Page 78 of Vengeful Seduction
I shook my head. This was my chance to get out, to walk away with all of the money, and to not have to deal with the wife I hadn’t wanted in the first place. Only, now, I did want her. More than the money. More than anything.
I just had to make her see that.
“Look, Kaye, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I mean it. I have no reason to lie to you now. I love you. You’ve already said you’d give me all the money. I could just walk away, but I can’t do it. I need you. I’d burn the money in a huge bonfire right here and now if it would make you listen to me.”
I looked at her, and she just looked back at me. I didn’t see belief in her face, not yet, but I saw something that made me think she might be on the right track. She was still listening. I couldn’t give up.
Not until there was no hope left at all.
“David …” she tried to say more, but I put my finger to her lips to make her stop talking. She couldn’t say another word until she’d heard what I had to say.
“Kaye, if you leave—if you walk out of here—I don’t think I can handle it. I will sign whatever papers you want. Take everything from me. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just care about you. Just you.”
“David,” she whispered, looking at me, and this time I was sure of it. There was something like hope in her eyes. She still loved me. For some reason, she still loved me, and she wanted to believe what I said.
My heart took the first hard beat it had since she told me she was leaving me. The smallest spark of hope formed and it spurred me on. “I want to be with you. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. I can tell you this truthfully—my life will never be the same if our marriage ends. And I’m not talking about money. I am talking about love. I’m talking about actually living. I’m talking about moving forward. I haven’t been my true self with you since our wedding. The stupid plan got in the way. I’m not actually such a workaholic. I’m not actually a moody man. And I’m not actually against starting our family. If you want to start a family with me, I want that too.”
It was so strange, saying those words out loud, but I meant them. I had wanted all of those things before, though I hadn’t admitted it to her, or even myself really. “I’m sorry. If you try to forgive me, I swear to you that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Please, Kaye. I want to be married to you. To really be with you.”
Kaye took a deep breath, and I could see her struggling with herself. I could see she wanted to believe me, but for obvious reasons, she was having a hard time with it. “You don’t have to offer me a baby to get me to stay,” Kaye whispered. “I don’t want to be bribed into it. I only want to have a family with someone who really, really wants to have one with me.”
“I want a baby,” I said bluntly. “I have since the moment you brought it up. I don’t know how I even managed to keep saying no to you.” I gazed at her and there was no longer any doubt at all. She wanted to do this. She wanted to continue our marriage. My heart took another hard, thumping beat.
“Keep talking,” Kaye murmured, and I nodded. There were a few things I still had to say.
“I love you, I need you, and I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Part of me is glad Brent told you. I wanted out of this whole lie, I wanted to be with you, and I just didn’t know how to tell you. I wish I had. I know this may sound like a lie, but I was actually about to confess to you this morning.”
“Please, David,” the sound of her voice spoke to how hurt she was.
I shook my head, not ready to let her talk yet. “I was going to tell you the horrible truth and tell you I want to have a baby with you—lots of babies with you and only you. I really was about to do just that. Even as early as last night, after we made love better than we ever had before. I was. I promise you that. But, in all honesty, I never expect you to fully believe that, even though it is true. I truly love you. I do. If you believe nothing else, please, I am begging you to believe that. I love you, Kaye Black.”
“I love you too,” Kaye sobbed, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her free hand. I still held the other tightly, jealously guarding it and refusing to let go. “I love you too, David, and all I want is for things to go back to how they were before. How I thought they were.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I want you back, but the you I thought I married … does that man even exist?”
“He does,” I promised. “I’m right here, and I will be the man you deserve. I swear to you. Just give me a chance.”
I had never meant anything more in my life and I tried to put that sincerity not only into my words, but my face as well. I could see how she was looking at me, and maybe she was crying, but she was shrewd and her trust in me had been tarnished. She was watching me closely.
Whatever she saw must have satisfied her. She suddenly smiled and launched herself at me. I released her wrist finally so she could wrap her arms around me, and then her slender, soft, sweetly curved body was pressed against me and she was hugging me tightly.
“I’ll stay,” she whispered, and I could feel her heart hammering in her chest, that’s how closely we were pressed together. She clung to me, and I could tell by how eagerly she came into my arms that she had never wanted to leave.
She just thought she had to. Well, now it was my job not to give her any reason to leave me. Not ever again.
“I love you, Kaye,” I murmured tenderly, gazing down into her flushed face, my arms still wrapped firmly around her.
“I love you too, David. We’ll work this out,” she vowed, and I believed her. One thing I had learned about this woman was not to underestimate her. She was sweet, yes, and kind, but she had a will of steel under all that softness.
If she said we would work it out, I had every reason to believe we would.
Just like that, she stretched up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine. I wouldn’t have thought it even possible for me to hold her closer, but somehow I managed.
The kiss we shared then was a promise—an acknowledgment of the past as well as a commitment for the future. Our wedding had been months ago, but in a very real way, this was the start of our marriage.
“No more secrets,” Kaye whispered, and I nodded, in full agreement. “No more lies. Promise me that and you have me forever.”
“I promise.” It was a very easy promise to make. I’d seen what happened when I did lie to her and tried to keep things from her. I was supremely uninterested in having a relationship based on falseness.
We kissed again, and it was strange at first, like we were both testing it out. Slowly, we relaxed into it, and I knew then for sure I had been forgiven. I didn’t deserve it, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to make sure she never regretted it.
