Dawn of the Golden Promise by BJ Hoff Read Free Book Online Page A

easily dismiss.

    In his hotel office nearby, Patrick Walsh glared once more at the letter in his hand, then crumpled it and tossed it into the ashtray on the corner of the desk. He struck a match, and in seconds the letter had burned to ashes.
    The little fool! What in the world was she thinking of, writing him a threatening letter! As if threats from the likes of her would intimidate him.
    He regretted his carelessness, certainly. There had been too many champagne dinners at her flat, too many late nights, entirely too little regard for the usual caution. He had been altogether too nonchalant, and it wouldn’t happen again.
    He should have known the little tramp would try to trap him. She wanted money, of course. That’s what the line about “asking nothing for herself but a secure future for the baby” was all about. Clearly, she was going to try to take him for a bundle.
    Well, she was in for a big disappointment. She would get nothing from him—only enough to help with the doctor bills. Not a penny more.
    He walked to the window and looked out on the sultry summer afternoon, thinking about the last time they had been together. Ruth had wept violently when he said goodbye. She always did, always begged him to stay longer. Sometimes he gave in, but not that night.
    Even before then, he had been growing impatient with her transparent efforts to ensnare him, to coax some kind of a serious commitment from him. At first he had been merely amused by her feeble attempts at entrapment. Eventually, though, he had wearied of her whining and spent less and less time at her flat when he was in town.
    Once he learned she was pregnant, he ended it. At least he thought he had.
    She had never been important to him in the first place, merely an enjoyable diversion when he was in Chicago on business. The entire affair wouldn’t have rated a second thought, had it not been for this latest ploy. She was actually threatening to come to New York!
    Not that he really believed she would. She was far too timid; he couldn’t imagine her finding the nerve to travel such a long distance alone. She had no self-assurance, no experience in getting along on her own. No, she wouldn’t try anything so daring.
    But what if she did ? What if Alice should learn of the affair?
    Worse, yet, what if Alice’s father should find out?
    In spite of the dim coolness of the office, Patrick’s skin felt hot and moist. With his shirt sleeve, he wiped a band of perspiration from his forehead.
    Jacob Braun would never forgive such a flagrant indiscretion on his son-in-law’s part. He would see it as a mortal sin, a deliberate humiliation of his daughter—his adored, pampered, overprotected, only daughter.
    Even though Alice’s father had relinquished most of his involvement in the hotel business to his son-in-law long ago, Patrick knew that Jacob Braun could still hurt him. For one thing, Braun had a big mouth, and he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot it off to anyone who would listen. He might not be able to wreak a great deal of financial damage on Patrick, but he was well-positioned enough to put serious strain on his political ambitions. He might even pull the plug on Alice’s generous allowance, not to mention her inheritance.
    Abruptly, Patrick turned back to the desk and took up his pen. He would get a message off to Ruth Marriott yet today, a message she couldn’t possibly misunderstand. He’d have one of his men deliver it. He would send money. A creditable amount of money. He hated giving her a dime, but perhaps that was the safest way, after all. Money would always buy silence.
    Taut with anger and more apprehension than he cared to admit, he scrawled a hasty note, renewing his warning that he would accept no responsibility for the child. In language she could not possibly misinterpret, he let her know that he regarded what they had had together as no more than a casual affair.
    The night she hit him