Page 53 of Tender Offer (Chance at Love #3)

KD has the pregnancy glow. She’s filling out more, her once slender shape giving way to new curves. The joy of expecting is in every smile she offers, which happens more and more often these days.

If Hugh Kidwell was at risk of a stroke before, one is imminent now. He’ll pop a blood vessel if his eyes grow any bigger. His gaze shifts from KD’s face to her belly before he stands and trips over himself in a rush to his daughter. He falters at her raised hand.

The frown currently wobbling her chin has me out of my chair, inspecting her for any signs of discomfort.

“What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” I haven’t stopped pursuing Madison, but I still check in with KD to ensure our daughter is okay.

“I don’t deserve you, Preston.” She wipes away a tear and sighs. “Have you looked at your email?”

My brows pinch. “No. I had my phone on silent for this meeting. You’re scaring me, KD,” I say to her pained stare and restless fingers rubbing her wrists. “What’s wrong?”

“I’d certainly like to know,” Hugh puffs. “You got my daughter pregnant and stole the company? You are a bastard, Preston.”

“No, he’s not!” KD’s bark hits her father like a jab.

“Preston has always cared for me. Treated me as his equal. He fought for me to have a seat on the board, and you took it away from me because I wasn’t Michael, your precious son.

You never call or visit, so don’t pretend you’re the doting father you think you are. ”

Hugh shrinks half a size when he winces. There’s nothing he can say to erase decades of him devaluing his daughter.

“Hey.” I reach for her. “What’s going on?”

Her eyes brim with tears. “I wanted this,” she says, her voice choked. “Us. The chance to make you happy.”

“Bellamy,” I sigh.

“I know,” she nods and wipes her cheek. “I’m not her and never will be. Your actions are loud and clear. The way you pursue her. You love Madison.”

“I’ll be here to raise our child. You know that, right?”

She forces a smile. “I do. Preston, you’re a good man, but this isn’t your baby.”

Black walls close in as the foundation beneath my shoes threatens to crumble. The beginning drums of a migraine pound behind my temples, a steady beat to drown out the room. Hands are flailing, and mouths are moving. I don’t hear anything until my brother’s piercing scream.

“You let him believe he got you pregnant as a way to keep him?” Michael grabs William’s shoulder and shakes his head.

William would never hurt KD, but he isn’t chambering the anger rising in his voice.

“Do you have any idea what you put him through? We treated you like family when yours thought you were shit! Back up, Michael!” He pushes at her brother.

“I’d never lay a hand on a woman, but I will knock a bitch out today. ”

I close my eyes to ease the ache in my ribs and keep the room from spinning.

William and Michael’s argument fades under the betrayal of one of the closest people to me.

It’s a knife I never saw coming, a blade puncturing remnants of the care and trust I had for someone intent on upending the life I’m fighting to live with Madison.

Fatherhood is a life sentence I once feared, but thinking about it recently brought me joy. I didn’t know how or if Madison would choose to tether herself to the complicated web KD and I spun, but I was determined to love my child fiercely. A child that isn’t fucking mine.

“Preston, wait,” KD pleads when I pull away. “I swear I did not trick you. When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was a sign that we were meant to be a real family. I love you. You were my first, and I hoped—” A sob racks her chest. “Everything is ruined!”

“You kept this pregnancy a secret for months. Months ,” I seethe. “The games with Madison weren’t enough? You had to almost pin a baby on me? Do you have any idea the harm you caused? I cared for you, as a friend and a partner in this business.”

“Preston.”

“Goodbye, Bellamy.” My vision tunnels on the door. I have to get the hell out of here.

Something told me to push for a paternity test. But I was so caught up in trying to seize the reins of this company, I never stopped to question Bellamy.

Too many men shrug their children off and leave them for mothers to raise alone. I never wanted a child with Bellamy, but the seed I thought was mine would never want for anything, in this life or the next.

“It was a mistake!”

I keep walking.

“I heard you talking to William about Madison after you returned from holiday and realized she’s the one. I was jealous. I didn’t mean to sleep with him!”

What in the entire fuck?

I can’t look at Bellamy, but I glare at my brother.

“I never touched her, bruv,” he asserts with his hands in the air. “I swear to you, Pres. It wasn’t me.”

“Well, who the hell is the father of your child?” Hugh scolds.

Bellamy’s sidelong glance is all I need. “Fucking hell,” I say. “My father .”

The least he could do is look remorseful that he has a child on the way outside of his marriage. But he seems bored, as if the revelation that he’s having a baby with his best friend’s daughter, who’s half his age, is an inconvenience.

“I was lonely on the Malaysia trip,” Bellamy reveals. “You broke my heart, and he was there. It just…happened.”

William leaps for our father, but Michael pulls him back. “You son of a bitch! Have you no fucking decency?! What about my mother?!” He squirms in Michael’s grasp, testing the strength of the buttons ready to pop from straining over his chest. His face is beet red, and his eyes demand blood.

“Had I known a one-time fuck turned into a pregnancy, I would’ve told her to abort it.” My father’s nonchalance earns him my fist to his face. He stumbles when my knuckles connect with the soft tissue of his nose and pulls a hankie from his suit coat. I hope it’s broken.

“You disgust me!” I spit. “Whenever I think you can’t stoop lower, you prove me wrong. It’s always about you, no matter who you hurt.” I shake my head. “How could my mother ever love someone like you?”

Hurt flashes in his eyes. “Leave her out of this.” His voice is a low gravel.

I huff. “You always do.”

“I loved your mother!” My father bangs his fist to his chest in a roar.

“I haven’t lived since Antonia took her last breath in the hospital on the day you were born.

You think you know loss? Your grandfather threatened to disown me and strip away my inheritance if I married your mother.

The only reason he gave a shit about you was because you came out shades lighter and he could use you to hate me.

“I coped with Antonia’s death by pretending it didn’t matter that I never got the chance to say goodbye.

Life took from me, so I returned the favor.

Preston, hate me all you want, but you were conceived in love.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about your mother, wishing I knew how to let her go.

If you learn anything from me, don’t let love consume you like I did.

You’ll never recover when it’s snatched from you. ”

I’ve never seen my father get emotional, much less cry. He wipes the only tear he lets fall and heads for the door. “You are my constant reminder she’s gone,” he says over his shoulder with sad eyes. “Antonia would be proud of the work you’re doing. I’m sorry I was a disappointment, son.”

Hugh chases after him without a care for his daughter, who’s sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” Bellamy sniffles.

“Do your baby a favor and take care of yourself. It’s time for you to leave.” Any attempt to make sense of the fact that the child I thought was mine is actually my sister will cause an ulcer. KD and my father will need to work out their dynamic. I want no part of it.

“I expect your letter of resignation on my desk Monday,” William says with a power I no longer possess.

Michael hugs his sister, who cries into his suit as they leave.

“I never understood why he hated me until now.” William’s eyes are still on the door our father stormed out of, the shock petrifying him in place.

“He doesn’t hate you. He hates himself,” I say. William looks up. “I’m sorry you’ve been a casualty of his regret. You’re my best friend, Will, and a better man than he’ll ever be.”

Our father was hard on me, but he ignored William’s existence.

“Yeah, bruv. I hear you.” He nods and stuffs his hands into his pocket. “Thank you for always caring.” He huffs. “Sad as it sounds, you were the only father figure I had.”

I pull him into a hug. “I love you, Will.”

“Love you too, Pres.”

“Fuck,” I sigh. “The end of an era and the start of an eighteen-year Jerry Springer episode. You think he still remembers how to change nappies?”

William snorts on his way to the liquor cabinet, where he pulls out two crystal tumblers. “Let’s hope they ship our sister off to boarding school, for her sake.” His smile fades. “This will crush my mother. She begged him for another child for years.”

“Briar deserves better. She should leave him.”

He nods. “Maybe this will do it.”

We clink glasses in the middle of the room that’s no longer my office. Books I never read rest on shelves between heirlooms and art passed from one Donnelley to the next.

“You ready to say goodbye?” William asks before a sip of scotch. My “Yes” is instant and earns me a sidelong glance.

The last sixty hours have been a scramble to prepare for today and line up William’s COO replacement. Hadiza accepted the position, and she starts next week. As vice president of hotel operations, she’s been his right hand with guest experiences and management.

“Work had its moments, but we did good here. Now it’s yours,” I say.

William never expressed a desire to run the Donnelley Brand. My father always intended to pass it on to me. It’s time for my brother to step out of the shadows.

“It’s our time. This was always our legacy. You made sure of that when you brought me on as COO,” William says. “I’d like for you to be part of the new board, as chairperson—votes pending, of course. You’re the reason this company is headed where it is. Let’s rebuild it together.”

Rich amber singes my throat on a swallow. “I’ll consider it if that’s the direction the board wants to head. You’ll always have my support.”

“Good. I fucking hate doing interviews. I won’t cry if you’re still the face of all this.”

“You’re not passing off your responsibilities to me,” I tease. “I’m not the CEO anymore, and I’m taking back my time.” I set the tumbler on the bar and grab my jacket. Not wearing a suit every day will take practice.

Good thing you went shopping months ago.

A smile dents my cheeks when I think of the heart-shaped lips and smooth pecan skin I haven’t tasted in over a month. I miss Madison. The way her lashes sweep across her cheekbones lifted in a laugh too big for her face, how her body so peacefully melts into mine while she sleeps.

My life is in transition, but I haven’t lost sight of the most important piece.

“Tell my sister-in-law I said hi,” William laughs. “Come on, I’ll buy you a pint as a going away gift.”