HER ONE AND ONLY VALENTINE - Read Online Free PDF Page B

or simply smile a certain way—and Rhiannon would see Kane in her. And it was only the completely overwhelming love she'd felt from the moment she'd first held her in her arms that had stopped her from hating that those reminders were there.
    Kane exhaled, his peppermint-scented breath washing over her face as the hold on her arm loosened a little, his voice still strained. 'You should have told me.'
    'I thought I had.'
    'No, because if you had I'd have been there.'
    'But you weren't there.' Her gaze lowered to his mouth, to the parting in his lips. 'You'd already gone.'
    When he didn't reply she risked another upward glance to discover he was examining the top of her head with heavy-lidded eyes.
    Then, just like that, he let go, stepped back a little, his hands shoving deep into the pockets of his dark jeans. 'I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere until I get to know my child.'
    She looked back at his neck and watched it convulse as he swallowed, unable to face up to the fact that a part of her—a minuscule part—ached at the possibility that she may have made a mistake by holding a grudge for so long. Had she let pain and confusion cloud her judgement? As an adult, shouldn't she have been able to see past those things? Had she hidden behind hating him?
    No. How had he not known?
    He tilted his head closer to warn her in dangerous tones, 'And there's not much point in trying to argue about it because I'm not going away this time.'
    Rhiannon's heart thudded painfully against her breastbone, her breathing shallow. 'I can't just dump you on her like that— out of nowhere...'
    His mouth twisted cruelly. 'Did you ever plan on telling her?'
    'When she was old enough to decide whether or not she wanted to find you, I'd have told her. It would have been her decision.'
    'But you wouldn't have encouraged her to ask...'
    Maybe not, and it was a moot point now. But Lizzie was bright; already she was asking the odd question about her dad— Father's Day in particular guaranteeing a natural curiosity over the last few years. She'd even made a card for him when she was six. And it had broken Rhiannon's heart, for failing to give her the kind of father she deserved.
    'It would have been her decision.'
    'She has as much of a right to know as I did.'
    He wasn't letting go, was he? Was this what he'd have been like if he'd known all that time ago? Was this the proof she needed to accept that he really hadn't known?
    It was, wasn't it? No matter how much she still wanted to believe that he'd known all along, she couldn't deny the possibility that he hadn't any more. It was written all over him. And a very small part of her felt a hole form inside her chest—one that was swiftly beginning to fill with guilt.
    Had she maybe known all along that he hadn't known? Had a part of her wanted to keep Lizzie from him? If that was the case, then why had she been so angry with him for so long?
    Kane spread his feet a little wider apart as he stood tall to his full six foot two again, towering over her. 'It's like this, Rhiannon—if you don't tell her who I am, then I will. Or we go the legal route. Either way, now that I do know she's mine, I plan on being part of her life. And there's nothing you can do to stop that happening. Not this time.'
    Even without holding her, with several safer inches separating them, Rhiannon knew he had her trapped. Now that he knew and was determined to be a part of Lizzie's life, he wouldn't change his mind, would he? She knew that from the various tales she'd heard over the years—of his determination and single-mindedness in business, his knack of always getting what he wanted in spite of the odds. And, after all, she had been one of those 'things' once, hadn't she?
    It wouldn't matter where she ran to if she left Brookfield. Now that he knew...
    What she needed was a way of making this work without causing any more damage. 'I need some time.'
    'You've had ten years.'
    'I'll tell her.' She glared up at him, making