The Fatherhood Affair

Lyn was unperturbed. ‘Natalie knows I’ve broken up with Julian, darling. And I told her I came to you. She’s well aware of the situation. There’s no need to get stuffy about it. She understands.’

Damien’s gaze swung to Natalie, piercingly sharp. ‘What do you understand, Natalie?’

Lyn had lied to her. Damien had lied by omission, not telling her Lyn was staying with him. But perhaps he had good reason for that. One thing was patently clear to Natalie. There was no intimacy here. Absolutely none from Damien. Lyn’s performance was a performance. It didn’t gell with Damien’s reactions.

‘Your ex-wife told me you and she would shortly be announcing your remarriage,’ she answered flatly.

‘Not a chance in hell!’ His response was so peremptory and decisive, there was no doubting it. Damien looked grim. ‘Is that why you asked about her this morning, Natalie?’

‘Yes.’

‘But you didn’t believe me.’ His eyes seethed with resentment.

‘I did believe you, Damien,’ Natalie asserted. ‘I’m sorry for doubting you just now, but when I heard her voice and smelled her perfume on you...’

‘She drowned my robe in it. Spilled the damned stuff all over it. I haven’t had time to get it laundered.’ He turned a look of icy contempt to the woman beside him. ‘You’re a bitch, Lyn. An out-and-out bitch.’

‘Why? Because I’ve got the guts to go after what I want?’ She tossed her head in defiant pride. ‘It was good for us once, Damien. It could be good for us again.’

‘That time is well and truly gone, and you know it, Lyn.’

She flicked a sly look at Natalie. ‘You let me stay here with you.’

‘I felt sorry for you.’ His mouth twisted self-mockingly. ‘Wasted sympathy. You’ll always bite the hand that feeds you.’

‘You’re wrong, Damien. I’ll give you what you want...’

‘I don’t want it from you. I stopped wanting it from you a long time ago.’

‘I’ll give you a baby...’

‘No damned way!’

She nodded towards Natalie. ‘What if she won’t have you? I’d give you more than one baby. I’m ready to give you the family you want, Damien.’

A muscle in his jaw contracted. ‘Go and get dressed, Lyn. I want you out of my life. Now. And don’t ever come back to me again. Not for anything.’

‘You’re a fool, Damien. If you’ll...’

‘Move now,’ he commanded tersely. ‘Either that or I’ll gather your belongings and you can dress in the lobby outside.’

She shot Natalie a venomous look as she flounced away from Damien and headed off to the hallway leading to the rest of the apartment. She left a silence bristling with tension. Not until a door slammed shut behind her did Damien turn to Natalie. His eyes were hard and glittering with challenge.

‘Lyn came here on Saturday night,’ he stated flatly. ‘She’d had a violent fight with her lover. There were bruises on her upper arms. She asked if she could stay until she found an apartment for herself. She slept in the study if you want to check.’

‘I believe you, Damien,’ Natalie said quietly.

His mouth thinned. He shook his head. ‘Lyn set this up so you would come and catch me with her. And you came.’

‘No. It didn’t enter my mind she’d be here with you. I came this morning because...’ She didn’t want to tell him she was pregnant while Lyn was still here. Her eyes pleaded for his understanding. ‘I had a bad night. I realised, after the meeting with Lyn yesterday, how blind and foolish I’d been in misjudging you. And how very much I wanted to keep you in my life.’

He searched her eyes for several nerve-racking moments. ‘I didn’t know why you’d come. You said a month. And Lyn was here. I thought you’d think the worst...’

‘As I did just now.’ She made an apologetic gesture.

He shook his head. ‘It was stupid of me to open my mouth to Lyn about you. It was a way of letting her know she couldn’t use me for consolation. I had no idea...’

‘I know,’ Natalie broke in gently. ‘There’s no need to explain. If I’d stayed with you, none of this would have happened.’