Honest Betrayal Read Online Free PDF

man. He cared about you.”
    Yes, he did. Her mind whispered his name, although her heart wanted to forget it. Byron Suncliff. Her true love. Her first everything. Byron was a considerate and kind man. Hunter’s complete opposite. He’d always been attentive to her needs, easy going, generous.
    Yes, he was a wonderful man. He didn’t exactly love her, but he was devoted. Nevertheless, she hated his pity. No matter how he looked at her she always saw that emotion in his gaze. He imagined her as a damsel in distress that he could rescue, but she didn’t need rescuing; she’d lived with her deformed leg all her life. She’d endured ridicule in elementary school through high school and had attended parties where she stood by the wall all night because no one would ask her to dance.
    She had survived with a sense of humor and confidence that should be applauded not pitied. But his pity was such a tiny flaw for an almost perfect man that she forgave him. He had rescued her from a life buried in books and music. She’d met him in the college library her junior year. A man as beautiful and romantic as the poet with the clubbed foot whose name he shared. She didn’t remember what he said or what he did just that he’d spoken to her when no one else would. She’d looked straight into his eyes and thought she’d found her soul mate. They’d talked about a number of subjects and soon became inseparable.
    “I don’t know what went wrong,” Diane said.
    “We just grew apart.”
    “I still don’t understand.”
    Brenna would never explain it to her. It was a private pain she couldn’t share with her mother, although she remembered it clearly. Remembered how startled he’d looked as they sat in the dining room of his condo. “You want to marry me?”
    She bit her lip. “Yes.”
    His gaze slid away. She wasn’t worried about the hesitant expression. If he needed time to think she’d give him plenty. She’d wait for him as long as he needed.
    “Brenna, I’d love to really—”
    She gripped his hand. “Then there’s no reason to worry. Just say yes.”
    “But I want to have kids.”
    She sighed relieved that he wanted the same thing. “Don’t worry, so do I.”
    He met her eyes. “It’s genetic though, isn’t it?”
    Her smiled dimmed. “What are you talking about?”
    “Your leg. It was a birth defect, right? A gene passed down from your father. So you could pass it to your child.”
    She swallowed as she tasted the bitter crumbs of rejection. She finally understood the point he was trying to make. She didn’t want to hear it. She wanted to pretend that it wasn’t a problem. But she could tell by his look that he considered it a big problem. “There’s only a small possibility.”
    “Of course we could adopt, but I’d really like to have a kid of my own.”
    She lowered her gaze, trying to keep her voice steady although she knew she was losing him. “My brother was born okay.”
    “And you weren’t. I don’t want to take that risk. And I don’t think you should either. It isn’t fair to bring a child into this world with a mark already against it.”
    “So only perfect babies should be born?” She fought not to sound angry although inside her heart both broke and burned. “Was I a mistake?”
    His voice was patient, indulgent as though he were trying to calm a child. “No, your parents decided to take a chance.”
    She lowered her voice and stared at the ring she’d bought for him. One that held all her dreams. “So you’re ashamed of everything that I am?”
    He came around the table and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve always been honest with you and you with yourself. Your life hasn’t been easy because of how you were born. I don’t think it’s fair to bring a deformed child into this world.”
    Deformed. It was the first time he’d used that word with her. The first time a hint of disdain tinged his tone. She didn’t blame him, she’d always admired his honesty even