Beautifully Forgotten (24 page)

As if he knew she was there, Trace’s head snapped in her direction and their eyes locked.

“Ember.”

She knew he could see that she was hurt before she turned and started away. She didn’t get far before his hand touched her arm. “I’m sorry.”

“You lied to me.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“I know. I didn’t want to pull you into it. You’ve been through enough shit because of me.”

“What does she want?”

“Money. And I’m dealing with it.”

She did turn at that. “How exactly? And why does she think you’re the person who’s going to give it to her?”

He pulled a hand through his hair. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything tonight.”

She wanted to demand to know what he had to tell her, but they were calling his fight.

“Wait for me.” He kissed her hard on the mouth. She watched as he climbed into the ring and then his eyes landed on her and he winked. She couldn’t help her smile, but it faltered when she saw Heidi and the boy with her. Seth. Her eyes moved to Heidi to find her already staring in Ember’s direction, and the smug look on her face was confirmation. Seth was Trace’s child.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get air into her lungs. She didn’t know how long she stood there, but when she could no longer see because of the tears in her eyes, she turned and fled. Lucien appeared just as she reached the door.

“Ember.”

“I just need some air.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“Okay, but I just want a few minutes alone.” He obviously didn’t like it, but he acquiesced. “Okay.”

Outside the gym, a searing pain exploded in her chest. Seth, the boy that looked like her husband,
was
his son. No wonder Heidi was more than just one of the horde. What a fucking secret to keep. What made Ember feel really ill was wondering: Would he have told her about Seth if she hadn’t seen him tonight?

Her tears fell harder because she thought they were going to be experiencing the pregnancy as a first together and he already had an almost full-grown son he’d never thought to mention: a son who had been in his life for over fifteen years. And was Heidi blackmailing him to keep the secret from Ember? That thought made her bend over and vomit.

Lucien appeared and took her by the arm. “I’m taking you home.”

“I don’t want to be there.”

“Then I’ll take you to my apartment.”

The fight just drained out of her. “Okay.”

Lucien could feel Ember’s pain well across the room. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he knew that Ember deserved some time away from Trace.

“Would you like something to drink?” It sounded lame, but he was a bit out of his depth here.

The sight of her tear-streaked face moved him across the room. He joined her on the sofa and took her hand in his.

“He loves you.”

“I know, but it still hurts.”

“Well, he is a man, and I’ve been told repeatedly that men are idiots.”

Her slight smile in response encouraged him to continue. “He should have told you, but I understand why he didn’t.”

He could see the question in her eyes when she looked up at him. “He loves you. You’ve made a life together and the idea that a secret from the past could pull you away from him, well, that would make anyone hedge their bets.” And he realized as he spoke the words how accurately they pertained to him as well. The lack of open communication between Darcy and him had certainly taken a toll on their relationship.

Ember shook her head. “He should know, especially after everything that we’ve been through, that his secrets don’t have that kind of power. I love him and that means I love everything about him.”

“Agreed, and that takes us back to him being an idiot.” Lucien sobered a minute. “Seriously, I was in a situation similar to the one you are in now. The woman I loved hurt me and, instead of fighting for her, fighting for
us,
I made the easy choice and walked away. I’ve had to live with that ever since, and I know that if I had it to do over, I would have fought with everything I had. Life with her is messy and frustrating, but life without her isn’t much of a life.”

“Darcy?”

“Yeah, Darcy.”

“I like her.”

Surprise flashed over his face. “You met her?”

“I came to see you at Allegro, but you weren’t there. We ended up going to lunch.”

“And what did you talk about at this lunch?”

Ember’s grin turned coy. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” And then she squeezed his hand. “We talked enough for me to know that she feels the same way about you as you do about her. It isn’t too late for you.”

“And we are working on it. Not that I haven’t had my own bouts of idiocy.”

“Meaning?” Ember asked.

“Let’s just say I keep letting my jealousy overrule common sense and have said things to Darcy that she really should slug me for.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I called her a whore, twice.”

“What! Oh, I would have slugged you.”

Lucien’s grin was wicked. “Of that I have no doubt.” He turned serious. “I need her to know that I’m aware of just how much of an ass I’ve been.”

“Then say that.”

Lucien’s raised his one brow in skepticism. “That simple?”

“Yup. And she likes flowers.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” He could see that her thoughts had turned back to Trace as sadness washed over her expression. “Do you think that the boy is Trace’s?”

“He looks a hell of a lot like him, but I can’t believe that Trace would have kept that from you. I honestly don’t know. Would it be a problem if he were?”

“No, of course not. I’m only hurt that he didn’t tell me. It isn’t Seth’s fault.”

“Seth? You know his name?”

“Yeah, he’s friends with Brandon, the boy I met at the campaign office. Great kid.”

“Small world,” Lucien said just as Ember yawned. He stood and pulled her from the sofa.

“You need sleep.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

He turned and looked at her as if she had three heads. “Friends can never be a bother.”

He walked her to the guest room. She stepped into the room and turned to him. “Thank you, Lucien.”

“Anytime, Ember.”

Three hours later, Lucien opened the door to a very worried Trace.

“Where is she?” Trace demanded.

“She’s sleeping. Come in; I’ll get you a beer.” They hadn’t even made it to the kitchen before Lucien asked, “Trace, who’s the kid living with Heidi?”

“Why were you at Heidi’s?”

“A long story that I’ll share another time. Who is he? Because when I saw him, I thought he was yours and so did Ember.”

“What?” And then realization slammed into Trace and suddenly his anger was replaced with fear, an emotion he wasn’t accustomed to feeling. Ember was going to jump to the natural conclusion and hate him for keeping this from her.

“His mother is Heidi,” Trace said in defeat.

Lucien’s voice sounded like a gun blast. “It’s bad enough Ember had to see you and Heidi together, but you didn’t think it was important to tell your wife that you had a kid with her?”

Guilt churned in Trace’s gut. “He isn’t mine.”

“What?” Lucien demanded.

“He isn’t my kid. He’s my half brother. He doesn’t know who his father is because I’m trying to protect him from the reality of where he comes from. He suspects we’re related since we look so much alike, so I’ve told him he’s the son of a cousin of mine. I have to live with the knowledge of my father; I don’t wish that on him. I didn’t tell Ember or Chelsea; I was trying to protect them from it too.”

“And now your wife thinks you fathered a child and never told her,” Lucien said softly.

That reality twisted like a knife in Trace’s gut. God, she must hate him. He hated himself in that minute for not telling her immediately. His intent was to spare the child, but not at the expense of his wife. When he saw Heidi again, he was going to wring her fucking neck. He needed to see Ember and, as if his friend had read his mind, Lucien said, “She’s down the hall, last door on the left.”

“Thank you, Lucien, for being there.”

“Anytime.”

Trace moved down the hall and was careful to be quiet when he pushed open the door. He approached the bed where Ember was curled into a ball, her typical sleeping position when he wasn’t in bed with her. Her hands were tucked under her cheek, and he could tell by the puffiness of her eyes that she had spent a fair amount of time crying. His heart twisted in his chest. Settling on the edge of the bed, he touched her face, needing to feel her solid and warm under his fingers. She stirred, instinctively moving into him as if she knew he was there. He wanted to wake her, beg her forgiveness, make love to her, but instead he took a seat across the room and watched her sleep.

When Ember woke, it was dark outside. It took her a minute, but Trace watched as her body tensed, and he knew she knew he was there. She turned to him, and the kaleidoscope of emotions that passed over her face broke his heart, but he hadn’t missed her look of joy when she’d initially seen him.

She climbed from the bed and put the distance of the room between them. “Lucien called you,” she said without preamble.

“Yeah.”

“You should have told me.”

“He’s not my son.”

It took her a moment to register what he’d said before she exhaled on a sob, covering her mouth with her hand and turning from him. He moved to her and wrapped her in his arms. She stiffened under his embrace, but he responded by holding her closer.

“He’s not my son, Ember. I should have told you about him, but I was trying to protect Seth. I didn’t want him to have to feel the burden of being an offspring of my bastard father.”

Teary eyes looked up in his. “Seth is your brother?”

“Half brother. Heidi is his mom.”

Her response to that was to bury her face in his chest.

“Heidi’s been extorting money from me and I’ve been paying her in an attempt to keep Seth from knowing who his real father is. I didn’t tell you because it was just more shit from my past, but I’m sorry you had to learn about it the way you did. I can’t even begin to imagine how you felt seeing Seth with Heidi.”

He lifted her chin to force her gaze on him. “Forgive me.”

“I need a minute,” she whispered.

The coldness of her tone made icicles form in his blood. Was this just one drama too many? Was she finally going to come to her senses and kick his ass to the curb? She should—should have already—but fuck it, now he could never let her go. She pulled from him and he suddenly felt very empty inside.

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“No.”

“I can’t take another surprise like that, Trace. You told me once you had a lot of shit in your past and I appreciate that, but another shocker like this one and I think it might just break me.”

“There’s nothing else.”

Her head lowered but he heard her words clearly. “You took responsibility for Seth, didn’t you?”

“Someone needed to. With a father and mother like his, he would have fallen through the cracks.”

Bright eyes looked up at him. “And you’re concerned about becoming your father? You’re nothing like him.”

“Tell me you forgive me, Ember.”

“I do.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions,” she whispered.

“It was a fair conclusion to make.” He walked to her and pulled her into his arms. He brushed his lips over hers, but one taste and he needed more. The kiss turned carnal and he ached to be inside her, to find the connection that only she could give him, but he wasn’t a complete rutting bastard that he would take her after hurting her so badly. She apparently felt otherwise. She reached for his hand and moved it down her body. He was as hard as stone. At least in this he could show her how he felt. He slipped his hand in between their bodies to find and stroke the nub between her legs.

She responded with a breathless moan and spread her legs wider to give him better access.

Trace remembered when he’d first met Ember and how he had wished he’d been entertaining her that night in a similar manner, instead of the girl he’d been with. “Remember you said you wished it had been you I was with at Sapphire that first time? So did I.”