Trust (21 page)

Chapter 19

Stephan

Saying good-bye to Brianna was almost as difficult as it had been the first
time. The only thing that made it easier was the knowledge that our separation had an expiration date. I wouldn’t be going four months without holding her in my arms again. That wasn’t happening. If I had my way about it, I wouldn’t be going a week without having some sort of physical contact with her. In order for that to occur, though, I would have to get creative.

When Jade and Cal arrived to pick up Brianna promptly at noon, they handed me a small black bag that had been propped up outside the door. Inside was a change of clothes for me. It didn’t take a huge leap to know Lily was behind this. Only she would be brave enough to go to my condo, traipse into my bedroom, and rifle through my things. Why she hadn’t gone and bought something new, I had no idea. Under normal circumstances, I’d be livid, but her actions made getting out of the hotel without drawing attention to myself much easier. If I’d had to wear my tux, I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

It nearly ripped a hole in my heart watching the pain in Brianna’s eyes as she left with Cal and Jade. I knew she wanted to come home with me, and if it had been possible without putting a proverbial target on her back, nothing would have stopped me from doing just that.

The risk was still too high, however. Since the press conference two weeks ago, I’d had more than one reporter jump out at me from the most unlikely of places. Even walking a block to get coffee was an adventure. Brianna wasn’t ready for that. I’m not sure she ever would be.

At least talking via Skype was now an option. With Agent Marco no longer watching my every move, contact with Brianna was possible. We’d have to be careful, but at this point, I was willing to risk it. I needed her, and she needed me. Going back to the way we were wasn’t an option.

After changing my clothes, I headed downstairs to the hotel lobby and out front to where the valets were located. Handing the young man my ticket from the night before, I waited while he jogged off to retrieve my car. It was raining, which somehow felt appropriate.

The valet appeared with my car, and I slid behind the wheel. Traffic was minimal downtown given it was a Sunday afternoon. I was also sure the weather had something to do with it. Fall was upon us, and with it came cooler temperatures that made you want to curl up in front of a warm fire, especially when you added in the rain. Like everyone else on a day like today, all I wanted to do was get home. It was already close to one, and I was sure Sarah was wondering where I was after ditching her last night.

As I pulled into the underground parking garage attached to my building, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I let it go to voice mail and waited until I’d put the car in park before checking to see who had called.

The number on the caller ID showed it was from Richard and Diane. I figured they were probably wondering about my disappearance last night as well. Diane was most likely worried something had happened with the case—for the last two weeks she’d been calling me almost daily to find out if I had any news. Checking the voice mail didn’t give me any further idea as to what the call was about. It was Richard, and all he’d said was
“Call me when you get this
.
”

He didn’t sound upset or agitated, so I hoped I was correct in that they were only checking up on me due to my unexpected departure from the gala. Figuring I might as well get it over with, I dialed their number and waited for someone to pick up.

“Stephan.” There was a sound of relief in my aunt’s voice. “I’m so glad you called us back so quickly. I hope everything’s all right. You took off last night, and all Lily would tell us was that something came up and that you had to leave.”

I smiled. Lily could have made a great politician with answers like that. “My apologies if I worried you, but Lily was right. Something came up that required my immediate attention.”

“Nothing bad, I hope.”

“No. Nothing bad.” For some reason I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

“I’m glad to hear that. With everything that’s going on, I never know anymore.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Stephan, Richard would like to speak to you. I’ve got to get back to dinner anyway. Jimmy and Samantha are supposed to be here in about ten minutes.” Diane hesitated. “You could still come if you’d like. There’s plenty of food, you know.”

“I appreciate that, Diane. Maybe next time.”

She sighed. “Okay. Here’s your uncle. Be safe.”

Since Brianna’s departure, I’d only been to Sunday dinner at Richard and Diane’s once. I had to admit my uncle had been making a real effort lately. He was even somewhat sympathetic over my plight. I hated fighting with him, and I was glad that appeared to be behind us. Maybe we could begin working on rebuilding what we’d lost since Tami had driven a wedge between us with her lies. They were the only family I had left.

“Hello, Stephan. I trust everything is good with you or else your aunt wouldn’t have given up the phone so easily.”

“Nothing newsworthy.” Although my relationship with Richard had improved over the last few months, I wasn’t sure I was ready to bring up my renewed connection with Brianna yet.

“That’s . . . good, I suppose.”

I could hear the curiosity lurking behind his words, so I decided to get to the point. “I got your message. There was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Oh. Yes. I was wondering if you’d be home this afternoon. I wanted to stop by and speak with you about something.”

“You can’t discuss it now?”

There was a pause. “I’d rather do it in person. Will you be home?”

Now I was curious. “As far as I’m aware, I should be home. Do you have any idea what time?”

“I’ll head over after dinner if that works for you.”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “That’s fine.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

The phone went silent as Richard disconnected the call from his end. Perplexed, I removed the cell from my ear and stared down at it. The last time he’d called me out of the blue needing to talk with me, we’d argued for two hours and didn’t speak afterward for six months. What in the world did he want to talk to me about that was so urgent?

Figuring it was best to put it aside for now—after all, I’d find out what all the mystery was about in a couple of hours anyway—I grabbed my things and headed upstairs.

The downstairs of my home was empty when I entered. That wasn’t unusual—Sarah spent most of her time in her room if I wasn’t home. “Sarah?”

She bounded down the stairs toward me. I was still amazed she could do that with her growing belly. Sarah was in good shape, though. She’d worked out in my gym every day she’d been here. “Hey. You’re home.”

I smiled at her.

Her expression went from worry, to shock, and then a sly smile crossed her features. “I guess I don’t have to ask what . . . or should I say
who
dragged you away from me last night.”

“You don’t?”

She laughed and rubbed her stomach lovingly. “Nope. You saw your lady love last night.”

Although I hadn’t planned to deny it, I wanted to know how she’d come to that conclusion. “Why do you think that exactly?”

Sarah ambled into the kitchen, shaking her head. “It’s written all over your face.” She glanced over her shoulder at me as she took a glass from one of the cabinets. “You’re practically glowing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were the one that was pregnant.”

She winked at me, and I laughed.

“See. That. If I’d said something like that yesterday, you would have rolled your eyes at me.”

That only made me smile wider. Although I could feel the separation, seeing Brianna had given me hope. “Yes, I saw Brianna last night.”

Sarah strolled into the living room with her water and folded herself onto the couch. “Well, at least I know you ditched me for a good reason.” She patted the cushion beside her. “Come on. Spill. It’s the least you owe me after abandoning me at
your
foundation’s charity dinner.”

Reluctantly, I set my things down outside my bedroom door and joined her on the couch. She was right about one thing—I did owe her an explanation. Sarah had been my date, and my dad would have ripped me a new one if he knew I’d ignored a woman like that, no matter what the reason. A gentleman never did that to a lady.

There was a light in Sarah’s eyes I hadn’t seen since she’d arrived. I wondered if there was a part of her that was living vicariously through my love life.

“So come on, did you go meet her somewhere?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. She was upstairs in one of the hotel rooms.”

“Oooh. So a late-night rendezvous, then. Romantic.”

Again, I chuckled, and it felt good. “Something like that.”

“And?”

“And what?”

She huffed. “That’s all you’re going to give me? That you met her in a hotel room? I mean you were there the
whole
night.”

Instead of being angry, for some reason I was amused. It had to be the aftereffects of being with Brianna. “I’m not giving you the sordid details.”

“Aha! So you admit there
were
sordid details.” She moved both eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Shaking my head, I pushed myself up off the couch and stood. “I think that’s enough information for you. I should check in with Lily and make sure something didn’t come up last night that I need to address.”

Sarah pouted as I walked away.

Leaning down to retrieve my things, I glanced back at her. “By the way, my uncle will be stopping by in an hour or two.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“That’s not necessary. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She paused. “Oh, and Stephan?”

I waited.

She leaned forward, resting her chin on her forearms against the back of the couch. “I’m glad you got to spend some time with your girl.”

My conversation with Lily mimicked the one with Sarah in a lot of ways. Lily, however, wanted to know more than just if Brianna and I had sex last night—not that I shared any more information with Lily on that front than I had with Sarah—but Lily also wanted to know how Brianna herself was doing. Their meeting had been brief, and other than seeing that she was physically fine, Lily hadn’t gotten much more in the way of an update on Brianna’s life. I shared with her what I knew, although it wasn’t much. The little bit of talking Brianna and I had done last night had been on more personal subjects, not her life in general.

After I hung up with Lily, I made myself some lunch and joined Sarah in the living room. She was watching some old movie. It was black and white, and there was a lot of dancing. Not really my thing, but she seemed to be enjoying it. I’d observed over the past month that while Sarah was still very active, she wasn’t as full of untamed energy as she used to be. Whether that was due to the baby or something that had happened over time, I didn’t know.

Almost two hours on the dot since I’d spoken with my uncle, the security panel lit up, announcing we had a visitor. I stood and went to let Richard in.

“Stephan.” He smiled, but it was tentative, which made me all the more curious as to the reason for his visit.

I stepped back and motioned for him to come inside. “Richard.”

My uncle removed his overcoat and folded it neatly over his arm.

Across the room, Sarah switched off the television and stood. “Hello, Dr. Cooper.”

“Hello, Sarah. It’s nice to see you again.”

“You, too.” Sarah glanced over at me and then back to my uncle before picking up her water and the chips she’d been snacking on. “I’ll head upstairs and give you two some privacy.”

I waited to see if my uncle made any move to tell her that wasn’t necessary, but he didn’t. Whatever he had to say to me, he must have wanted to do so in private.

Once Sarah disappeared up the stairs, we made our way into the living room. He took a seat on the couch, and I lowered myself into my chair. I wouldn’t ever be able to sit in my chair again and not think of Brianna. My arms always felt empty without her in them.

Not wanting to get too lost in my memories, I tried to focus on my uncle. He was looking out the large bank of windows at the Minneapolis skyline, appearing to be deep in thought. I considered asking him what he needed to talk to me about, but I decided to wait. He’d tell me whatever was on his mind eventually.

A heavy silence filled the air as time passed. Still he didn’t speak. I noticed his jaw twitching and realized he was trying to find the right words to say whatever it was he’d come to say.

When he did finally speak, he didn’t look at me. “Stephan, I need to ask you a question, and I know you will probably tell me to go to hell, but I need to know.”

That wasn’t exactly a promising opening.

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes guarded. “Is it yours?”

I was genuinely confused. “Is what mine?”

Richard’s expression hardened, but I could tell he was trying to remain calm. “The baby.”