Page 33 of Wade

He had known from the beginning that there was no love lost between William and Irene Bramwell. To the public, they had made a perfect and beautiful couple. Wade had inherited her sable brown hair and light green eyes. The family manor had been sold as soon as the estate had been settled.

The living room, sporting the life-sized family portrait, had been cold and austere and he had been happy to escape when it was time to attend college. He had stayed away even during the short breaks. But during the long summer months, he had been required to work at the company and learn the business.

He had endured that, but during the weekends, he had gone to friends’ houses to escape the oppressive silence between the couple and the awkwardness.

Conversations had been minimal and neither of them had ever expressed the slightest interest in what he was doing. His mother had not been half bad, but she had been so caught up in the misery of a loveless marriage that it had been impossible for her to show any sort of affection to her only child.

But Remi and her brother had been through worse. At least, he had not been abused, not physically at least. He had had more than enough food to eat and had an entire suite of rooms to himself to escape the dreariness.

She had had to endure the physical and emotional and verbal abuse from a man who was supposed to love and protect her. She had had to grow up pretty fast so that she could take care of her younger sibling. It broke his heart and made him want to shower her with things.

He smiled slightly as he bent his head to look at her. It aggravated her when he did it, but he was unable to help himself.

He was proud of her. She had managed to redefine herself and come out on top. That took extreme guts.

And to him, she was a damn hero. No wonder he was so stupid over her. He could not help but love her. To him she was the ultimate woman and the one he had been searching for all his life. She murmured in her sleep and mashed her face into his chest.

"Shh, baby," he whispered, kissing her forehead to soothe her. "Sleep now darling. I am here."

*****

"You need rest."

"What I need is work." She shifted through her design book to search for a fabric. "I am fine. The bladder infection is all gone and I am feeling like myself. I am not staying in bed and you cannot make me."

"Don't count on it.' His eyes glowered at her. He was in the middle of a delicate negotiation with the property owner in Hawaii and ideally he would have gone in person to talk to the family.

But he could not trust her not to go overboard. He had not touched her for a week and he was feeling the strain of it. On top of that, she had slipped on some ice while coming back home from a luncheon meeting and had almost fallen.

"I promise to stay here and work from home. Shelly is going to call me with some changes to the dining room anyway."

"You need rest," he insisted, his jaw tight. "I will not have you working yourself to death. It's not like you need the damn money."

Her eyes shot sparks at him. "I pay my own way. You knew from the start that I am not the type of woman to sit and fold her hands while a man hands out pocket money."

His green eyes grew cold. "Is that what you think is happening here? I am planning on controlling you?"

"Look," She sighed and rubbed her hand over her forehead. She was feeling a little down and dejected and she missed him not making love to her. The tension was getting to both of them. "I don't want to fight with you."

"You have a damn funny way of showing it," he growled as he glanced at his watch. "I am running late for a meeting."

"I don't want or need a babysitter."

"Noted," he said coolly as he turned out of the room he had given her for her office. "I will probably be late."

He left without kissing her goodbye and she could feel the pressure of the depression pressing down on her. She hated it when they argued and she knew that she was the one who usually initiated it. He was trying to be patient with her up and down moods and he was worried about her.

The problem was that she was so used to taking care of herself that she did not know what to do or how to react when someone else was doing it.

Her parents had left them on their own to do the job and she had been the one to take up the slack where David was concerned. She had always been self-sufficient and he had to understand that. He should.

Rubbing a hand over her stomach, she tried to quiet the queasiness. She was heading to her second trimester and the damn nausea was getting worse. But she had to find a way to live with it and not take it out on him.

Chapter 7

"Angela, I hope everything is alright?" Wade greeted her with a warm smile as he gripped her hands in his. She had called and begged him to meet her at the Tea Room.

He had hesitated at first, not just because he was busy, but Remi had made specific mention of her last Saturday at the opening. But he was also reminded that she had pissed him off earlier this morning with her stubbornness. The woman was determined to drive him crazy.

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