Winning Wyatt (The Billionaire Brotherhood Book 1) (2 page)

When
they reached St. Louis, Dylan’s uncle had arranged for his nephew to travel on
a military flight to New Jersey. Which was close enough for him to get a ride
into New York City.

Despite
his close relationship with his mother, Ryan moved in with his father, knowing
even then that his dad would need his son the most. And he kept the car.

Wyatt’s
mother had sent her housekeeper’s husband, Jonah, to drive Wyatt to Atlanta.
They made it back in time for Wyatt to say his final good-bye to his father.

Three
boys, each with differing temperaments and backgrounds, but each destined to be
a billionaire in a few short years, had formed a friendship. An unbreakable
bond.

A
brotherhood.

Connecticut, present day

The
sudden vibration of Kara Enderley’s cell against her desktop interrupted her
concentration. Frowning, she clicked to save next week’s art review column
before snatching up the phone. “Hello!”

“Hello
yourself, Kara mia.” The deep, Southern drawl that haunted her dreams reached
out to her like a caress from two thousand miles away. “Is this a bad time?”

Wyatt
freaking Maitland. Damn, she really should remember to check the caller display
before answering, or get in the habit of letting more of her calls roll into
voicemail.

Unwanted,
unexpected memories crashed through her as her gaze shifted from the computer
screen to the crooked smile and mischievous amber eyes in the framed photo on
the shelf above her desk. One of the few mementos she’d saved from the spring
they’d spent together three and a half years ago. The spring that had
reassembled the fractured pieces of her life. Before she knew the truth about
Wyatt freaking Maitland… and about his family.

Equal
parts thrill and panic fluttered in the pit of her stomach—just as they always
did when he called. “Hi, Wyatt! I’m in the middle of something. Can I call you
back?”

“You’re
always so busy, Kara.” His chiding tone pricked her guilty conscience. “Can’t
you take a minute to talk to an old friend?”

An
old friend? She pondered the phrase. They were friends, but not friends.
Lovers, but not lovers.

Still,
she owed him much more than a minute of her time.

“Of
course.” Clutching the phone tightly, she prepared to follow the
long-established rules of their long-distance relationship.
Keep things light. Surface topics only
.
“Have you been to Atlanta to see your family lately? How are they?”

“Allie
and Xander are both fine.” He followed the news about his sister and nephew
with the inevitable pause. “Mother, too.”

Shivering,
Kara envisioned the reigning Georgia Ice Queen at her chilling best. “That’s
great. And how’re things at Southern Cal? Are you drowning in mid-terms?”

“I’m
ass-deep in a stack of essays, waiting to be graded.”

Silence
settled between them, stretching into awkwardness. After a glance at the clock,
she stole a moment to listen to him breathe. Probably not much time before she
really would have to go.

“What
can I do for you?” She winced at the abrupt question.

“So
much for small talk. I guess I’ll get right to it. I’d like to see you.”

Her
heart pirouetted with joy, but her ever-present fear reached out and stomped
all over the emotion. “Why?”

“There’s
something important we need to discuss.”

She
hesitated. “I doubt that. We agreed a long time ago that we wouldn’t—”

 
“Would you be willing to meet with me Friday
night?” The interruption marked a rare breach of his perfect Southern manners.

“
This
Friday?” Kara bit the inside of her
cheek. Their periodic conversations always required her to perform a careful
balancing act between desire and deceit. Seeing him in person would render that
trick impossible. She hadn’t been dodging him for three years just to let him
stroll back into her life now. Tapping the eraser-end of a pencil on her desk,
she attempted to maintain a breezy tone. “How will that work? I leave
Connecticut and you leave California at a designated time and hope we bump into
one another somewhere in the middle of the country. Kansas, perhaps?”

“That’s
one possibility.” She pictured him smiling before continuing. “But I’m willing
to go the distance.”

She
pulled in several deep breaths, her thoughts racing. “You plan to come
here
? Friday, huh? Great. Just let me
check my schedule.” Randomly flipping the pages of her desk calendar, she
groped for inspiration. “Oh, no! I’m sorry. I almost forgot. I’ll be out of
town this Friday.”

“What,
again?” He made a clicking noise with his tongue against his teeth. “I hate to
hear it.” He didn’t sound disappointed. He sounded skeptical. “It’s amazing how
you’re always out of town when I have business in New York. Is this a trip you
can postpone? I really need to see you.”

“I’d
postpone it if I could, but I can’t. I have plane tickets. And reservations.
I’m going—” Desperately, she flipped through the stack of mail she’d brought in
earlier. Electric bill, nope. Invitation to join a health club, no help. Offer
for a free cruise.
Yes!
“—on a
cruise. To the Caribbean. With a friend. I’m sorry.”

 
Her guilty conscience finally strangled her disjointed
ramblings and brought them to a halt. The fabrication must be stone-cold
obvious to someone with Wyatt’s razor-sharp acuity. God, how many times had she
imagined meeting him face to face and revealing the truth? Too many to count,
but she could never make herself go through with it. She had too much to lose.

“That
sounds like fun.” His framed likeness on the wall mocked her. “I’m sorry I
won’t get to see you, Kara mia.”

“I’m
sorry, too.”
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
How
many times had he used that word since they’d last been together? How many
times had
she
used it?

“Then
I’ll see you the next time I’m in town?”

“Absolutely!
I’ll look forward to it.”

“No,
I think you should count on it.”

The
heir to the Maitland fortune could charm the pants off a nun if he tried, and
he was accustomed to getting his way in most situations. The pointed comment
sounded very much like a threat. Or maybe that was her overburdened conscience
talking again. “I sure will.”

“I
have a couple of reasons for coming to New York this week, but one of them is
that I want to talk to you about your son.”

Kara’s
vision clouded. Stretching out a hand to steady herself, she switched the phone
from one ear to the other and wiped a sweaty palm against her jeans. Her heart
thudded sickeningly against her ribs. “My son?” She managed to squeeze out
those two small words from a throat constricted like a vise.

“You
said once that Adam’s death had seemed so pointless.” Wyatt’s delivery was
quiet and careful as he tiptoed into one of their many off-limit topics. “I’ve
been trying to think of a way to change that.”

Bitterness
honed Kara’s pain with a sharp edge. “Nothing you do or say can change it.
Discussing it again serves no purpose.”

He
may have cursed under his breath before speaking more diplomatically. “You
don’t know that if you won’t listen.”

Before
she could reply, another voice, one located much closer than California,
beckoned her from the baby monitor on her desk. “Mo-om. Mom-
mee
.”

“I
can’t listen to anything you have to say about my son. I
won’t
listen.” There. She’d admitted it. “I’m sorry, but I have to
go.” She covered the phone’s mouthpiece to muffle the sound of Sean sneezing in
the background.

“You
can’t keep avoiding me, Kara. I’ve been patient long enough.” Wyatt’s words
arrived with more steel than he normally he needed to employ.

“We’ll
talk again soon. As soon as I get back from the cruise.” Her son’s voice
through the speaker became more demanding. Raspier. She leaned forward and
strained to hear, frantic now to get off the damned phone. Did he sound
congested? Had he seemed feverish before his nap? She needed to check his
temperature. Immediately.

“Have
a good trip.”

“Thanks.
You, too.” She opened her mouth to apologize yet again, but closed it. Words wouldn’t
comfort either one of them unless they included her full confession. And
forgiveness on
both
sides. And that
was out of the question.

She’d
made her choices long ago. Too late to second-guess those decisions now.

“Wanta
get up.” Sean followed the announcement with a cough.

“Thanks
for calling.” Kara’s hand clutched the phone for one more regretful moment
before she cut the connection.

She
hurried to her son, but memories of another set of amber eyes accompanied by a
whisky-smooth voice under a starlit sky haunted her thoughts.

In
his university office, Wyatt Maitland shoved his chair away from his desk and
tossed his phone aside.

“Damn.”
He moved to stand in front of the window overlooking the annoyingly sunny
California campus. The calendar said it was October, but he couldn’t tell by
looking. Fall… winter… spring… it didn’t matter. All the seasons looked the
same here in the land of perpetual sunshine.

He
should have followed his original inclination and shown up on Kara’s doorstep
unannounced. But that would have violated the terms of their agreement. The
stupid agreement he’d insisted upon when they met. The stupidest agreement he’d
ever constructed in his life. “When it’s over between us, it’s over,” he’d
said, presumably for his own protection.
No
regrets and no recriminations
. They’d agreed to the stipulations with a
handshake, a kiss, and a weekend of sizzling sex, the memory of which still
managed to heat his skin from the inside out.

Of
course, that had been before she knew his family owned the company responsible
for the deaths of her husband and child. Hell, he hadn’t even known it himself
at the time.

During
the past three years he’d deluded himself into thinking he could win her over
again. If he could recapture her trust, she’d eventually forgive him. But she’d
proven as elusive to pin down as bipartisan politics or a simultaneous orgasm.

But
things were about to change.

He’d
devised a new strategy to overcome the past and right old wrongs. He intended
to tell her about the plan face-to-face. But could any reparation ever be
enough to mend the damage his family had done?

Kara
was the only woman he’d ever known who hadn’t wanted anything from him. Before
and after she learned the awful truth, she hadn’t tried to take advantage of
his name, his money, or his family’s far-ranging influence. And deep down, her
increasing emotional distance during their phone conversations made him worry
that she needed his support more than anyone else ever had.

Her
continued evasions raised concerns that she’d reverted to the wounded-sparrow
persona he’d first known. That she’d once again cut herself off from life,
friends, and love, even though she assured him that she hadn’t. And if that
were true, then his other worry—that she was seriously involved with someone
else—chilled him to the bone.

He
wished it hadn’t taken him so long to admit she meant more to him than some
pleasant memories he could store away for the winter like patio furniture.

If
she still wanted to have a baby, he could at least consider it, and not reject
the idea with some off-the-cuff comment like he had when she’d suggested it
before. Not that he wanted to have a child anytime soon, of course, but
eventually...

Wyatt Maitland, family man
.

The
concept boggled his mind, but he’d work on getting used to the idea. After
getting to know his troubled nephew, Xander, in the last few years, he’d
realized this parenting thing might be more rewarding than he’d first
suspected. And he’d also realized there might be more than one area of his life
that lacked substance.

But
since Kara had once again run away from the idea of meeting with him like a
frightened doe from a hunter, he was finished playing by the rules. Time to
resort to his fallback plan. Not one he embarked on without a few qualms, but
anything was better than continuing to stand idly by, waiting for her to
rescind their agreement, and come to her senses about seeing him. His patience
had reached its limit.

Before
giving himself time to decide against it, he grabbed his phone and punched the
number of one of his two best friends. One of the few people he trusted.

After
Dylan answered and they traded insults for a few minutes, Wyatt got to the
point.

“I
need the phone number of a woman who lives in New York.”