The Heart's Game (The Kelly Brothers, Book 4) (16 page)

“Yes, I do, but why would he want me?”

Mike wagged his finger. “I won’t stand for that kind of negative thinking, Ms. Nguyen. The first step to getting what you want is to believe you deserve it.”

“That’s the tricky part. It’s hard to believe someone like me deserves someone like him. Dan’s everything I could’ve wanted, and you saw how desperate I was to keep him.”

“Then let me see what I can do to smooth things over for you.” He kissed the top of her head and stood. “But for now, have some tea, watch a movie, and relax. All this worrying is not good for the baby.”

“I’ll try.” But even after Mike left, she replayed the whole confrontation and wondered what she could’ve done differently. After half an hour, she finally pulled out her phone and dialed Dan’s number.

It went straight to voicemail.

She waited for the beep and said, “Dan, I’m sorry. Please, just give me a chance to explain everything.” Her breath caught, and she added the one thing she hoped would convince him to call her back. “I love you.”

***

Dan dropped his bags at the door of his apartment and went straight for the liquor cabinet. If anything called for a good stiff drink, it was this. He unscrewed the lid from the bottle of Jameson and took a long swing.

How could I have been so stupid?

How could I have fallen for her lies?

God, it was Cait all over again.

He took another gulp and carried the bottle to the sofa. Part of him wanted nothing more than to get completely shitfaced, but a small voice in the back of his mind warned him that he was on call tomorrow, and operating with a hangover was just opening the door for a malpractice suit. So instead of consulting the Jameson, he turned to the next best thing.

His eldest brother.

He dialed Adam’s number and breathed a small prayer of thanks when he answered. “Hey, Dan, I just got off the phone with Mom. She kept going on and on about how much she liked Jenny and how—”

“The baby’s not mine.”

Adam grew silent. “I see. Let me go someplace a little more quiet.” A few seconds later, the background conversations vanished. “What do you mean, the baby’s not yours?”

“Just that.” He took another drink from the bottle. “We got home, and there was this big black man in her place calling her his baby mama and fondling her belly. And when I asked her if it was his, she said yes.”

“Shit.” The brisk footsteps on the other side of the line told him Adam was pacing. “So, what do you think about this?”

“What do I think? I think I dodged a major bullet. Should’ve known better than to get involved with another gamer. You’d think I would’ve learned that lesson from Cait.”

“Do you really think Jenny was like her?”

“The evidence is right there. She’s pregnant with another man’s child and had the gall to make me believe it’s mine. The kicker was that he’s married. I saw the ring on his hand. What else is she hiding from me?”

More footsteps filled the line. “But based on everything Mom told me, this doesn’t sound like the girl you brought up to Ben’s. Did you give her a chance to explain?”

“What is there to explain? She confirmed it was his, and that’s all I needed to know. She’s a two-timing slut like Cait, and I can’t believe I was stupid enough to consider marrying her.”

“Why were you thinking of marrying her? Was it only because of the baby?”

Dan winced from the fire in his chest that he wished he could blame on the whiskey. Yes, there was a part of him that was disappointed to learn the baby wasn’t his. He was actually looking forward to fatherhood, to having a kid of his own. But the deeper cuts came from Jenny’s betrayal. He’d fallen so hard for her that this revelation made him question his own judgment.

“No,” he replied, his voice raw with pain.

“Then if you really loved her, you should at least hear her side of the story.”

“No, I’m not going to be that stupid again, Adam.”

“Then why did you call me if you’re not going to take my advice?”

Dan stared at the bottle of whiskey and debated if he’d had enough before setting it down on the end table. “I suppose I just wanted someone to know that I’d been a fool.”

“The only foolish thing you’re doing is jumping to conclusions and potentially walking away from the love of your life.”

“There will be others,” he said, more to himself than Adam. But he’d learned his lesson. He wouldn’t let any of them get close to him again.

“And I always thought you were the smart one.”

Adam hung up before Dan could offer a rebuttal.

Chapter Thirteen

“Dr. Kelly,” Gayle said as he came out of a patient’s room, wringing her hands in worry, “I didn’t know what to do, so please don’t be upset with me.”

“It’s hard to be upset when I don’t know what’s up.” Dan bid his final patient of the morning farewell and turned his attention to the receptionist.

She handed him a business card. “This lawyer showed up and said he wouldn’t leave until he spoke with you, and I was so worried about him causing a scene in the waiting room that I directed him to your office.”

Dan’s gut tightened with worry. Anytime a doctor got an unexpected visit from a lawyer, it usually meant bad news. He read the name on the card, noting he listed “Business Litigation” as his specialty. “It’s okay, Gayle. You did the right thing. Go take your lunch, and I’ll take care of Mr. Warren from here.”

His receptionist gave him a cautious nod before retreating to the lunchroom.

He flipped the card over, looking for any clues before making his way down the hall. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything to warrant a lawsuit.

The instant he saw the black man from Jenny’s apartment sitting in his office, the same jealous rage coiled in his muscles. His fingers reflexively curled into his palms, and he struggled to keep his face blank and his voice flat as he greeted him. “Mr. Warren, I presume.”

“Dr. Kelly,” he replied with a nod and rose from the chair. If the fact he was a litigator wasn’t intimidating by itself, the man’s sheer presence would be more than enough to make most men watch their words. He was maybe an inch or two taller than Ben, but just as muscular. The quiet intensity burning in his eyes made it very clear he wouldn’t leave until he’d had his say, but he still held out his hand and gave him a friendly smile. “Thank you for taking a moment to meet with me.”

Dan didn’t take his hand, choosing instead to take off his white coat and roll up his shirt sleeves. He needed to put his desk between them before he gave into the barbaric urges brewing inside him. He wanted nothing more than to pound the shit out of the man who’d impregnated Jenny. “You have a lot of gall showing up here after Friday night.”

“I’m here on behalf of Jenny.” He waited for Dan to sit down before doing the same. “There seems to be a little misunderstanding that I’d like to clear up.”

Dan focused on stacking the charts on his desk. “The only misunderstanding here was the fact I was led to believe the child was mine.”

“Perhaps, but did you ever
ask
Jenny that?”

Dan paused, letting the little voice that had been niggling in the back of his mind all weekend be heard. “We were dating. Naturally, I assumed the child was mine.”

“But you never specifically asked, did you?”

Guilt and embarrassment burned at the base of his spine, and he banged the stack of charts on his desk. “Is there a purpose to your visit, Mr. Warren, or are you here to mock me for being duped by her?”

“Please, call me Mike. And yes, there is a purpose to my visit.” He sat as quietly as a mediating monk, the only perceptible movement being the slight twitching of his lips.

Dan slumped back in his desk chair and swiveled around. “I’m listening.”

“First, let me clarify my relationship to Jenny. I’m married to her brother, Jason.”

Dan stiffened, then leaned forward. “You’re gay?”

Mike nodded. “Do you find that surprising?”

“Sorry, I just assumed…” Sweat beaded along the back of his neck. This conversation had just made an awkward turn. “But if you’re married to her brother, then why are you sleeping with her?”

“Dr. Kelly, as a medical professional, surely you’ve heard of something called artificial insemination.”

“So you didn’t sleep with her?”

Mike shook his head.

Oh, shit!

A new line of moisture formed along his hairline, and the mounting pressure of his pounding heart mimicked his response to a stressful case in the operating room where one small move could spell disaster. He couldn’t have been more wrong about Jenny, and now he was on the hot seat, getting grilled by her lawyer brother-in-law.

“No matter how many advances reproductive medicine has made, two men can’t create a baby. We still need a woman for that. Jenny agreed to act as surrogate for us since her DNA is closest to her brother’s. She underwent artificial insemination the week before Comic-Con and was already pregnant when she met you, even though we didn’t have confirmation of it until she returned home.”

Suddenly everything started to make sense. Why she’d pushed him away from the beginning. Why she said she couldn’t get involved with anyone. Why she wouldn’t give any reason other than it was complicated.

Complicated
didn’t begin to describe this.

“So you’re fairly certain the baby’s yours?” he asked.

“She had a positive test the Sunday after Comic-Con. How early do you think a home test can detect a pregnancy?”

“Ten days after conception at the earliest.” Which only confirmed that the baby wasn’t his. The familiar ache returned to his chest. He still wanted the child.

He still wanted her.

“Jenny claims she told you that she was pregnant and that you seemed fine with it at the time.”

He searched his memory until he zeroed on something she’d whispered as he was falling asleep the night he’d confronted her about the pregnancy. Something about being pregnant when she’d met him. But he’d always assumed she was referring to when she ran into him again at Paul’s game. And he’d been so scared that she’d push him away that he didn’t dare ask too many questions.

“I can understand that you were upset to learn the baby wasn’t yours, Dr. Kelly, but I thought I would let you know the circumstances surrounding Jenny’s pregnancy. She’s giving us the one thing we can’t have, and I’m sorry to hear her generosity has caused conflict in your relationship.”

Translation: I’m a complete asshole for dumping her.

“Jenny had mentioned that up until this weekend, you’d insisted on coming to her ultrasound tomorrow where we find out the baby’s gender. I hope you’ll reconsider and join us.” Mike stood and smoothed his tie. “Have a good day, Dr. Kelly.”

Dan stared straight ahead, his fist pressed against his mouth, long after Mike had left. He’d been so convinced that Jenny had cheated on him that he didn’t bother to look for another explanation. And now that he had it…

I’m a dick of the first degree
.

He picked up his phone and checked his missed calls. After leaving her condo Friday night, he’d blocked her number. A quick scan showed she’d called him twenty-three times since then, but she’d only left one voicemail. His hand shook as he typed in his PIN and listened to it.

Her voice was quiet and raw, and she sniffled once while speaking.
Shit!
He’d made her cry. It wasn’t a long explanation or a series of excuses. Just a simple plea to let her explain. But it was the last three words of her message that ripped him apart.

She loved him.

Neither one of them had mentioned the L-word while they were together, even though he’d been tempted to say it more than once. Now Jenny had beaten him to it. Even after he’d run out on her, she still loved him.

He replayed the voicemail once more time, his breath catching as he listened to her say “I love you” again. He could get used to that phrase, but only if it came from her. He hung up and found her number. He should call her back, let her know he was sorry and that he knew everything. But somehow, saying he was sorry didn’t seem like enough. He needed to do something more than just tell her. He needed to show her.

He switched to Adam’s number and waited for his brother to pick up. “I need a crash course on Groveling 101.”

“And you think I have any experience in that department?” his brother shot back.

“Well, it was either you or Frank, but since you’re married…”

Adam chuckled. “So you heard Jenny’s side of the story?”

“Yeah, and it’s a doozy. One that’s going to require more than a bouquet of flowers to smooth over.”

“You have my full attention.”

He recounted Mike’s visit to Adam, and by the time he hung up, he had a game plan to win her back.

***

Jenny sat on the ultrasound table and cast a worried glance to her brother and Mike. Dan hadn’t shown up. She’d purposely scheduled the ultrasound for this time because it was between surgeries on his OR day.