A Tangled Web (Dangerous Secrets) by Rose Francis Read Free Book Online Page B

one he trusted the way he did and she had shattered that trust. She didn’t blame him one bit if he wanted to leave her. Besides, she could do it—she could raise the baby on her own. She didn’t need him to help her.
    But how would others take it? She didn’t want people to think he’d left his pregnant fiancé; most people already believed the worst about him before believing the best.
    No, she’d find a way to clear his name. She didn’t know how, especially since she knew the child wasn’t Damien’s after all, which brought her to another thought: could she really keep Kent away from his own child simply because she didn’t want him to feel stuck with her? She knew Kent wouldn’t appreciate that to say the least—if there was anything that could upset him more than finding out about her plan, it would be finding out that she kept him away from his child because she felt they shouldn’t be together out of obligation. She absolutely had to tell him—but when? Certainly by the time the baby was due, right?
    The house phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. She knew her dad or Monique could have gotten it but she felt this time it was for her, and hoping it was Kent, didn’t want to waste a minute—she hadn’t seen him in days and she didn’t realize how badly she wanted to hear his voice until now.
    Her heart soared as she answered, impatient to hear his voice.
    “Hello?”
    “Kimberly?”
    Her heart sank.
    “What is it Damien?”
    “I’d like to see you—I have something very important to talk to you about.”
    “What could you possibly have to say that’s important?”
    “Kim, please. See me just this once okay? Can you meet me at my place?”
    Somewhere within her a red flag went up.
    “I don’t think so Damien.”
    “Why not? Okay I’ll come pick you up—you choose the place.”
    “Okay but Damien, what is this about?”
    “You’ll see sis.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    Kimberly knew it was a bad idea but she was curious.
    As she was leaving she told her father she was going for a drive with Damien, and he said straight up it didn’t sit right with him—he was only letting it go because he figured they were trying to build their relationship as siblings.
    ***
    Damien sat in the car waiting for Kimberly when he noticed her telling someone goodbye although he couldn’t see who exactly.
    He cursed under his breath.
    That ruined everything—for today anyway. He needed her to have been alone when she left, preferably not telling anyone where she was going or who she was going with.
    Change of plan. There will be another time.
    He decided to take a different approach today: he would woo her in a way, lull her into thinking he genuinely wanted to stay out of her life and be respectful of her relationship with Kent, that he really just wanted to be a brother to her. He would get her to the point where she wouldn’t have to mention anything to anyone anymore, and just go with him the next time he asked.
    When Kimberly hopped in, he asked:
    “So where are we going sis?”
    “Um, how about we just drive around?” she said, strapping on her seatbelt. “I’m sure there’s not a whole lot you have to tell me.”
    He smiled and drove off.
    “Kim, you’re still on the defensive I see. I just wanted to discuss our last encounter.” He sighed heavily. “Really, I wanted to apologize for my behavior then, I know it was weird. It was just so hard for me to let go of my feelings for you, especially since you ended up with that snake…I mean, my ex-best friend and half-brother, that…Kent. It hurt me pretty badly Kim, I mean, I could hardly get over you as it was and he jumped right…”
    “Moving on Damien.”
    “Yeah, sorry. Old pain dies hard, you know? So anyway, since we’re related and all, I figure we shouldn’t have to be cut completely out of each other’s lives.”
    “Well I agree Damien but I just don’t know how…”
    “That’s what I wanted to discuss with you.” That and the