His heart kicked faster. Dissension among the Hightowers had been his plan all along. It brought his goal of having a child to cinch his position at Patrick Architectural closer. But sharing custody wasn’t an option.
His relationship with Nicole would be a casualty, but a long-term or permanent involvement with her had never been part of his plan. All that mattered was keeping his father from selling the company out from under him. He had to win. And for him to win somebody had to lose.
Success had never felt so lousy.
“I’ll speak to my attorney.” But he wouldn’t be initiating the proceedings Nicole expected. He’d be doing what he did best. Looking out for number one. The only person who never let him down.
Beth stormed into Nicole’s office late Monday afternoon and hurled a sheaf of papers across her desk. “I told you the bastard would screw you over. And he’s taking us down with you.”Nicole reached for the scattered sheets. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s trying to steal our baby.”
“He who?” But she knew. Tension spiraled up her spine.
“Ryan Patrick.”
The letterhead from one of Knoxville’s most powerful and prestigious attorneys caught Nicole’s attention. She scanned the text and ice seeped into her veins. Her arms went weak and the document slipped from her grasp. “Ryan is suing for sole custody of my baby.”
“My baby. You promised this baby to me.”
“And you don’t want it. You plan to sell it like a black-market baby.”
“I’m not going to sell it. I’m agreeing to settle custody out of court. The money was Ryan’s idea. Remember? He came to us.”
“Same difference, Beth. You’re taking money for a child that isn’t even yours—one I will carry and nourish and love for nine months. A baby I ache for. And you intend to rip it from my arms for money.”
“You agreed to this.”
“I agreed to give you and Patrick the family you so desperately wanted because it would make you happy. Now all I ask is that you be as unselfish for me.”
“I’ve done nothing but give to you my entire life. I gave up dates to babysit you.”
“We had nannies who were paid to do that.”
“I was there for you. I gave you my time, my attention and my advice when our mother wouldn’t give you hers,” Beth continued in a righteous tone.
“And now you’re taking what matters most. My child.”
Beth emitted a furious hiss and stormed out of the office. Nicole let her go. She tried to gather her shattered composure and focus on the issue. She wanted to believe Ryan wasn’t betraying her. Maybe he had a strategy—one that would get around the surrogacy contract she’d signed.
She rose on shaky legs and crossed to the fax machine. Within moments the pages were on their way to her attorney. Then Nicole returned to her desk and dug Ryan’s business card from her purse. She had to talk to him. She punched in his office number.
“Nicole Hightower for Ryan Patrick, please,” she said as soon as the receptionist answered.
“He’s unavailable at the moment, Ms. Hightower. May I take a message?”
She needed him now. “No. Thank you.”
She dialed his cell number. Voice mail picked up. “It’s Nicole. Please call me.”
She tried his house and left another message. Where was he? Was he refusing to answer because he saw her name on caller ID? Why would he avoid her unless he had something to hide? A sick feeling invaded her stomach. What if Beth was right? What if Ryan had used her to weaken Beth and Patrick’s claim on the baby?
She had to find him. She bolted to her feet and raced out, barely pausing by Lea’s desk. “I have to leave early.”
She didn’t give her assistant a chance to ask questions. Within minutes she was in her car and headed toward the glass office tower housing Patrick Architectural. She hustled inside. The elevator rocketed upward.
She stormed into the thirtieth-floor offices just before five o’clock and marched up to the receptionist’s desk. “I need to see Ryan Patrick. It’s urgent.”
The woman took her name, called someone on the phone and then pointed. “Last door on the right.”
Fear and apprehension made Nicole tremble as she made her way across the plush carpet. The door was open. An older lady rose from behind a maple desk. “Ryan will see you now.”
She gestured for Nicole to go through another door. Ryan stood by a drafting table in the corner of the room. Nicole quickly scanned his office. The frosted glass, maple and chrome furnishings were just as modern as the decor of his house. But whereas his home was all dark colors, straight lines and sharp corners, his office was brightly lit and decorated in pale neutrals with furniture comprised of curves and round-edged, frosted glass.
He laid down his tools and turned. The carefully blank expression on his face made her stomach sink. “I take it you’ve heard from Beth.”
She met his solemn gaze. “Please tell me you have a master strategy that will allow me to co-parent my child with you. Because the petition doesn’t read that way.”
Ryan’s jaw went rigid. “I’m sorry, Nicole. I’m suing for full custody.”
A crushing sensation settled in her chest. “What about me?”
“You relinquished your rights. The waiver you signed is airtight.”
She wound her arms around her middle. “Ryan, this is my baby.”
“I don’t have time for a lengthy custody battle. I need a child now.”
“Why? Why do you have to do this?”
“My father is planning to retire next year. Like you, he equates fast cars, boats and motorcycles and a bachelor pad with an unwillingness to grow up or think ahead. He’s threatening to sell Patrick Architectural out from under me. I hired a surrogate to give him a grandchild to prove I am planning for the future. Instead, I got you.”
Horrified, she backed away. Ryan had encouraged her to turn against her sister, most likely irrevocably damaging her family relationship. For greed? “You don’t want a baby at all. You just want this company?”
“What I want is to disabuse my father of his old-fashioned notion that a man has to be married to be mature and responsible and dedicated to his job. I’m sorry for the pain this is going to cause you, Nicole. But you’re young. You’ll have other children.”
Her throat tightened. Her heart ached. “Was sleeping with me a way to coerce me into cutting Beth and Patrick out of the picture?”
His hesitation spoke volumes. “We have great sexual chemistry.”
Sexual chemistry? Was that all they shared? She’d been telling herself the same thing. So why did it slice like a razor when he said it? “What you’re telling me is that this child was merely a means to an end for you and that you want it for all the wrong reasons. A baby deserves to be loved, Ryan, not just used.”
“He became more than a tool when I saw him on the ultrasound.”
The pain swelled inside her until she was almost dizzy with it. “I don’t believe you.”
He strode behind his desk, yanked open the top drawer and pulled something out. With a flick of his wrist he slung the object across the table just like he’d tossed those letters the day they’d met. A twin to the picture he’d given her slid to a stop near the edge in front of her. Then he flipped open his wallet, revealing a smaller version of the same photo.
He shoved his wallet back into his pocket. “Believe that. This is my son or daughter, and I want it as badly as you do. I’ve been robbed of a child once before. I won’t let it happen again.”
“That’s why I thought you’d understand how much being a part of my child’s life means to me. But you used me. Just like you planned to use and discard your surrogate. Ryan, I would never keep you from your child. Why can’t we share custody?”
“Shared custody leaves the door open for you to change your mind and use the child as a weapon against me. I won’t let that happen.”
Head reeling, knees weak, she needed to sit down, but she didn’t dare reveal her weakness to the enemy. Beth and Patrick were right. All Ryan wanted was the baby she carried. He’d told her that from day one. So why did it hurt so much to have it verified now?
Because you were falling for him.
Correction. She’d already fallen for him like a climber slipping off the face of a glacier. There would be nothing but pain in her immediate future.
By hiding behind her old feelings for Patrick, she’d fooled herself into believing she couldn’t be swept off her feet by Ryan’s old-fashioned gestures, the understanding she’d seen in his eyes and the passion his touch ignited. But he’d slipped past her defenses when she’d thought herself safe.
It was like being kicked when she was already down from Beth’s treachery. She backed blindly toward the door. “I will see you in court, and I promise I will fight you to my last cent. No child deserves a heartless manipulative bastard like you for a father.”
She turned on her heel and fled because if she stayed, she was going to break down in front of him. Ryan’s betrayal was ten times worse than Patrick’s because, unlike her first love, Ryan knew he was tearing out her heart by taking her baby. But she couldn’t bear to lose what was left of her pride by letting him know she’d fallen in love with him.
A heartless manipulative bastard.The description fit like a cheap shirt.
Ryan wanted to go after Nicole. But what could he say?
She was right. He’d gone into this surrogacy plan with purely selfish motives. He hadn’t intended for anyone to get hurt. But there was no denying the agony clouding Nicole’s beautiful aqua eyes before she’d left.
His lungs felt tight, but not because he was afraid of her threat to take him to court. The law was on his side, and according to his attorney, Nicole had a slim-to-none chance of getting custody as a result of the waiver she’d signed. He, on the other hand, stood a very good probability of defeating Beth and Patrick who had no DNA connection to the baby whatsoever.
Divide and conquer, his attorney had suggested, and Ryan had done exactly that. But where was the satisfaction he should be feeling? He raked a hand through his hair.
His father entered without knocking. “Was that Nicole I saw getting into the elevator?”
“Yes.”
“She looked upset. Is there a problem with the plane or the flight?”
HAMC had scheduled a test run for the Patrick Architectural executives to show the rest of the team how their mobile office worked. “No.”
“You left the ball with her Friday night.”
“Yes.”
“I like her, Ryan. She’s the kind of woman you should have been dating all these years instead of your brainless twits.”
“Yes.”
His father frowned. “What’s with the monosyllabic answers? Not your usual style.”
Hell, he might as well get it out in the open. Owning up to a mistake was the first step toward fixing it. And he had made a mistake—one that might not be forgivable.