With These Four Rings - Book Five: Wedding Bonus (Billionaire Brides of Granite Falls 5) (4 page)

“Tell me about it. Erik thought he’d dealt with his demons until he discovered that I, too, had lied to him. With hurt and disappointment added to the mix, he completely lost faith in everything he held dear to his heart. It wasn’t so much about the fact that it was my father who’d killed Cassie, but more about the fact that the one woman he’d grown to truly love, the one person he thought he could depend on, had let him down.”

“You.”

She bobbed her head up and down. “I didn’t trust him, or our love enough to be completely honest with him. Instead, I emasculated him by thinking that he couldn’t handle the truth, just like every other woman in his life before me had done. Even Precious was lying to him by participating in every extracurricular activity he’d enrolled her into, even though she hated most of them. She went along so as not to upset him.”

“Wow. That’s heavy.”

“Yeah, but the kicker was Bridget Ashley.”

“Bridget? How does she figure into the equation?”

Michelle sighed and took a sip of water. “Bridget was the only woman in Erik’s life who was open and honest with him. She didn’t hide her feelings for him, or about me for that matter. It was during a session with Samantha that I came to understand why he gravitated toward Bridget after we broke up. He didn’t love her, but he could depend on her to be honest with him. She gave him the one thing he needed most from the women in his life whom he did love.”

“Trust,” Kaya said softly.

“Yes. Trust. My withholding vital information caused him to give up on love, and consequently, he might have married Bridget. Out of hurt and desperation, I might have married Ryan.” She shuddered as if a blast of cold air had hit her. “Ironically, it was Bridget’s honesty that got Erik and me back together. If she hadn’t told him that I was pregnant with Little Erik—even though I’d warned her not to—we might all be living Miserably Ever After.”

“No wonder you could wish Bridget well in her marriage and her new practice in D.C. I thought you were crazy when you let Erik attend her wedding alone.”

“I didn’t have a choice. I was eight and a half weeks pregnant with Tiffany. I wasn’t about to travel and put my baby’s and my health at risk just to prove a point. Bridget isn’t a bad person. She was just in love with a man who was in love with someone else. She found the right man for her, one who can love her the way she deserves to be loved. But we all learned a valuable lesson from that entire fiasco.”

“Which is?” Kaya asked.

“You can have trust without love, but you can’t have love without trust. And since love is what we all want most, we have to trust those we claim to love.”

“Oh my God, you’re so right.”

Michelle placed her hand over Kaya’s. “Bryce and Erik share a similar past when it comes to their late wives, so their demons are comparable in nature. My so-called father was the catalyst for Erik’s demons, and the Summerses are Bryce’s.”

Her fingers curled around her water glass. “Erik was an uptight mess when I met him, but I loved him anyway. I guess my heart saw potential in him, despite his faults. I couldn’t control it. He’s such a better man now that he has confronted and slayed his demons. He’s more relaxed, and he’s genuinely happy because he’s not holding grudges against anyone.” She smiled again. “The wise King Solomon wrote, ‘Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit.’ Our marriages, our relationships with our spouses, and our children are our fig trees. We have to tend them daily, constantly weed around the roots if we want them to continue bearing sweet fruits for our enjoyment.”

“I know what you mean,” Kaya said. “I had to deal with my issues of abandonment and neglect from both my parents so that I could be a better woman, a better wife, and mother.”
My demons were shadows compared to Bryce’s, though
, she thought.

Michelle pulled Kaya into a sisterly hug. “Exactly. And I had to slay mine of physical and mental abuse from Timmy Gleason. Both Erik and I had to see him for the unstable monster that he was, and forgive him.” Michelle paused for a moment as if she needed affirmation that her demons were indeed slayed.

“Like I said earlier,” she continued, “I believe that Bryce has buried Pilar’s ghost, but he hasn’t dealt with the demons associated with them. He has to journey backward into his past to eliminate them once and for all. He has to deal with the Summers family. He has to forgive them, just like you forgave your parents. I know you’re scared about what that would do to him, but you have to trust him, trust your love to see him through it and bring him back a better man. Before you two can enjoy ultimate bliss, not only in your marriage, but in every area of your lives as well, Bryce needs to let it all go, Kaya.”

Kaya knew Michelle was right-on, because every time Bryce ran into a member of the Summers family, he would tense up, and his demon of anger would resurface and keep him in a somber mood, sometimes for days. Granite Falls was a small town, so he tensed up a lot. And those were only the times she witnessed. The situation was complex, and seducing Bryce was not the appropriate way to solve it. It would be demeaning to even try.

The chime of the elevator brought Kaya’s awareness back to her surroundings and the change in her day’s schedule. Henry and Lillian had taken the twins to the petting zoo for grandparents bonding time. Jason wasn’t expected back from a two-week-long martial arts summer camp until tomorrow, and since Haley, the nanny, had the afternoon off, Kaya had planned to take Alyssa and Anastasia to the LaCrosse estate to play with Little Erik and Tiffany. To avoid disappointing the kids, Michelle had picked up the girls on her way home, leaving Kaya free to perform her daunting task.

“Good day, Mrs. Fontaine,” the armed guard near the elevator said as she stepped off onto the tenth floor.

Kaya nodded on a forced smile and made her way along a sky blue hallway with doors that led to numerous empty conference and training rooms on both sides. She’d taken the elevator farthest away from Bryce’s office to give herself time to rehearse the speech she planned to deliver to him. The place was deserted, since apart from Bryce’s, only two other offices occupied this floor—Elaine’s, his personal assistant, and…

“Libby,” she called out as she turned a corner and spotted a young woman in a dark business suit and high heels hurrying ahead of her. Libby was the manager of the accounting division of Fontaine Enterprises.

Libby stopped and turned, a big smile on her freckled face as she shifted a pile of folders from one hand to the other. “Kaya, what are you doing here?”

“I came to see Bryce.” Kaya caught up and gave Libby a big hug. “I like your hair,” she added, inspecting Libby’s red hair that was fashioned into a French braid.

Libby patted her braid. “Thanks. Your mother-in-law has been teaching me to braid so I can do Jenna’s hair,” she said as they resumed walking.

Kaya smiled at the mention of Libby’s two-year-old daughter—also a redhead—whom she shared with her husband, Steven Lynd, the attorney who’d called her with tragic news that had changed her life, almost four years ago.

Libby was the first friend Kaya had made when she moved to Granite Falls. She’d met her even before she met Bryce and his buddies,
and
before Michelle who was the only other wife at the time. Libby and Steven were two of the few people Bryce trusted.

Libby sometimes joined Kaya and the other wives on shopping sprees and lunch and dinner dates, and she and Jenna were often invited for playtime with all the kids. Steven hung out with the husbands at the country club a lot, and they both attended many of the monthly get-togethers, but understandably, the four couples didn’t share the same closeness with the Lynds as they shared with each other.

“Is Bryce expecting you, or is this a
surprise
?” Libby gave Kaya a knowing wink.

Kaya blushed, remembering the time Libby had walked in on her and Bryce about to make love on his desk, during the early months of their marriage. It was embarrassing for all of them, and they never spoke about it, but after that near mishap Bryce began locking his office door whenever she visited, and both Libby and Elaine usually disappeared from the floor when she and Bryce were in session. “No, he’s not expecting me. Is he busy?”

“He’s in a meeting with Marcus Spencer. You know him.”

“Yeah. How long do you think they’ll be?”

Libby glanced at her watch. “Maybe another half hour or so, but he has another one after lunch, and then he leaves for that two-day conference in Philadelphia.”

“I know. We cut our vacation by one day so he could mentally prepare for that conference.”

Libby grinned. “How was it?”

Kaya was powerless to conceal the dreamy smile that parted her lips. “Fantastic. He got a lot of rest.”
From work,
she thought with warm memories.

“Good. He’s been working too hard. And with the wedding coming up, he’s trying to wrap up a few more projects in the making before you leave for your honeymoon. He asked me to fetch these files from the marketing department downstairs so he can work on them right through lunch. I’m dropping them off before I break for lunch. I’m meeting Steven at the Thai restaurant on Oak Street, if he gets out of court on time. With both of us working fulltime, it’s hard to…”

Kaya’s throat ached at the thought of turning Bryce’s world upside down and sending him back into a place from where he might not be able to escape the second time around. Three years ago when she’d told him to choose between her and Pilar, he’d disappeared for four days. Those four days were the most unbearable of Kaya’s life—far worse than when her father had walked out on her at five, and when her mother had abandoned her at twelve years old.

She and Bryce were barely a month into their marriage at that time, and she hadn’t known him well enough to even imagine he’d choose her, especially since the only reason they’d gotten married was to provide a home for Jason, Alyssa, and Anastasia as they grieved the deaths of both their parents.

While Bryce had been away contemplating, Kaya had begun to believe her mother’s words that she was unlovable. If it weren’t for Michelle, who’d assured her that Bryce loved her and would come back to her, and the fact that she’d just found out she was pregnant, Kaya would have packed up the kids and moved back to Florida. That was then, before she knew Bryce.

She knew him inside out now, and she knew that he would never abandon her and their children, but she felt as if she was abandoning him by forcing him out of his happy present, back into his dark past that could affect their future for a long, long time.

“Kaya?”

Kaya glanced up to find Libby frowning at her.

“What?” She hadn’t heard a word Libby said.

“Hello, Kaya.”

Kaya stopped and turned her head into the direction of the voice. “Hi, Elaine.” She smiled at the kind-face middle-aged woman sitting behind an alabaster circular desk. The only other furniture in Elaine’s open receptionist space were a couple of black club chairs and a marble table that were fixed to the floor, between them. The glass walls gave her an excellent view of the mountains in the background. It was not a place to loiter, but merely a place to state your business and move on. “How are you?” she asked.

“Your husband’s keeping me busy, which I like. You look beautiful, as usual. That dress is stunning.”

“It definitely is,” Libby agreed.

“Thanks.” Kaya ran her palms down the soft batik material of her light purple dress with island native flowers printed all over it. The deep V-neck and halter top showed off the nice tan she’d gotten from her recent days in the sun. Bryce had bought the dress for her last year while he was on a business trip in the Dominican Republic. It was simple, but elegant.

“Well, Bryce appreciates your effort. Comes in here with a big smile on his face every morning.” Elaine tapped her earpiece. “Oops, back to work. Nice seeing you, Kaya.”

“You kind of zoned out a minute ago.” Libby resumed their conversation as they continued walking toward Bryce’s office. “What’s wrong?”

Kaya let out an audible sigh, and moved her white Fendi handbag from one shoulder to the next. “I just found out about Fae’s accident, and that Desire will be planning our wedding.”

“Oh boy.”

“So you knew.”

Libby shrugged. “Michelle ran it by me while you were away. You guys want to stay local so—”

“What do you think Bryce’s reaction will be when I tell him?” Libby was there when Bryce’s world came crashing down around him almost ten years ago, long before he knew Kaya. Libby was one of the first people Bryce had called immediately following Pilar’s murder, so the panicky look she gave Kaya was understandable.

“I don’t know, Kaya. I mean he’s clearly put Pilar to rest in his heart. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be able to love you the way he does. And I know he loves you unconditionally.”

Libby was preaching to the choir, Kaya thought as they came to a stop outside Bryce’s office. The door was closed, but Kaya could hear voices coming from inside. It reminded her of the day, just months after their marriage when she’d visited him, unannounced, to find him wearing Pilar’s wedding band instead of hers. That scenario had brought them to the crossroads where she’d forced him to choose. He’d chosen her and they’d been happy ever since. But according to Michelle, that happiness would remain precariously unstable until Bryce faced his demons head-on.