He
demanded scornfully and
waited for her reaction but there wasn’t one, she just stood there staring at him expressionless.

“
And you would
’ve
let me go ahead with this – this lie – thi
s pretence
?  Y
ou were quite prepared to keep this dreadful secret from
everyone – from
me and from him?”  He asked nodding at her bump.

“Yes,” she replied simply. 
Gina hated herself for hurting him like this.  Kyle had been her best friend – her emotional rock when she’d really needed one.  This was no
sort of
reward for everything he’d done for her.

“You can shout if you must but I can’t change things and to be honest, Kyle, I
know now that I
don’t want to
o
.”

He
nodded.  “You still want him, don’t you?”

“I think so but whether he wants me or not remains to be seen.  Matthew isn’t an easy man to know and although we have this thing going on between us that’s no guarantee that we’ll make each other happy.”

Looking at him now with the truth spread out before them
Gina
k
new that she didn’t love Kyle
– that she’d probably never loved him. 

“Well – that’s honest at least,” he agreed his blu
e eyes glinting with emotion
as he stared at her.  “He’ll hurt you – he can’t be faithful
.  If you think that
’s
just sour grapes then
ask Lisa -
and his demands in
the bedroom will finish you,” he waited for a response but she just shrugged.  “
But you know that
already
and I’m not going to plead.  Given what you did last night, Gina, Dark is welcome to you.  You
two deserve each other – you
are just different sides of the same coin.”
  He paused and watched her brush a tear from her pale cheek. 
“I’ll make some excuse – some fabrication – so don’t worry I won’t tell anyone your dirty little secret.  I’m not that wicked.”

Despite the hurt, the betrayal, he still loved her and he knew that if she’d run to him now a
nd she asked
him to take her back – then he would have done
so
, child and all.  But she wouldn’t – she couldn’t, so that was that.  His brief but wonderful relationship with Gina Deverell was well and truly over.

With that Kyle Hastings turned on his heel and left.  Gina heard the front door slam shut and
then
ran to Grace and
burst into tears.

The pain woke her in the middle of the night. 
The gripping, brain numbing pain that hauled her from the comfort of sleep and woke her whimpering
in acute
discomfort. 
She rubbed an anxious hand over her large bump and checked the time.  Three a.m. 
This must be it, she thought biting her lip. 
 

Gr
ace didn’t approve of what Gina had
done but it made no difference to how she felt about
her step daughter
and now that she needed her she’d be right by her side
.

Her bag had been packed for days now and Grace grabbed that and her car keys as Gina shrugged herself painfully into a
large,
fluffy dressing gown.

“God there’re getting closer now, “she said gripping a chair back
.  She was
breathing in and out as shallow as
she could as
the
contraction spread its painful fingers over her abdomen
making he
r
wince
and groan
.
  “I’m scared, Grace,” she admitted clenching her teeth as she leaned forwards with her hands supporting her belly.

“Come on
then
– let’s get you looked at,” Grace
smiled reassuringly and
t
aking
her arm led her carefully downstairs.

Seven
hours later after the most
exhausting and
painful experience of her entire life Gina gave birth to an eight pound baby boy. 
She’d know it was a boy since her twenty week scan - not that it mattered she was just relieved to have a healthy baby. 
The moment she looked at him she knew he had been
well worth all the effort
.  She was
utterly
thrilled with him
and loved him instantly
, he was quite
perfect
a
beautiful
infant. 
As she ran
her first loving, maternal gaze
over his tiny body and
s
aw
hi
s
dark hair and eyes, Gina realised that
there was no way anyone would have believed the fair haired Kyle Hastings was his father.  One look
at the tiny bundle in
the crib
confirmed to
Grace
too
that Gina had
indeed told her the truth
.  T
here could be no doubt about it -
Matthew Dark was
definitely
this infant’s biological father.

Gina
called her son James – James Deverell after her
own
father.
  Shortly after she’d given birth he rang her – from
Peru
.  He’d practically gone all round the globe since
leaving his business but now finally
convinced that he’d
got something out of his system
he
was on his way back and eager to meet his new grandson. 

“He could have his own father’s name,” Grace pointed out.  “All you have to do is tell Matthew and take him with you when you register the birth.”

“N
o,” Gina
was emphatic.  “He hasn’t contacted me since that night so I know
for sure
now
that he’s not interested
in me
,” she replied coldly. 

The last thing
Gina
needed now was Matthew Dark in her life.  She
seemed to live in a
constant state of
either exhaustion or panic and
hadn’t the time or the energy to think about
him
.  B
ut the fact that he’d kept well out of
t
he way spoke volumes.  He would know that she’d split with Kyle – Lisa would have seen to that.  Given the timing of that split he must also realise that it had a lot to do with him and what happened between them.  So his absence was a sure sign that h
is need for her was simply sporadic – nothing more than an itch that he needed to scratch every now and again
.

The
following few
weeks pass
ed
in a flurry of nappies, milk and sleepless nights. 
And s
till there was n
othing from Matthew
and Gina
began to think she’d never
hear from him again.  After all hadn’t their meeting at the party been pure coincidence?
  And even if he did want to see her she didn’t have the time or the energy for a social life.  Young James was all consuming – and he had swiftly taken over her life in a way no one else ever had
or probably ever would in the future
.  But what of her feelings – in her weaker, dead tired moments she couldn’t hold the flood of memories back.  He was there – tall, dark and deliciously handsome and wanted to do nothing else but pleasure her beyond her wildest dreams.

When James was
three
months old Gina’s dad finally came home.  Gone was the worry ridden ma
n who’d left in such a hurry
–
the man who’d
gone
off
globe trotting into the night and
disappeared for months.  Back in his place had
returned
a tanned, relaxed man who seemed
very at ease with what had happened to his old business and who was
more than happy to help out with the new addition to the family.

“Grace told me about
you and
Dark,” he announced one day out of the blue while
he was attempting to change baby James
. 

“There is no me and Dark,” Gina
reminded him pointedly.  “As you can see I’ve got my hands full with this little bundle.
  Matthew Dark was just a blip and damned annoying one at that,
”
she added with a frown.  Why
bring Dark up out of the blue like this?  W
hy couldn’t they just leave things alone?

“I didn’t see much of him during the negotiations but I thought him an okay sort of guy,” he
r
dad told her
.  “
And I have to say, Gina – some blip
as you call it
. 
You went after him,
all guns blazing
– so
Grace
told me
.
  She also said you
got yourself into
a lot of
trouble –
and that
the outcome was
this little monster,” he added tickling James in an attempt to get a smile.  “
But t
he truth is Gina,
you were wrong about him. 
Dark
was a great help to me.  He paid me a good price for the firm and let
’
s face it –
given the state things were in
it would have been far more sensible
for him
to refuse.”

“He did try to explain all that back at t
he beginning, Dad, but he wasn’t
always straight with the facts
and I just didn’t believe him.  I was on a one woman mission to get even and I fell into a trap he’d set for someone else.
”
  She hesitated there was no way she could tell either her dad or Grace anything about her odd relationship with Dark but she knew they were both intensely curious about why she hadn’t told him about James.
  “
It was obvious to me that we weren’t going anywhere
– so that’s
why I had to call an end to it.”

“
That’s a great shame because
I quite like him and
h
e’s coming back
today
. 
I got an email from him
last week
.  He’s
been
working
in his
head office in
New York
for a while
.”

“
I don’t understand - w
hy would Matthew Dark email you, Dad?  I thought all you
r
business dealings with him were completed months ago.”

“
They were – but now
he’s offered me a job, Gina,” he admitted watching his daughter’s face fall.  “More or less my old job –
but on a part-time basis -
taking care of the
London
office.”

“So much for reti
rement then,” she put to him
sarcastically
.  What was Matthew play
ing
at
and what was her dad playing at for that matter
? 

“He offered me a good deal – in fact you can discuss it with us tomorrow evening – I’ve invited him to dinner,” he smiled.

Gina’s eyes shot
up
to his – what was this? 
She hoped it wasn’t some ham fisted attempt at matc
h making – because that would never
work.

“
What
do you think you’re doing
, Dad.  My relationship with Matthew is well – complicated.  Truth is we don’t have a relationship we crashed into each others
lives, had an affair and then
look what happened,
”
she said smiling at baby James. 
“
So don’t interfere – please. 
Whatever it is you’re planning – forget it.”

She might make a good show of appearing slightly outraged in front of her father but the truth was Gina was tingling with excitement at this news.  Whatever was going on Matthew was coming here – apparently to see her dad but he would know very well that she’d be here too.

Panic suddenly gripped her – he’d see James.  Would he guess?  Could he look at the infant and not see the resemblances? 
What on earth was she going to say to him?