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And yet, as the hits had kept coming, he’d wanted to fight back—not just for himself, but for all the times Lyssa had felt as though her brothers hadn’t respected or valued her.
Someone handed him a baggie of ice from the cooler, and he put it to his face. Water streamed from his clothes all over the pristine new deck.
Will turned to Cal and asked what they all wanted to know now that the fight was over—at least for the moment. “Is it true, Cal? Is Lyssa pregnant with your baby?”
He was glad Susan had taken Lyssa into the house. He didn’t want her to see him face the Mavericks, the men he’d called friends for so many years. The men he’d let down.
Daniel’s face was battered and bruised, and next to him, Will’s features were stony, a dark flare of betrayal in his eyes as he waited for Cal to respond. Evan stared at him, his features bleak, clearly hoping it wasn’t true. Matt’s expression was that of a man seeing the real Cal Danniger for the very first time and sickened by the sight. Sebastian wore a grimace of disgust. Beside Matt, Gideon crossed his arms over his chest. All of them were waiting.
Cal couldn’t bear to look at their loved ones, especially fragile Francine, gripping her walker, and Jeremy, his face stricken. He could only thank God that Rosie and Ari had spirited the boys away.
“Yes.” The word gritted from his throat, raw from the punches Daniel had landed there. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, but yes, Lyssa is having my child.”
Sebastian growled, “What the hell were you thinking?”
Before he could reply, Matt barked, “She’s twenty years younger than you!”
Evan’s indictment was the worst. “She worked for you. She trusted you. We trusted you.”
Cal’s heart shrank to the size of a pea in his chest. His face ached along with his whole body, but it was nothing compared to the ache squeezing his heart.
There were so many reasons he could have given them. That he’d felt so drawn to Lyssa it had been impossible to turn away from her. That she was everything he’d ever wanted—bright, beautiful, sweet. That the baby was a dream come true.
Then Daniel dealt the blow that nearly brought him to his knees. “You’re just like your father.”
The words were garbled through Daniel’s swollen lips, but they pierced Cal’s soul.
The guys were the only people who knew the real story about his past. A story he’d told during nights of friendship, drinking a little too much, talking a little too much, telling them about his father and how he’d always made sure never to follow in good old Dad’s footsteps. He’d refused to be a lawyer. And he’d certainly never messed around with his employees.
Until Lyssa.
Until he couldn’t resist an affair with the gorgeous, beautiful, fabulous, amazing woman.
A woman who worked for him.
Then he’d gone a huge step further than his father.
He’d gotten his best friends’ sister pregnant.
He wanted to apologize, to ask for forgiveness just the way his father had asked for forgiveness from him. Forgiveness he had never given. Forgiveness he’d refused to even consider giving.
Knowing how futile it was to say he was sorry, he told them the only thing that really mattered. “I’m in love with her. And I want our child. More than you can possibly know.”
When he turned away—to the house, to find Lyssa—he heard Daniel spit on the ground behind him. Making it perfectly clear what they thought about the value of his love for their sister.
And making it equally clear that forgiveness would never be in the cards.
Cal had done the unforgivable.
He’d ruined their sister’s life.
* * *
They’d known they’d have to face the music, as the old saying went, yet Lyssa had never imagined this—Cal’s face broken, bloody, and swollen—and that the damage would be done by her own brother!
“Is it true, Lyssa?” Susan asked.
She turned to her mother. “Yes.” She lifted her chin and pushed her shoulders back. “I’m having Cal’s baby.”
She spoke defiantly. Proudly. Her pregnancy might have been an accident, but during those beautiful, glorious, wonderful, amazingly fun days with Cal, she’d learned that he and the baby were the best things that had ever happened to her.
“We were going to tell everyone today, but Daniel must have overheard us talking in the kitchen.”
“You work for him,” her father said gently. “Please tell me he didn’t—”
“God, no!” she exclaimed, jumping to Cal’s defense. “Of course he didn’t do anything wrong. He’s not that kind of man. He’s honorable. Everything that happened was mutual.”
Suddenly, between her parents’ stunned reactions and the threatening stances of her brothers all lined up against Cal, she was angry. Beyond angry. She’d hoped for so much more from them. Hoped they’d be happy for her. Hoped they’d know she was more than capable of taking care of herself, of fighting her own battles, if need be.
