Chapter Fourteen
Sadie breathed a sigh of relief when Daisy had to fly back to LA to deal with one of her clients she referred to as ‘the brat’, some young hotshot that Hollywood touted as a bad boy. Daisy had been more than a little perturbed to have her vacation cut short, but apparently, her client wouldn’t stop blowing up her cell phone. She left with the promise to return as soon as she could.
Sadie was sad to see her go, but happy at the same time because her sisters still attempted to coddle her to the point where she wanted to scream. Lily still came by on a daily basis, but at least she eventually went home at nights. Rose, on the other hand, was in between contracts and had arranged her schedule so that she wouldn’t have any more big photo shoots for another few weeks. Sadie didn’t mind too much because Rose was the most laidback of her sisters and tended to not hover as much, although she too could get overbearing if she wanted to.
It was kind of nice having someone around to talk to, to shop with and to take her mind off of the mess she called her life. And Sadie was getting used to doing everything one-handed. The downside to having her arm in a cast was that it itched like a son of a bitch, and the simple things she took for granted like dressing herself was a pain in the ass.
At Sadie’s insistence, she went back to work. Getting back into a routine also gave her relief from thoughts of Rhys. By the end of her full week back on the job, Sadie knew she had to tell him about the baby. There was no point in putting it off because the end result would be the same whether she waited to tell him now or later: they would still be apart.
Her heart still ached for him and she missed him more than she thought possible, but she had her child to think of and its safety. Even though she’d come to the realization that he had every right to be upset with her for slapping Carys, especially since from his perspective felt it was unprovoked, she wouldn’t let that monster anywhere near her baby. In retrospect, Rhys had shown a great amount of restraint, more than she would have had the roles been reversed.
When they had been dating she’d familiarized herself with his office hours and would sometimes stop by his department on her breaks so she’d made a mental appointment to show up when she knew he’d be available. The planning was the easy part, when she had to stand in front of his office door and knock was the hard part. She must have stood there for at least ten minutes, five of those minutes she considered turning around and walking away, but finally, with a burst of bravado she tapped on his door and braced herself.
“Come in.” She missed that sexy baritone voice and how it made her feel when they made love.
Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and stepped inside his office. He didn’t look up at first so she got a chance to observe Rhys without him noticing. It had only been a couple of weeks since she’d last seen him, but he looked as if he’d lost weight and there was at least three days’ worth of stubble on his face. Rhys had always kept his appearance tidy so it broke her heart to see him like this. He was just as broken as she was and she didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.
“Hi, Rhys.”
He brought his head up sharply when he recognized her voice. The color drained from his face as if he’d seen a ghost and then it turned beet red. “What are you doing here, Sadie?”
“I think it’s time we had a talk.”
“About what, Sadie? How you attacked my daughter? How she’s torn up and blaming herself for our breakup?”
She could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes. The only thing Carys was probably upset about was not having Sadie around to torture anymore. “I owe you an apology for what happened. There are no excuses and if I had done things differently, then it would never have come to that.”
He frowned. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means exactly what I said. May I sit down please?”
He shrugged. “You plan on staying that long?”
Her cheeks flamed at his less than welcoming words. But what did she expect? “Okay, if you prefer that I stand fine, what I need to tell you shouldn’t take that long. And I’ll get out of your hair.”
He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Please have a seat, Sadie. How’s your arm by the way.”
“No. That’s okay. My break won’t be much longer so I won’t keep you. And the arm is getting better thanks. There’s really no sense in beating around the bush so I’m going to come right out and say it. I’m pregnant and it yours. I’m not telling you this because I’m looking for money. I’m capable of looking after myself and the baby, but I thought you had the right to know.”
If he had any color remaining, it had all drained out of his face. “I beg your pardon?”
“I’m pregnant, Rhys.”
Slowly he stood up. “I thought you were on the pill.”
“I might have forgotten to take them a couple times, I don’t know, but I didn’t deliberately set out to trap you if that’s what you’re inferring.”
He narrowed his gaze and flared his nostrils. “What did you expect me to say? Hallelujah? Should I be happy that you have the chance to abuse another child?”
There were many things he could have said to her but this was by far the lowest. And here she thought her mother was the master of emotional paper cuts. Her first reaction was to leave the office and run, but she refused to lay down and take this. Fuck it. She was tired of being everyone’s doormat. “I apologized for what I did to Carys. Besides my hitting her, my only mistake was not telling you sooner that your daughter is not as innocent as you think she is.”
He balled his fists his sides and took a step toward her but stopped. “Don’t make my opinion of you lower than it already is. You have no right to say anything against my daughter and furthermore, if you really are pregnant, perhaps I should file for sole custody to ensure you don’t harm this child as well.”
Sadie brought her hand up to hit him but stopped herself. What the hell was she doing? What was with the Edwards family that provoked her to violence?
Rhys smirked “Go ahead. That seems to be your M.O. these days doesn’t it, Sadie? Or should I saw Chrysanthemum Flowers? You’ll be hearing from my lawyer of course.”
“And you’ll be hearing from mine. There is no way I’d have a child of mine around an asshole like you and that demon seed you call a daughter.”
Rhys turned bright red. “Get out of my office!”
“Gladly, Mr. Edwards, but before I go, I think you have to be the dumbest son of a bitch on the face of the Earth. Why don’t you ask one of your old girlfriends about your sweet princess? I think they’d agree with me.”
“I said get the fuck out!” he roared.
She shot him one final glare, before turning on her heel but as she made it to the door, it was flung open and in stepped a stunning blonde. “Is everything okay? I heard yelling down the hall.”
“Don’t mind me, I’m just leaving.” Sadie brushed past the other woman.
As she walked out the door and took a couple steps away from the office, she heard the blonde ask, “Who was that?”
“Nobody special,” was Rhys’s cold reply.
Sadie stopped unable to suppress the urge to eavesdrop.
“Oh, well in that case, how about we go to lunch today? I’ve been dying to pick your brain since I started here.”
“Maybe another time Delilah. I have a lot on my plate right now. Can I take a rain check?”
“Sounds good. And don’t think I’ll let you out of our lunch date. Or we could make it dinner.” The blonde’s voice dropped several octaves lower with almost a husky quality to it. It was obvious to Sadie that Delilah wanted to do much more than pick Rhys’s brains.
Not waiting around to hear Rhys response she hurried down the hall and out the building. She refused to shed tears even though they were threatening to spill. Even from the beginning of the relationship, she knew Rhys would have the power to hurt her far more than any man ever had and she was right.
Sadie was so over it. Tired of being pushed around and hurt and it was time to start taking care of her. Yanking her cell phone out of her purse, she pressed Daisy’s number on speed dial.
Daisy answered on the second ring. “Hey, little sis, what’s up?”
“I need the name of a good family lawyer in my area.”
“What happened honey?”
“I told Rhys about the baby. He was less than thrilled. Our meeting was contentious, to say the least, but let’s not get into logistics. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Do you need me to come back?”
“No. I need to handle this on my own. And I’m dead serious. I don’t need you, Rose or Lily to fight my battles. I’m going to be a mother soon and I can’t teach my child to be self-sufficient if I have you guys playing white knight every time you think I need rescuing.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line followed by a sigh. “Okay, Sadie. I have a few names for you. I just need to get their contacts and I’ll give you a call tonight with the information.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
“Okay, I have a meeting with the partners in two minutes.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hold you up.”
“Sweetie, you know there’s nothing more important to me than my sisters. Okay, talk to you tonight. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Sadie disconnected and put the phone back in her purse.
Rhys reaction had knocked her for a loop, but this was one fight she refused to back down from. If it wasn’t over between them before today, her confrontation with him had sealed it. Sadie and Rhys were no more.
* * *
Rhys sat in his study that night with the lights off, his third glass of gin in hand. It was Friday so he could afford to get stinking drunk if he wanted. Carys had gone to bed over an hour ago.
I’m pregnant and the baby is yours, played in his mind over and over again. His reaction that followed shamed him. If Sadie had followed through with that slap, he would have deserved it. Regardless of how things had ended between them, he could have been more civil, but seeing her only made him hurt again. He wished he could turn off his feelings as easily as turning off a tap, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He was going to be a father again. He and Sadie would be connected for the rest of their lives through this child. It was his. Even though Sadie was not the person he thought she was, her words were too genuine for them not to be real. He didn’t know what to think of it. What kind of life would the child have if he and the mother couldn’t get along? What about Carys? How would she feel knowing he had a biological child on the way?
He was still trying to figure out what Sadie’s parting shot about Carys had been about? What did she mean by that? It was true, a handful of his former girlfriends seemed to have an aversion to Carys, but he assumed it was because of the type of women he’d been attracted to. He thought things would be different with Sadie. There was no way he would demand answers from his daughter when she’d already been through so much, with losing her mother, Sadie’s attack, and finally letting go of the secret she’d been holding about her paternity. To top it off, she nearly lost her horse. It had been touch and go for her beloved Buttercup but the horse was slowly but surely making a recovery. It would probably be a long time before she could be ridden, though. Carys was at the stables every day taking care of her.
Downing the remaining contents of his glass, he grabbed the half empty bottle off his desk but stilled when he heard a knock on the door.
Without waiting for him to say come in, Carys poked her head in. “Daddy, can I talk to you?”
Rhys immediately put his glass down and capped his bottle. “Uh, I thought you were in bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He sighed. “Can we postpone this until tomorrow sweetie? I’m kind of out of it right now.”
“You mean you’re drunk.”
“Not yet, but if you leave me to it, I’ll be there in about an hour.”
She flipped on the lights and walked in. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had been crying. This sobered him.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. What’s the matter?”
“I can’t live with this anymore, Daddy and I’m so sorry.”
“What, baby?”
She burst into tears. “Promise me you won’t stop loving me if I tell you something.”
Rhys was by her side in a flash. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her back and forth. “Baby, nothing you could say or do will make me stop loving you. You should know that by now.”
She sobbed against his chest as if her heart were breaking and it tore him apart. What could have happened to make her break down like this? When her cries had simmered down to sniffles, she raised her head to look at him. He stroked the back of her head. “Tell me what the matter is, Carys.”
“I…I was the one who stuck Buttercup with that pen when Sadie was on her, but I only wanted to scare her. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. I’m so sorry. I…I haven’t been very nice to her and I’m so sorry. And I-I put that CD in her bag too. It was only a joke. I di-didn’t know it would get so out of hand. I’ve said a lot of mean things to her when you weren’t around. Called her ugly and fat. Told her that you’d find someone prettier, but she was always so nice to me!” She cried even harder than she had before.
Rhys stepped away from her as if he’d been burned. It took him several moments to comprehend what she’d told him. Those weren’t the actions of the girl he thought she was, but of a very disturbed person. Everything was starting to come together. Sadie!
He’d been an absolute dick to her today and probably damaged any chance he had of getting back into her good graces. He wanted to be sick.
Carys sniffed. “Daddy, you’re not saying anything?”
Rhys was numb, he wasn’t sure what he should feel, but he knew he didn’t want to lash out without first thinking things through first. “Carys, go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Daddy?”
“Go now before I say something I can’t take back.”
She let out another sob and raced out the office.
When he was alone, he fell to his knees, head in hand. What had he done?