Read Online Johnson Family 1: Unforgettable by Delaney Diamond - Free Book Online Page B

don’t want a child, and the next you do? I’m supposed to believe you’re all in?”
    “I changed my mind. It’s a man’s prerogative. Just like it was your prerogative not to take that pill.”
    His words stung.
    No matter what he thought, the choice she made hadn’t been an easy one. She’d planned to take it. Had gone so far as to stop at the pharmacy and bought one of the more popular brands, bearing the looks from the attendant at the cash register, picking up a few extra items—a magazine, deodorant, candy—as if somehow they would make the package invisible.
    She’d opened the box in her bedroom, but at the last minute didn’t go through with it. She could prevent the pregnancy or…what if she didn’t? What if she simply allowed nature to take its course? She’d made her decision right then that she wouldn’t do it. No matter the circumstances, she would handle the fallout of a baby. If her parents wanted to send her away for a while, she would go. She had considered leaving for their property in Nice, or the beach house in Hawaii, but neither trip had been necessary because Winston had proposed.
    Now Lucas was boxing her into a corner. First he hadn’t want this child, now he did, and he had the audacity to threaten her with a scandal.
    “Fine, Lucas, I’ll do what you want, but I don’t like it.”
    He smiled, but it was more of a sneer. “Of course. Protect the family name at all costs.”
    He seemed so angry she doubted the rancor directed at her was solely due to keeping Katie a secret. Was there something else? “What happened to you?” she asked.
    His eyes bored into her. “You happened to me. You and your lies about love and your goddamn deceit.”
    His accusation flew out of left field. “I never lied to you about my feelings. I cared about you very much, once, but you left, remember? So what the hell difference does it make?” Again she had the distinct impression that he wasn’t telling her everything.
    “You loved me so much you didn’t think twice about marrying another man less than two months after we broke up? A man who, according to the article I read, you were secretly engaged to. High school sweethearts.”
    “You saw that?” He would have been in Asia at the time. Her marriage had been a mere blip in the society pages, only newsworthy because of the blending of two powerful families—the Johnsons with their wealth and the Somersets, part of a political dynasty. Certainly nothing that would make international news.
    “Yeah, I saw that,” Lucas said. He banged the empty tumbler on the table between them. “Are we going to play by my rules now, or do I start shouting from the mountain top? We both know you can deliver a good scandal.”
    Her face burned with remembered shame. “You’ve turned into a cold-hearted bastard. You didn’t have to go there.” His reference to her youthful indiscretion cut deep. A poor decision had gone terribly awry. She’d shared the story with Lucas in an intimate moment alone, and she resented him bringing it up now. “You win,” she said.
    “Damn straight.”
    “But you have to be sure. I’ve spent my entire life protecting her and giving her as normal a life as possible. She didn’t ask to be born into this family, and I’ve done everything I can to shield her.” There were no photos of Katie in circulation, and except for when she was born her name had never been mentioned in articles about the family or the business. “Being a parent takes time and care, and it’s not an easy job. You said you didn’t want children, and I took you at your word. If you come into her life, you don’t get to change your mind.”
    “What are you trying to say?”
    “You better make sure you want this, because if you hurt my baby, you’ll live to regret it.”
    His brows drew together. “Are you threatening me?”
    Ivy leaned forward. “You know those billions you said I could have used to find you? If you hurt my daughter, if I have