Stormy Vows - Iris Johansen [43]
Brenna nodded. “Then I'll go down to the cottage and change,” she said. “Will you tell Doris that I'll be up to see Randy before he goes to bed?”
Paula nodded, still shooting curious glances at Donovan's expressionless face. “I sure will,” she said cheerfully. “Oh! I almost forgot. There was a message for you.” She shuffled the cards efficiently. “Mr. Paul Chadeaux,” she announced. “He phoned about ten this morning and then again about an hour ago. The last time he called he left a message.” She turned the card over. “He wants to see you, and he will call on you about eight tonight.”
Brenna turned away from the desk, her face suddenly white. She moved numbly, her limbs working automatically to carry her out the far door and down the path to the cottage. She was hardly conscious of Donovan following her till she was almost halfway to the cottage. Then he grasped her elbow with an iron hand.
“Who is Paul Chadeaux?” Donovan asked harshly.
Who was Paul Chadeaux? What should she answer, she thought almost hysterically. The man who was responsible for her sister's death. The father of Janine's baby. The devil incarnate. My God, what did he want with her? She hadn't even seen him for almost three years, and he'd never even seemed to notice Janine's kid sister. The answer was heartstoppingly obvious: Randy.
Donovan's hand tightened, and he spun her around to face him. “Answer me, Brenna,” Donovan ordered fiercely. “Who is this Chadeaux?” His face was set, his blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. “If he's some boyfriend who has followed you from Los Angeles, you can just get rid of him. I won't have you seeing any other man. Do you hear me?”
She broke away from him, hardly knowing what she was doing, her stride automatically lengthening as she neared the cottage. “I'll have to see him,” she murmured. She had to be alone, she thought desperately. She had to think what to do. She had to be prepared when she saw Chadeaux again. Oh, God! It was almost seven!
She could vaguely feel the anger emanating from Donovan, as he silently escorted her to the cottage and waited while she unlocked the door.
“I'm not leaving until you tell me who this man is, Brenna,” he said tightly. “He must be damned important to upset you like this.”
“You have to go,” she said distractedly. She knew she couldn't cope with a jealous Michael Donovan right now.
“Who is he, Brenna?” Donovan asked inexorably.
“He's Randy's father,” Brenna answered desperately. “Now will you leave?”
Donovan muttered a curse beneath his breath, before he said harshly, “You don't have to see the bastard. I'll notify security that he's not to get within a mile of you.”
“No!” Brenna said sharply. “Don't do that. I have to see what he wants.”
“You want to see him?” Donovan's voice had a dangerous softness.
“I have to see him,” Brenna said wearily. “Now will you please go, Michael?”
There was a muttered imprecation, and then Donovan turned on his heel and strode angrily away.
seven
BRENNA ENTERED THE COTTAGE AND CLOSED the door with a sigh of relief. Until this minute, she hadn't been sure that Donovan would really leave. She felt a trace of surprise that he had left without an argument, and she knew she had not seen the last of him this evening. But he was at least giving her the breathing space she needed badly. There was so little time before she had to meet Chadeaux.
Why did he want to see her after all this time, she wondered frantically. In the first wild bitterness after Janine's tragic death, Brenna had wanted to confront Chadeaux with his guilt, but she had refrained for Janine's sake. Janine had been so fanatically opposed to Randy having anything to do with his father, that Brenna had felt any contact with Chadeaux would be a betrayal of trust.
She cynically discarded the idea that Chadeaux may have discovered paternal feelings at this