What the fuck did she think she was doing? He’d come to the charity event, excited to show off the woman he’d fallen for, hoping that she’d enjoy an evening on the arm of the man she said she loved, and she’d done the one thing he didn’t think her capable of doing…selling out their children to the paparazzi. Truth, he’d been the one to announce her pregnancy, but he wasn’t a fool to think that she wasn’t about to do the same. She’d gone out there to tell the greedy wolves about the babies she carried, desperate for her fifteen minutes of fame and all the money and interviews that would come of it.
But that doesn’t seem like Diana. She doesn’t care about the spotlight or the money…
Growling, he punched the wall beside the cloak room door, his fist making contact. The pain shot through his hand and up his arm, a welcome sensation. The pain cut through the haze that had descended the moment Diana had disappeared from view, her perfect body swallowed up in the swarm outside the museum.
“David?” Rick’s voice sounded from behind him, and David turned to see his friend’s frowning face.
“Rick. I see you’re better late than never,” David drawled, ignoring his friend’s scowl.
Rick waved off the comment. “What is this I hear that you knocked up my best paralegal?” Rick growled, and David growled right back.
“I didn’t plan it, for God’s sake,” David snapped, noticing the curious eyes of the nosy, glittery people milling about. Turning, he pulled Rick farther down the corridor, away from the crowds. “And what does it even matter to you? You all but fired her.”
“Fuck that. I tried like hell to save her job, but Kilgore and Beecham were out for blood. As it was, I kept her from being sued for gross insubordination.”
That struck David like a horse kick. “Sue her? Why? Because she fucked me? That’s out-fucking-rageous, Rick. What she and I did is none of their goddamn business.”
“It is when she does it while employed by your attorney,” Rick remarked, his eyes narrow. “Diana knew the policy yet she did what she wanted to do, and now she is dealing with the consequences.”
“I understand that, Rick,” David admitted, grudgingly. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it. Besides…that night led to something I didn’t think would happen to me after my accident.”
Rick arched an eyebrow. “I heard. You told nearly every sewer rat in the city when you blurted that nugget in front of those paps.”
David sneered, an outward showing of the inward pain. “I only did it before she could.”
Hissing, Rick ran a hand through his hair, dislodging the well-groomed locks. “That’s bullshit, David, and you know it.”
“She’s just like Rinna, using whatever means she can to get what she wants—”
“And what the hell do you think Diana wants? Fame? Attention? Money? You honestly think she likes being in the spotlight? That she wants her once comfortable and secure life thrown to the wolves, upturned, twisted, and covered in shit?”
David listened with both ears, his heart snagging on each of Rick’s words.
No. Diana wouldn’t want that.
Sighing, David rubbed his face. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore, Rick. No matter what I say, do, or think, where Diana is concerned I get so ass over head.”
Rick breathed out a heavy sigh, reaching out to clasp David’s shoulder. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Rinna messed you up, David. You needed time to deal, to heal, and to move on, but you didn’t. And now you are looking at Diana and all her actions through the stained, filthy scope of Rinna and what she did. It isn’t fair to Diana, who didn’t ask for any of this, and it isn’t fair to you, a man who deserves a happy life. And it certainly isn’t fair to your baby.”
“Babies,” David corrected, a prideful grin sliding over his face.
Rick’s eyes flew wide. “Babies?” he blurted.
Nodding, David’s smile grew ever wider. “Twins, Rick. Can you believe it?”
“Are you sure?”
“I saw them with my own eyes during the ultrasound, and…Rick…” He swallowed. “I heard their heartbeats. It was…the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. Two little heartbeats. My children.”
“Yours and Diana’s,” Rick reminded him, easily knocking the pride from David’s chest.
“Yes…mine and Diana’s.” Hell, no matter what he did, he ended up treating her like shit.
“What am I supposed to do?” David asked, a desperation weighting his voice.
Rick squeezed his shoulder again. “Go to her. Apologize.”
“I don’t think that’ll work. I’ve said some things…and I haven’t exactly treated her as I should.”
Rick’s chuckle startled David who glared at him. “What?”
“Not knowing how to treat a woman is a man’s bane. It is a lot of trial and error because each woman is different, has different expectations. Has Diana ever told you what she expects from this… Is it even a relationship?”
Was it? Earlier that evening he’d blurted some shit about being partners, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted Diana wearing his ring and his last name. He wanted to claim her as his own, cherish her and their babies, and live the rest of his life showing her how much he loved her and appreciated her for giving him the gift of children.
“I want it to be,” he answered, his heart in his throat.
“Do you love her?” Rick asked.
David didn’t hesitate to answer, “Yes. Hell, yes. More than anything.”
“Then start your groveling and apology by telling her how you feel. It’ll go a long way.”
David sighed. “You think?” God, he hated feeling out of control, lost and adrift in emotions he’d never experienced before.
“It doesn’t hurt to try.”
Chapter 25
DAVID: DIANA, PLEASE CALL ME. THERE’S SOMETHING I NEED TO TELL YOU.
That was the twentieth text she’d received in the last fifteen hours. Since she left him standing in the crowd of photographers the night before, he’d been persistent, only stopping the texts when he assumed she was
