The Tycoon's Toddler Surprise (9 page)

She turned away from him slightly.  “I told you, I didn’t leave you, Mikhail.  I left New York.  I wanted you to be with me, but I couldn’t maintain that lifestyle while I was pregnant.  The stress caused me to almost mis-carry and I wasn’t willing to sacrifice our child.  Even to be with you.”

She watched his jaw clench as he considered what she’d just said.  She held her breath, waiting to see if he would believe her or if he still thought she’d left him.  She didn’t know why she cared.  She had hoped and prayed for so long that he would appear, only to be disappointed.  She’d been scared and lonely and ashamed that her husband hadn’t helped her out so she was as much of a victim here as he was because he’d missed the first three years of his daughter’s life. 

“I think we both are victims here.”

“How do you think?” he asked grimly.

“You missed being there for Victoria’s birth, for her first steps, her first words.  And I missed having your support and a shoulder to cry on when things got tough.”

He was quiet for a long time before he said, “What was she like as a baby?”

Kristen smiled and curled her legs up underneath her.  “She was beautiful,
”
she said initially, then went into details about their daughter’s life, about all the things he missed.  She didn’t talk about her anger that he wasn’t there, or the betrayal she’d felt with his absence.  Knowing that
Ellen
was
finally
going to be punished for what she did was enough.  At least for now.  She’d have to think about it and mull that side of
things
over in her mind before she made a final decision. 

He laughed and she
felt
a soft glow start to burn inside her.  For the next hour and a half, he asked her questions, she answered and they laughed about the foibles of a two and three year old. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you”

“I know.  And I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to bring you into her life.”

“What more could you have done?  You’ve said that you called and wrote letters,” he said with a growl,
indicative
of the amount of trouble his secretary was now in. 

“
What’s
going to happen to Ellen?” she asked softly.

“I hope she burns in hell!”

Kristen smiled slightly, but then said, “And in the interim?”

“I believe George said he was calling the police but I won’t know more until I check in later on.  She definitely won’t be able to get a job in New York or any other place I have any influence.”

Kristen started to interject some compassion but she didn’t have it in her yet.  She was still too angry with the woman who had continuously interfered with her marriage and now she’d done something to harm her child by denying her
a
father.  That kind of thing would be hard for a mother to overcome. 

“Why didn’t you file for a divorce?” he asked, his gaze intently watching her.

Kristen’s heart stopped for a moment, then sped up rapidly.  “Um…well…I kept thinking you’d come to your senses and realize that being a father wasn’t so bad.”

He shook his head.  “
That’s
why you kept sending the letters.  Not why you didn’t dissolve our marriage.”  He stood up and came towards her, his intent obvious. 

A sleepy
little girl with her hair messed up and a stuffed tiger under her arm padded softly into the room, interrupting their conversation. 

“You’re still here, daddy?” she asked, pushing her brown curls impatiently out of her eyes. 

“Of course I’m still here.  I’m not leaving you, honey.”  He bent down and lifted her into his arms.  “Your momma and I were just talking about what you were like as a baby.”

“Was I cute?” she asked, smiling into his eyes and accepting his strong arms around her tiny body without question.

“Of course you w
ere cute,
” he replied with a chuckle.  “How could you be anything else?”

“Do you want to see pictures of me?” she asked and immediately wiggled out of his arms to race across the room to a bookshelf packed with books and papers. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Kristen watched and listened as her daughter regaled her father with her past escapades.  She let them have their space by sitting at her desk and going over details of her latest cases, writing up notes for contracts she needed to
review
. 

Dinner was a marvel of tension and laughter as Victoria continued to talk and Mikhail laughed but overall, threw Kristen heated looks telling her that he wanted her. 
She didn’t understand how the man could be furiously angry with her, believe that she’d completely betrayed him only hours before, and now was telling her without words that he would have her in his bed by nightfall. 

The looks were over the top of Victoria’s head so the girl didn’t grasp the undertones, but Mikhail made sure that
Kristen
didn’t miss anything.

Kristen’s hands shook as she finished loading the dishes into the dishwasher from dinner while Mikhail struggled through Victoria’s bath.  She found a small amount of retribution in assigning him the task of washing their daughter’s hair since she suspected he’d never even considered doing something like that. 
He rallied to the challenge though, never missing a beat and she even heard them in the bathroom laughing about who knew what. 

When Victoria was tucked into bed and received both goodnight kisses, Kristen’s shaking hands became shaking legs and wobbly knees.  She didn’t want to be alone with Mikhail, not sure where they stood.  And she definitely didn’t want to jump into bed with him after being without him for three years. 

The only problem was, each time he had touched her in the past, she hadn’t been able to resist him.  From almost the very beginning, he had only to look at her before she was quivering with need. 

She would have to pull back, to figure out his plans and understand him better.  There was no way she could go through the kind of pain she’d endured when she’d left him the last time.  She’d do it for Victoria, but this round, she was determined to get to know him better and really find out how he thought and what made him tick.  He was so driven, so powerful and strong but she had no idea what made him like that. 

She wanted to know the man, not just the superficial partner that he allowed her to see. 

When he emerged from Victoria’s bedroom, she was prepared, standing in the middle of the small den with her arms crossed over her stomach and feet braced apart, ready to confront him.

He stepped into the room and looked at her, a small smile curling one side of his sexy mouth.  “You look like you’re braced for battle, Kristen.”

She hesitated and tried to relax, but it was no use.  Where Mikhail was concerned, there was no relaxing.  “I guess I am.”

“What’s the problem?” he asked gently, stepping into the room, almost needing to duck under the archway because of his height. 

She took a deep breath, then stepped back and put the overstuffed reading chair between them.  “I love the way you are with Victoria and she has completely embraced you as her father.  I’m so grateful that your entrance to her life was easy and sincerely saddened that you weren’t there for the first three years of her life.”

She hesitated and he raised an eyebrow.  “I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming in a moment.”

Kristen smiled briefly and nodded.  “But, just because Victoria accepted you so easily, I’m afraid I can’t be as open.”

“You never were an easy conquest.”

She didn’t like the sound of that at all.  “I never considered myself a conquest.”

“That’s probably why I thought you were different.”

She shook her head and gripped the back of the chair.  “I’m really no different from other women…”

“I beg to differ, but go on.”

She stopped and stared at him, curious about his comment. “Why do you think I’m different?”

“Because you never wanted anything from me.  Even after we were married, you still wouldn’t quit working and just be my wife.”

“What would I have done with myself all day without my job?”

He smiled and shook his head.  “That’s my point exactly.”

“She sighed and pushed a hand through her hair.  “Mikhail, you’re talking in riddles and I’m trying to be serious.”

“No, you’re trying to put roadblocks between you and I.  Again.  And if that’s what you need, if you need me to court you all over again, then so be it.  I can understand.  I wasn’t there for you, and this is my punishment.”

She shook her head, afraid he actually believed what he was saying.  She came around the chair, her hands outstretched to assure him that she wasn’t being vindictive. “This has nothing to do with punishment or retribution.  I won’t withhold any of your parental rights with Victoria.  She loves you and from what I’ve seen tonight you’ll be a wonderful father to her.”

“But you’re withholding my husbandly rights.”

She blinked and looked up at him, retreating slightly.  “Well, I guess I am, but not because of the reasons you think.”

“Explain,” he said and put his hands on his hips, staring down at her. 

“I’m trying, but you keep making assumptions.”

“I’m listening now.”

She sighed and took a step back, amazed that just his scent and his heat was impacting her senses like this.  She wanted to push all her hesitation aside and demand that he pull her into his arms and make her forget the cold, forget the lonely nights and just make her hot like only he could do.  “Mikhail, we were together for just over six months.  Our marriage was all about sex and we never made it to the real things that would hold us together during a crisis.”

“I’ll make sure there are no crises.”

She smiled, touched by his confidence.  “You’re power and wealth can easily shelter both Victoria and I from any kind of financial crisis, but what about something more substantial?  What about the death of one of your parents?”

“You won’t be bothered by that.”

She was confused.  “Why not?”

“You don’t need to worry about my parents.”

She smiled and touched his arm lightly.  “See?  That’s exactly what I’m worried about.  I don’t know anything about your parents.  I don’t know why you’re the brilliant financial man who has built an empire all over the world and who commands instant respect only when your name is whispered in a board room.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

She shook her head and laughed slightly.  “No, I’m not.  And you know it too.”

He shrugged. “I have a great deal of influence in certain areas.”

“You are an extremely powerful man.  But what made you like this?  What created this amazing drive to succeed in anything
you dream up?”

He shrugged again and looked away.  “I know how to do things,” he said simply.

She sighed and shook her head.  “That’s exactly why I don’t want to jump back into a physical relationship with you.  Non-answers like that make me wonder what kind of stranger I’m sleeping with.”

He looked down at her, his eyes assessing, considering his options.  “You know I could overcome your resistance.  In fact, I don’t think you’d even resist, would you?” 

She shivered and took a step back, retreating behind the chair once again, grateful that he allowed her the space.  “Mikhail, you know you’re a wonderful lover.”

“Then let us enjoy one another.”

“I want more than that.”

“You’re asking for too much,” he ground out, suddenly angry with her demands.

“I’m finally asking for what I deserve.  I want it all,” she said intently.  “I want the fabulous lover as well as whatever man is lurking behind that façade you show to the rest of the world.  I want to know the real man, not just the image.”

He swore under his breath and spun around.  “You’re being unreasonable, Kristen.”

“No, I’m finally coming to my senses.  Now that I know you didn’t desert us, and you know that I haven’t been hiding our child from you since her birth, I think we both deserve to learn to trust each other at a very elemental level.”

“I don’t do ‘trust’!” he snapped back.  “Accept what I’m willing to give…”

“Which is what?  Money and a house over my head?”  she demanded back at him.  “I’ve got that.  I want it all.  I want the man!  I want to love all of you and not just the parts you’re willing to share.  I want to know the person I get into bed with at night and when the demons start calling, I want to know that I’m the woman you’re going to come to when you need help fighting them off.  That way, when I have demons I need help with, it will be equal partners approaching the nest of vipers.” 

“Don’t be dramatic!”

“I’m not being dramatic, Mikhail.  I’m being realistic.  If I’d known you better, understood your secrets better three years ago, I probably wouldn’t have left the way I did.  And you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did.  Whatever happened all those years ago, probably could have been averted if we’d just talked to each other.”