Stalemate Read online

  Isa shook her head angrily. “I don’t have to tell him shit.”

  He looked from one to the other. “Tell me what?”

  “Nothing that concerns you. We’re leaving your house and—”

  “She’s pregnant,” Tawny said quickly.

  “Tawny!” Isa cried out.

  The realization of her words washed over him. He’d heard of women trapping men with wealth like this, but never thought it would happen to him. He’d had her vetted and Isa didn’t seem the type. Apparently, he was very wrong.

  “So your Navy paycheck wasn’t enough and you whored your way into my bed and would use a kid for a payday?” Bryce asked angrily.

  She moved so quickly he almost didn’t see her, but he felt the sting of the slap she placed squarely on his cheek.

  “Fuck you, every way you can possibly think of,” she said viciously. “I know what it’s like not to be raised by loving parents and then tossed away. While people like you and your rich friends have kids to parade around or like an accessory—the new must-have—I know what a child feels not to be wanted. Regardless of if it’s your child or the plumber’s, this baby will be loved and we don’t need your money. I hope it keeps you warm at night.” She grabbed her purse and Tawny’s in a rush to leave. “Let’s go.”

  “You can’t leave after dropping a bomb like that,” Bryce argued.

  She glanced at him angrily. “Yeah, I can. I’ll have a JAG officer draw up termination of parental rights papers and send them to you. Have your lawyer look them over to see I want nothing, and I mean nothing, from you. This will be the last time you see me, Mr. Forte.”

  Bryce didn’t know what to say as Tawny followed her quickly out the door. But from the balcony, he watched her get into the old car she drove. He sat down, trying to think past the anger to the matter of a baby. Was she even pregnant? How could he make sure? Isa said she wanted nothing from him, but were they playing a game hoping the thought of a baby would propel him forward? Did he even want a child at that point in his life?

  He ran his hand over his hair and let out a long sigh. Nothing, not even his anger, could dull the fact that, regardless of if she was Tawny or Isa, he’d wanted to rush over and kiss her when he saw her in the room. One thing was sure, if she thought she could cut him out of her life and the life of their child, Isa was wrong. He’d fight her in court if he had to, regardless of if they were trying to con him or not. He knew just as well as she did how it felt to be alone, even in a crowd.

  It was later in the evening when he heard the doorbell ring. After the dinner he could barely eat or the brandy that sat on the desk without him even taking a sip, he was still reeling from the news of his impending parenthood. Roger ran the house, but he was already gone for a night of salsa dancing, so Bryce answered the door. Tawny stood on the step wrapped in a coat as the first drops of water falling from the sky heralded the storm that would break over New Orleans soon.

  “What do you want?” he asked bluntly.

  “To talk.”

  He stepped aside and let her in and she didn’t move past the foyer. Bryce didn’t invite her any further in because look where it had gotten him last time. Even with Tawny’s beauty, he didn’t feel a thing for her. She shifted from one foot to the next as the stony silence dragged between them.

  “So, talk,” he finally said, tired of watching her squirm.

  “You’ve got Isa all wrong,” she began. “She’s never taken what wasn’t hers, and being raised in foster care, we both could’ve ended up on the wrong side of the law. She worked for me and her and bought me my first set of clothes for a modeling shoot when she joined the Navy. She sent me most of her money from her first check and lived off ramen noodles for a month so I could get my big break. She was deployed twice in the war and served with honor. She came home and cried for days for friends she’d lost, but never was more proud to put on a uniform.”

  “You came to sing your friend’s praises?” Bryce asked.

  “I came to tell you the truth. The woman can sing like a nightingale and loves books over shopping for shoes. Those clothes she had on were mine. She owns jeans and a few dresses, nothing fancy because she is so down to earth,” Tawny replied. “She won’t come to you again, her pride won’t let her, and when she said she’d raise the baby without you, she was dead serious. Even though she felt something when she was with you and, for Isa, that’s something big.”

  “Why?” Bryce questioned. He didn’t know why he asked, maybe because he was seeing a new layer to Isa and wanted to know more.

  Tawny gave a sad smile. “That’s her part of the story to tell, but she isn’t what you think and neither am I.”

  “So If I pressed you up against this wall right now and kissed you, what would happen?” he murmured.

  “She taught me to fight and I’d leave you singing soprano then go home and tell her what a dick head you are and that she’s better off without you. And if you’re that type she is definitely better off without you. I hope I’m not reading you wrong and my instincts aren’t off the mark.”

  He nodded. “It’s not and your loyalty to her is admirable.”

  “Her loyalty to everyone she cares for is better, and you can be assured that baby she’s carrying will lack for noting and won’t even know what’s it’s like not to have a father she’ll shower him or her with so much love.” Tawny met his gaze. “But then you’d miss out on an amazing woman and on the life of a child you both created. Trust me, if she wasn’t feeling you, you couldn’t have touched her that night. She could’ve broken your hand.”

  Bryce inclined his head. “Point taken. Thank you for stopping by, you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

  “Think about this, if you go after her, there’s a wall to climb. Isa doesn’t deal with hurt well and that emotional brick wall will be shored up tight after our meeting today,” Tawny said.

  “I may have to play a little dirty,” Bryce murmured.

  “Maybe,” Tawny said as she walked toward the door. “And maybe you’re exactly what she needs to shake her life up.”

  Bryce closed the door after she walked out into the night and went back to his office. Tawny had given him a lot to think about and he planned to go with his gut. His instincts said Isa was someone worth a second chance, and he wondered as he downed his brandy. Would she do the same for him?

  Chapter Three

  The weeks had gone by fast after she found out she was pregnant. Her doctor confirmed the positive pregnancy test and she took the paper work directly to her superiors at the Jude Advocate General’s offices. Her position came at the right time to be stationed in New Orleans. It wouldn’t affect her MOS as a paralegal specialist. Isa had worked her way toward her dreams for years when she was on ship after ship. She studied, took the test and passed it with flying colors. Then she patiently waiting for a position to open up the exact place she wanted to be. Her commanding officer took it all in stride and said she wasn’t the first expecting mother he’d worked with. If she could keep the crying and hormonal outbursts to a minimum, he would be grateful.

  She didn’t take offense to his remarks. He was an older admiral and set in his ways. Isa took a lot of chauvinistic comments in stride; most women learned to do so in the military. If she were ever to be deployed, arrangements would have to be made for her child. That was easy enough. Tawny would take care of her baby like it was her own. The fact that Bryce acted like Isa was some kind of money-grubbing whore sealed the deal that she would be a single mother. Maybe their night of passion was a misunderstanding or her own creation, but her baby would lack for nothing. She’d gone from panic to peace and then happy contentment at being a mother. In a way, he’d given her a gift. She’d made no attempt to reach him and vice versa. She planned on sending the papers to his office to give up parental rights as soon as possible.

  In any case, she was at the three-month mark of her pregnancy and was going into her new OBGYN. Today, she would get to hear the heartbeat and
finally see pictures of the baby growing inside her. She was happy, but she was going alone. Still, she got into her car and drove from work to the doctor’s office. She certainly didn’t expect to see Bryce leaned up against the sleek red jaguar outside the office when she pulled up. He was wearing a white shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, with his tie loosened. His sunglasses blocked his eyes as she walked up.

  “Why are you here? Even better, why are you here?” Isa asked bluntly. She tried to push aside the fact that just looking at him made her mouth water and attraction bloom.

  “First appointment for our child, I’ll be going with you,” Bryce answered.

  “No, you’re not. You made your position quite clear. I’m the whore who tried to steal your money and failed, remember? My child won’t be another plaything in your collection until you get bored.”

  He dragged his sunglasses off and pinned her with a direct stare. “You think I’d do that to a kid?”

  “Like you aptly pointed out, you don’t know me and I don’t know you,” Isa replied calmly. “Paperwork is being drawn up as we speak to relieve you of this problem. You will see it’s quite clearly worded. I do not want nor need anything from you.”

  “You’d raise a baby alone to get your point across?” Bryce asked.

  Isa shook her head. “I’d raise my baby alone instead of shuttling him or her off to a father who doesn’t want or would not show love and affection to said child.”

  “I’m not that kind of person, Isa,” Bryce said quietly. “Our short time should’ve told you that.”

  “And our short time should’ve told you that I wasn’t a liar who wanted your money,” Isa retorted.

  “I don’t even know why I’m here. For all I know, you may have been pregnant before coming to my house.” He shoved his sunglasses into his pocket. “I’ll need a paternity test.”

  “You won’t get one,” Isa said. “Get it through your skull, playboy, we don’t need or want you in our lives. Sign the papers when they come and be done with it.”

  “I will not be signing any papers, Isa.” Bryce took two steps and was looming over her. “You make this pretty much easy for me to say. You’re going to marry me, Isa Croix, and we’re going to raise our child together.”

  “The hell I am,” she said angrily. “How do you plan to make me do that? Oh and first you want a paternity test and still want me to marry you? Why go through all this if you doubt this baby is yours? One of these things is not like the other, Bryce you can’t have it both ways.

  “I will sue you for full custody of my child. I will go to the Navy and tell them you tried to blackmail money out of me. Who do you think the courts will side with, a father who can provide everything, or a single mother who may be deployed and possibly killed who has nothing?” Bryce’s voice was so cold she knew he was serious about every word. “I have the money and the resources to make your life hell, or you can marry me and this baby will be raised in a two parent home and know nothing of how he or she was created.”

  “You talk about blackmail, the hell do you think you’re doing now?” Isa snapped.

  “Looking out for my interests and my kid,” Bryce retorted.

  “You fucking bastard! You would do that. To get your way, you would destroy everything I’ve built?” Isa asked in disbelief and anger. “You’d raise a child in a home where the parents hate each other?”

  “There won’t be hate—”

  “You make me do this, I will hate you with every fiber of my being.”

  “You have twenty-four hours to decide. Now let’s go into your appointment.”

  She held up her hand. “You won’t go anywhere. I may have to make a choice in a day, but right now, you have no right to go into that office with me. And I will act like a crazed howler monkey if you step anywhere near me.”

  “Isa...”

  She wished she could put all she was feeling into her words—dismay, anger, hurt—and still, the attraction was there.

  She pointed her finger at his chest. “You wanted it this way. Your words made it this way. Get away from me, Bryce. Do not follow me.”

  Isa felt his stare on her back as she practically ran into the office. She tried not to let his ultimatum ruin the first sounds of her baby’s heartbeat or the sight of his tiny body on the sonogram. Her next appointment was in a month and she took her pictures and prenatal vitamins to the car.

  At home, Tawny was waiting, and as soon as Isa stepped through the door, a sob escaped her lips.

  Tawny rushed over to the sofa and immediately wrapped her in an embrace. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby? Isa, please tell me.”

  Isa took a breath and tried to compose herself. “It’s Bryce. He was outside the doctor’s office. Tawny, he wants me to marry him or he’s going to file for custody of the baby.”

  “We’ll fight him tooth and nail,” Tawny said, outraged.

  “He has the money and the power to discredit me and then ruin my career with the Navy,” Isa cried out. “He plans to bring up deployment and more than likely my past, being in the foster care system...”

  Tawny shook her head. “That has never been a reason to take a child away from a mother, and judges usually side with the mom or make the parents come to some kind of custody agreement.”

  “He has the money, Tawny, and could tie this up in court for years. I possibly could get a JAG lawyer if he doesn’t try to ruin my career first,” Isa said sadly. “God, what do I do?”

  “You guys had a connection, maybe you can find your way back to that,” Tawny said hopefully.

  “Not after this. He hates me, and pulling this stunt doesn’t make me like him much,” Isa answered. “And the sick thing is, when I saw him, the only thing I could think about was feeling his kisses and when he held me in his arms. I am such a big dodo bird.”

  “Him pulling a fool move like he did doesn’t mean that what you felt wasn’t real or felt by both of you.”

  “I have to give him my answer by tomorrow.”

  “What will it be?” Tawny asked.

  Isa looked at her friend helplessly. “I don’t know.”

  That was the truth. She knew that by the end of a long, drawn-out fight for their child, both of them would be raw from the battle. Should she enter into a marriage with a man who thought she was a con artist, or did she fight with what little resources she had? The only decision she could make was to see him the next day and try to talk sense into him. And if that didn’t work, she was clueless as to what to do next.

  * * * *

  This time, Isa chose that Bryce would meet her on her terms and at a place where she was comfortable. That was her apartment, and only after she figured out all of her options. She spoke to a JAG lawyer at work, and while she said that she could be represented. The lawyer also said with her new MOS and the fact that Bryce could drag not only Isa’s name through the mud but also the Navy. It would be best to solve it as quietly as possible unless she could prove her allegations or abuse. Isa knew lies and wouldn’t be a part of it or sink to Bryce’s level. She hoped that they could talk reasonably and put the issues to rest.

  He was the one who started it all and made her think of the single mother route. Now he wanted to bully her into a marriage neither of them wanted. Tawny wanted to stay, but Isa asked her to leave, knowing it would only exacerbate the situation. Her best friend had revealed she’d gone back to see Bryce that night after she told him about the pregnancy. Tawny told her about their conversation even the part where he pinned her arms. Tawny said he was trying to make a point, but Isa could only see the fact that it was Tawny he’d wanted in his bed in the first place. It was all a big mess and went back to her regretting the one night she gave into instinct without thinking.

  Isa chose not to see the baby growing in her as a mistake. She knew how that felt and it would not happen to her baby.

  When her buzzer rang and she had to go downstairs to unlock the gate, the nervousness made her stomach do somersaults. The stairs to t
heir upstairs apartment in the French Quarter was on the outside of the building. She went down the iron steps to the gate and turned the key. For a moment, she just stared at the dark-haired devil. Bryce’s intense blue eyes t stared back her and his firm lips that ravaged her senses didn’t even hold a hint of a smile. Isa hesitated, not knowing if she could handle the confrontation with him, but then pulled the tall barrier open. The familiar creak of rusted hinges sounded ominous to her ears. Isa turned and went back up the stairs.

  “You can’t be coming up and down these things as the pregnancy progresses,” he said. “I’m sure that won’t be an issue when you move into the mansion.”

  Isa chose not to answer or show him how his words enflamed panic. Bryce entered the apartment behind her and closed the door. The soft click reminded her they were very alone.

  “Would you like coffee or maybe sweet tea?” Isa asked.

  “I’m fine,” Bryce answered.

  “You can sit anywhere you like,” she said.

  “I’m sure you’ll try to sit as far away from me as possible,” he commented as he chose the armchair.

  “I’m sure you understand why.” Isa sat on the farthest side of the sofa.

  “So what’s your answer to my question?” Bryce asked without preliminaries. “Marriage.”

  “Why do you want to marry me other than the fact that you want to make me suffer from what we’ll call our indiscretion?” Isa asked.

  “It’s not about making you suffer,” Bryce answered, and she was surprised by the gentleness in his voice.

  “Then what? It’s not me you want, it’s Tawny. You whispered her name after we...you know,” Isa replied. “She told me she went to talk to you and you basically made it known it was her you wanted. Why try to shackle yourself to me and a child you don’t want?”

  “I asked her a question. I wanted to see if she was plan B in your ruse to get money.” Bryce folded his hands on his crossed legs.

  “And if she had said yes, you’d have fucked her,” Isa said callously, and hated the fact that she felt jealous by the words alone.