Seduced by the Stranger (Billionaires & Babies, #2) Page 5

  His mind replayed some of the trauma. The delight in being told Jen was out of a coma only to hear about the loss of her memory.

  ‘I’m afraid Miss Sinclair has retrograde amnesia,’ the nurse had rushed. ‘Although she hasn’t lost the ability to remember routine things like how to dress and shower herself, she has no memory of anyone or anything prior to awakening a couple of hours ago.’

  Max had barely made it to the bathroom before he was physically ill. Now, his guts churned again knowing Jenna had been told it was Curtain’s child.

  Thank God he’d been in time to stop the wedding.

  Some of the tension seeped from his body as he leant back against the hard, wooden bench seat and tried to dwell on the positives.

  He’d done all he could and Jenna was safe. Now, it was a waiting game.

  Chapter 6

  Four hours later, Max was in the sitting room of the boutique hotel he’d rented out. Trying and failing to focus on some business correspondence on his laptop, he was relieved when Katherine Gerber entered the room.

  ‘Hi, Mr Bennett. How are you?’

  He stood up. ‘I’m fine. It’s Jenna I’m worried about. How is she?’

  ‘Doing as well as can be expected.’ The psychologist hesitated. ‘She’s settled into her room. Now she’s in the other sitting room and wants to speak to you—just the two of you.’

  It was great news. He’d been prepared for it to take days for her to want to see him.

  ‘Answer her questions honestly, but don’t volunteer any extra detail. Can you stick to that?’

  ‘Of course.’ Already on edge, and unused to being given orders, Max had to stop himself from snapping at the psychologist. ‘I’m not the villain here. I want to do everything I can to help Jenna or I’d never have hired you in the first place.’

  ‘I know you want to help her, but you’re also under extreme duress right now. It’s only natural to be impatient to have Jenna’s memory return—especially when you’ve already been separated from her for so long.’

  ‘You warned me it could be a slow process.’ If at all. He shut his mind to the thought, not wanting to acknowledge the alternate scenario.

  ‘You need to give her space as far as your relationship goes. Having had a near miss at the altar this morning, the last thing she needed was another man turning up claiming he had a close relationship with her.’

  ‘I said as much to a friend, except that in my case it’s true. She is my fiancée and it’s my baby she’s carrying.’ He moved his hands expressively as he justified his actions. ‘I know you said to proceed slowly but I had to tell her the truth so she didn’t make the biggest mistake of her life.’

  ‘Mr Bennett—’ the doctor’s tone softened, ‘—she doesn’t want a husband right now or even a fiancé. She needs to find herself before she can begin to think about a relationship. So when you go into the sitting room, remember, you’re there to answer questions about her past generally—not about your relationship.’

  ‘Unless she asks.’

  Dr Gerber nodded.

  ‘What about her pregnancy?’ he asked bluntly. ‘She’s going to have another relationship in nineteen weeks or so whether she’s ready for it or not. How can I help her through it if she doesn’t accept my role in her life?’

  ‘Her pregnancy has been very difficult for her to accept given she’s no memory of your intimate relationship. At this point, she needs a lot more counselling to prepare her for motherhood and even the acceptance of her child. Obviously you have legal rights—’

  ‘To hell with my legal rights! I want to convince Jenna to allow me to be involved with our child. I don’t want this forced upon her by lawyers.’ He sighed. ‘Look, the only thing I care about is finding the right way through this for all of us.’

  ‘Be patient. I don’t want you to raise your hopes only to have them dashed.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘I believe she’s only asked to see you because you can provide information about her life prior to the accident.’

  Great. Thanks for that bit of confidence-inspiring opinion, doctor.

  He had to remind himself no matter how much he wished a switch in Jenna’s brain would flick miraculously and free up her memories, everything he’d read on retrograde amnesia indicated it was unlikely to happen that way.

  ‘I don’t need to underline that if there’s anything specific she tells me, I can’t pass on those details due to confidentiality?’

  ‘I’ve got it, doctor.’ The words were almost grated out between his teeth as he railed at his position of powerlessness. He hated having to rely on a stranger for assistance in such a personal matter. ‘You’ll only give me basic stuff like how she’s doing, or what I need to do or not to do, in order to help her.’

  ‘That’s right.’ She nodded. ‘Now, she’s in the sitting room through to your right. I’ll be in my bedroom suite if you need me.’ She pointed to the door. ‘Jenna’s very tired, very lost and naturally extremely wary after the revelations of this morning. Her interview with the police also left her shaken. Still, she strikes me as a strong, level-headed woman and she wants to understand the truth.’ The doctor smiled encouragingly. ‘I get the impression she’s fighting her way out of the fog and starting to discover she has a core of steel she can draw on.’

  He couldn’t help but ask, ‘Any glimmers of memory at all?’

  ‘Nothing concrete. From what she’s told me in the little time we’ve had together, she has ideas every now and then, yet nothing sticks or makes sense to her.’

  He lowered his voice. ‘Nothing about the accident?’

  ‘No. Not even any nightmares. She’s completely blocked it out.’

  ‘Do you still think the amnesia might be intentional at a subconscious level because of the attempt on her life?’

  ‘Possibly.’

  ‘She didn’t recognise me at all?’ He’d tried but failed to keep the note of disappointment from his voice.

  ‘No. However, she does feel more connection to you than she has to anyone else. It’s a promising start.’

  Max turned away abruptly, king-hit by emotion and having to fight against breaking down.

  Bloody hell!

  He’d tell himself he was handling everything then it’d just knock him out of the blue and he’d feel like collapsing into a heap.

  This was the hardest thing he’d ever had to deal with.

  He was used to making things happen. Even when he came up against a brick wall at work he’d always found a way to break it down or go around it. He had no goddamned control of this outcome—absolutely no idea whether the wonderful, sunny-natured woman he’d planned to marry—the woman who was carrying their child—would ever remember him and want a future with him.

  Damn it! Jenna had to come back to him for all their sakes.

  The psychologist placed her hand on his arm. ‘This is going to be difficult on both of you, Mr Bennett. I’m here for you as well as Jenna. If you need to talk, don’t hesitate to call on me.’

  ‘Thanks.’ His voice was gruff as he battled to keep his tears in check. ‘I’ll be fine.’ He would be. He’d be strong for all of them—for Jenna and their unborn child.

  Chapter 7

  Oh yeah. Max was going to be strong for them all.

  They were fine words.

  Easily said.

  Grief speared through him again when he saw Jenna curled up in the corner of the hotel sitting room on a couch. Her legs were tucked under her and her long, lustrous dark hair hung loose about her shoulders. She was as pretty as ever, but the lost look she wore—her complete vulnerability when she’d previously been such a confident, assertive woman—scratched at his insides.

  Thankfully, she was no longer in the hateful wedding dress. Despite the beauty of her face, she’d looked ridiculous wearing the puffy creation. It’d made her look like a stack of white marshmallows. Besides, everything in him had hated the sight of her standing up at the altar as the bride o
f another man.

  Now, she was dressed simply in a pair of denim jeans and a loose, short-sleeved blouse that all but hid her baby bump. Her face, scrubbed clean of make-up, looked as soft and smooth as he remembered and he longed to reach out and run the tips of his fingers over it.

  ‘Thanks for coming.’ The words were formal as she noticed him and shifted her position.

  ‘Don’t get up,’ he told her hastily. ‘You look comfortable there.’

  You look so unhappy.

  I desperately want to see your beautiful smile.

  Silence stretched and weighed heavily between them as he walked forward.

  ‘I slept for a couple of hours after the police interviewed me.’ It seemed she needed to make an effort to find something to talk about. ‘This morning was … exhausting.’

  ‘All the revelations must’ve come as a shock.’

  ‘Yes.’

  What would they talk about next? The weather?

  This was even more stilted than he’d expected. To face the woman he’d pinned his future on and to find their interactions held no more warmth than if he’d been meeting with a polite stranger was difficult to handle.

  Working to hide his disappointment, he pushed up the sleeves of his dark blue shirt and took a seat opposite her. ‘I’m sorry to have delivered such a series of shocks to you today, but I couldn’t let you marry him.’

  She nodded slowly and her lower lip disappeared as she bit down on it.

  That was a classic Jenna ‘tell’ and he read it with easy familiarity. She was uncomfortable but contemplative—trying to put an unhappy truth into perspective.

  ‘They’ve all been arrested.’ It sounded as though she was still trying to process the news. ‘They’re awaiting a trial to set bail.’

  ‘I know. Curtain will probably have enough funds to cover the bail, but the Mendles are bankrupt and the police have taken steps to ensure they can’t access your accounts anymore.’

  ‘I trusted them.’

  The three words made his heart ache. The desolation she felt at the betrayal was written in every defeated line of her posture.

  ‘You should’ve been able to trust them.’ He couldn’t help the slight bite of anger lacing his words. Trying to modify his tone he added, ‘You weren’t to know any differently.’

  ‘James told me I’d been about to marry David before the accident. All of them—that is James, Sally and David—assured me David was the father of this baby. I had no reason to doubt them.’

  He unclenched his jaw. ‘I’m happy to have a paternity test if it’ll set your mind at rest, but I have no doubt the child is ours. I was your only lover.’

  Her cheeks flushed and his heart swelled. She’d been shy initially when they’d become lovers and hadn’t liked talking about sex. He guessed this was a replay because, as far as she was concerned, he wasn’t her lover now. He was a stranger.

  Jenna mightn’t know him, but he still knew her. In the space of thirty seconds he was recognising familiar mannerisms and knew her character hadn’t changed. It filled him with hope. She was still essentially the same woman he knew and loved—still the woman who’d captured his heart.

  Now, if she didn’t regain her memory, he had to persuade her to give him a chance to win her heart all over again.

  He could do it.

  Her heart had always belonged to him.

  Sitting a little straighter she sighed heavily. ‘It’s been difficult to speak with people from my past when they know more about me than I know about myself.’

  ‘I imagine it would be hard.’ His heart bled for her, yet this stilted conversation was also killing him. God, theirs had been such a passionate love it’d been impossible for either of them to be within the other’s radius and not be touching.

  In a small voice she asked, ‘Can you tell me about my family?’

  He wanted to talk about their relationship—about their love and how intense and passionate and wonderful it’d been—about how they’d been torn apart once before only to find their way back to each other years later. He wanted to supply her with lots of snippets of what they’d shared together so she realised how much in love they’d been—how much fun and laughter they’d shared as well as excitement and passion.

  Dr Gerber’s warnings rang in his ears, as did her opinion that he’d only been called here to fill in details of Jenna’s past because there was nobody else to do it.

  The conversations about our love will happen, he assured himself. I have to be patient.

  He couldn’t hope for her to want to find out about their life together and all their plans for the future when she needed to find out about herself. Still, even talking about her family might trigger her memory.

  ‘Your mother’s name was Victoria. She was an only child and an heiress to a brewery.’ He named the famous brewery only to have Jenna shrug her shoulders indifferently. ‘She married Hector Sinclair, who was fifteen years her senior. From all reports they were completely devoted to each other and to you.’

  ‘You didn’t know them?’

  ‘I met your mother but not your father. Hector became ill with a lung condition. Two years after he passed away, Victoria married Charles Mendles—another older man—whose first marriage had ended in divorce. Charles had custody of his son, James, and both father and son moved to Victoria’s country estate.’ It was right around the time of Victoria’s second marriage that Max’s parents had obtained employment with the family and taken up residence on the grounds of the Sinclair’s property near Newmarket.

  ‘How old was I when my father died?’

  ‘Seven. From what you told me of your father, you two were close.’

  ‘I wasn’t close to my mother?’

  ‘Yes, you were. You just had an even closer bond with your father. You told me you missed him terribly and resented Charles Mendles’ arrival in your mother’s life.’

  ‘Oh.’ Again, she bit down on her lower lip and looked a little worried about her childhood reaction.

  ‘I don’t think you were a brat about it. You were very young and found it hard to accept him in a father role to start with.’

  ‘It got better?’

  ‘Yes. Charles always adored you—called you his little princess.’ A little bitterly, Max recalled how, in Charles’ opinion, nothing and nobody had been good enough for Jenna. Sometimes she’d almost suffocated under the weight of the expectations he had for her. ‘You lost your mother when you were thirteen. By then, you’d formed a bond with Charles who became your guardian upon Victoria’s death. Even in his own grief, he was there for you when Victoria died.’ As Max had been.

  She wrung her hands together in her lap. ‘How did she die?’

  ‘A freak accident. She was riding around the estate on a quad bike, hit a loose patch of gravel and the bike overturned on top of her.’

  She let out another sigh. ‘It’s what James told me, but after all the deception, I wasn’t sure it was true. Were James and I ever close?’

  ‘No.’ No point in sugar-coating a relationship that’d been full of envy on James’ side. ‘He was already ten when Charles married Victoria, and you didn’t like him. His mother was still alive and after every visit home to his mother, he became more resentful of his father’s new bride. I think James was always jealous of you too, especially because Charles was so genuinely fond of you and was constantly singing your praises.’

  ‘James told me Charles was killed when he was overseas at a conference.’

  ‘That’s also true. You were sixteen by then and at a Swiss finishing school. A crazed gunman opened fire where Charles was having coffee in a hotel lobby. Your step-father and twelve other people died.’

  She shook her head sadly. ‘Maybe it’s good not to have some memories.’

  ‘You came home for the funeral.’ I tried to see you, but James turned me away. ‘When James turned eighteen, Charles changed his will and made his son your legal guardian with full power of attorney in the event anyth
ing happened to him. Charles had no reason to mistrust James who’d inherited a sizeable fortune from his grandparents and was heir to his father’s distillery. The only thing James couldn’t access was your trust fund. You received it when you turned twenty-five and he only got access to it when you signed those papers in the hospital.’

  ‘I had no idea I had an inheritance until today. I thought James and Sally were supporting me financially.’ She moved her hands in front of her as she spoke. ‘Just how much am I worth?’

  ‘At least twenty million pounds.’

  Her hands flew to her face. ‘Seriously?’

  ‘You can believe anything I tell you, Jenna.’ He wasn’t like that bloody—

  ‘Oh my God!’ Her shoulders sagged and she let her head fall back against the couch as she gave a little laugh of relief. ‘I thought I was broke. But, are you certain James can’t access it anymore?’

  ‘He can’t.’

  ‘You have no idea how worried I’ve been about how I was going to support myself and this baby.’

  This baby.

  It wasn’t lost on him that before the accident Jenna had been excited about having children and she now viewed their child as a daunting responsibility.

  ‘I know you thought it was David’s baby, but it’s our baby, Jenna,’ he pointed out carefully. ‘You wouldn’t have to worry even if you didn’t have money because we’ll both become parents and share all parenthood entails. I’ll be with you.’

  Her body tensed and it sent a clear message to Max that she wasn’t ready to accept his role in her life yet, let alone recognise their child formed a permanent bond between them. Even while he told himself to back away from the subject of her pregnancy, he asked, ‘Did you agree to marry Curtain because you thought you couldn’t afford to raise the baby by yourself?’

  Pulling herself forward to sit upright again, she admitted cautiously, ‘It was a big part of the reason. When I realised I’d lost whatever talent I possessed and couldn’t resume my old job, I wasn’t sure I could support myself financially let alone raise a baby.’