A Hollywood Bride (Ryder & Paige 2)

A mild amusement lights his eyes for a moment. “Let me guess. Julian.”

I say nothing. He can guess all he wants.

“Ryder’s father has always been an asshole,” Anthony says.

That I can agree with, not that I’d let him know.

“You see…you have a weak point that makes Ryder’s enemies think they can use you.”

“I don’t have a weak point.”

“Oh, please.” His gaze drops to my stomach. “Your baby. It is the weakest of points for mothers, highly exploitable.” A sardonic smile twists his mouth. “Well. Most mothers anyway. And I have a feeling you’re one of the typical ones.”

“You won’t be able to use it to get back at Ryder,” I say.

“If I wanted to get back at him, to even the scales, as it were…I’d’ve made sure you lost it.”

I suck in a sharp breath. My hand flies to cover my belly protectively.

The muscles in his jaw grow taut as he looks at my hand. “Oh yes. I lost a baby because of him.”

The harsh announcement hits me hard. “What…?”

“Lauren was pregnant when she finally told me about Ryder. At that time, I begged her to keep the child, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Said she couldn’t afford to fritter away a career opportunity with something as inconvenient as a baby. Now that I think about it, I don’t even know if it was really mine, but back then I thought it was.” The skin around his eyes tightens, and his entire face looks like a mask.

Suddenly, the evening takes on an ominous tone. I start shaking. “Are you going to hurt me to get back at Ryder?”

“Perhaps I should.” He turns the bottle in his hand, studying it.

My blood turns to ice, and I clench the hand over my belly until it’s a tight fist.

“Except…I didn’t feel even a kernel of satisfaction when I heard about your hospital visit.” He looks up and locks eyes with me.

A moment passes before I lick my dry lips and rasp out, “That makes you a good person. It isn’t something to be conflicted about.”

“But I don’t want to be good, Paige.” He closes his eyes for a moment, then gets off the stool, walking over to a window and a view of the city outside. “I want my pound of flesh.”

I don’t have an answer for that. Telling him it’d do his soul good to give up his revenge just seems corny, a cliché from a badly written redemption flick.

“I want to know how much pressure I can exert before your relationship implodes and you decide he isn’t worth it. After all, that’s how Ryder got Lauren to leave me…by convincing her I wasn’t worth it.” He doesn’t turn to look at me. “Make yourself comfortable. I need to get going.”

“Thank you,” I say automatically, even as my mind is reeling.

“Oh, don’t thank me. I’m not doing this to be nice.”

The door closes behind him.

* * *

TJ arrives soon after Anthony leaves. The bouncer is huge, with big muscles like pale slabs of butcher beef and an even bigger attitude. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a bad ass and he knows it.

Of course I’ve known him for a few years at Z, so none of that impresses me.

His gaze doesn’t drop below my neck. “You okay? Need me to call a doc or something?”

“I’m fine.”

He grunts and lowers himself onto the other couch. “Lemme know if you need anything.”