Read the book: «The Kincaids: Southern Seduction»

The
Kincaids Southern Seduction
Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle
Kathie DeNosky
What Happens in Charleston …
Rachel Bailey

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Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle

About the Author

KATHIE DENOSKY lives in her native southern Illinois with her big, loveable Bernese mountain dog, Nemo. Writing highly sensual stories with a generous amount of humour, Kathie’s books have appeared on the Waldenbooks bestseller list and received a Write Touch Readers Award and a National Readers’ Choice Award. Kathie enjoys going to rodeos, travelling to research settings for her books and listening to country music. Readers may contact Kathie at PO Box 2064, Herrin, Illinois 62948-5264, USA or email her at kathie@kathiedenosky.com. They can also visit her website, www.kathiedenosky.com.

Dear Reader,

When I was invited to write the first book in the new Dynasties mini-series, I was absolutely thrilled. I love working with other authors on these special projects and this one was no different. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy collaborating with such talented ladies?

And, as impossible as it might seem, as I wrote Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle, my enthusiasm grew even more. Researching Charleston, South Carolina, and specifically the historic homes in the Battery, I fell in love with the antebellum architecture and the beauty of a city so rich with history.

That’s one of the reasons the antebellum mansion Lily inherits on Battery Street plays a major role in the telling of their story. As grand as any castle, the gorgeous historic home is where Lily and Daniel work to overcome the secrets of the past and together find a love that will stand the test of time.

As you read about the modern South and get acquainted with all of the Kincaid siblings, it is my fervent hope that you enjoy these stories as much as we, the authors, enjoyed writing them.

All the best,

Kathie DeNosky

This book is dedicated to the wonderful authors I worked

with on this series. It was a real pleasure, ladies!

And to Charles Griemsman. I look forward to

working with you on many more in the future.

One

A knot began to form in Lily Kincaid’s stomach as she looked around the conference table at her family and the three strangers who had attended her father’s funeral the day before. They were gathered for the reading of Reginald Kincaid’s will and as difficult as it was to believe her beloved father was gone, the fact that he had led a secret double life for the past three decades was almost impossible for her to grasp. It was just beyond comprehension to think that he’d had a second family up in Greenville all these years.

When Harold Parsons, her father’s attorney, walked into the room with a thick file and sat down at the head of the table, then removed several envelopes and papers from the folder, her apprehension grew. She hated that her father had been taken from her, hated that his life’s work was about to be divided up into shares. More than that, she hated that the perception she had of him had been nothing more than an illusion—an illusion that had been shattered with seemingly no way for it to ever be repaired.

“Before we begin, I would like to express my sincere condolences for your loss,” Mr. Parsons said, his normally gruff voice softened with sincerity. “I knew Reginald for many years and will sorely miss his sense of humor and quick wit. I can remember the time—”

Lily bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling when the man claiming to be her half brother, Jack Sinclair, rudely cleared his throat and glanced at his watch as if he wanted to hurry things along. How could a man as warm and loving as her father had been have spawned such a cold, unfeeling son?

Her oldest brother RJ’s scowl was formidable. “In a hurry to be somewhere, Sinclair?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Jack stated flatly. “How long is this going to take, Parsons?”

Mr. Parsons’s bushy white eyebrows met in a disapproving frown above his reading glasses. “It will take as long as it takes, young man.”

“Please don’t, Jack,” Angela Sinclair begged, her voice trembling as she placed her hand on her son’s arm. Her chin-length blond hair swayed slightly as she shook her head. “Please don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”

If circumstances had been different, Lily would have probably felt sorry for the woman. It had been apparent yesterday at the funeral and today as they sat awaiting the reading of the will that she was taking the death of Reginald Kincaid extremely hard. But considering the nurse had been her father’s mistress for the past thirty years and had shown up to mourn his death as if she and her sons were a legitimate part of the family, it was almost more than Lily could bear. Angela Sinclair either didn’t realize or didn’t care about what a shock and devastation it would be for the Kincaid family.

“You’ll have to excuse my brother’s impatience,” Alan Sinclair spoke up, giving Lily and her family a sympathetic smile. “I’m afraid Jack is still trying to come to grips with Reginald’s death.”

Angela’s youngest son, Alan, seemed to be the exact opposite of his older half-brother in every way. While Jack was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a cold, ruthless demeanor, Alan was shorter, had dark blond hair and hazel eyes like his mother, and appeared to be sympathetic to the shock and disbelief the Kincaids were going through. Not only were they having to cope with the death of their father, possibly by his own hand, they had been blindsided by the ugly truth of his clandestine life.

“Don’t apologize for me,” Jack growled, turning his hard stare on the younger man. There was such animosity in his expression, it was obvious there was no love lost between the two. “I have nothing to be sorry about.”

“Enough!” RJ said, his voice deadly. Turning to the lawyer, he nodded. “Please continue, Mr. Parsons.”

“If Sinclair doesn’t want to stick around for the details, I’m sure you can send him a letter outlining what our father wished to leave him,” Matt said, backing up RJ.

Only a few years older than herself, her brother Matt had already seen his share of heartache. It had been only a year since he had buried his wife, Grace, and been left to raise their young son, Flynn, on his own. Losing their father so soon after her passing had to bring up some very painful memories for him.

Lily glanced at her mother to see how she was holding up through this latest upheaval. The epitome of a true Southern lady, Elizabeth Kincaid had maintained an elegant calm about her throughout this whole ordeal that Lily couldn’t help but envy. It appeared her mother was faring much better than Lily and her two sisters. Laurel, Lily’s oldest sister, kept dabbing at her tears with a lace-edged hankie, while Kara looked as if she was in a state of total shock.

“Please continue, Harold,” her mother said, smoothing a strand of short, dark auburn hair into place.

“Very well, Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Parsons said, using “miss” the way most older Southern gentlemen did with any lady, single or married. He read aloud the preliminary legalese, then clearing his throat, began to go through the list of her father’s assets. “‘Regarding my personal properties, I would like for them to be divided as such. To my son RJ, I leave the Great Oak Lodge in the Smoky Mountains. To my daughter Laurel, I leave my beach house on the Outer Banks. To my daughter Kara, I leave my vacation home on Hilton Head Island. To my son Matthew, I leave the Kincaid family farmhouse where we used to spend holidays. And to my daughter Lily, I leave the Colonel Samuel Beauchamp House in the Battery.’”

Tears filled Lily’s eyes. Her father had known how much she loved the historic homes in the Battery. It was one of the prettiest sections in Charleston and quite possibly the entire state of South Carolina. But she had been completely unaware that he owned one of the stately mansions in that area.

After outlining the money and properties her father wished to bequeath to Elizabeth and Angela, Mr. Parsons added, “When Reginald updated his will, he wrote these letters and asked me to give them to you at this time.” He passed each person in the room, except Elizabeth, a sealed envelope with their name on the front before he continued, “As for Reginald’s business holdings, they are to be divided up as follows. ‘RJ, Laurel, Kara, Matthew and Lily are each to receive nine percent interest in The Kincaid Group. My oldest son, Jack Sinclair, will receive forty-five percent interest.’”

Silence reigned for several long, uncomfortable moments as the gravity of her father’s last wishes sank in.

“What the hell!” RJ’s expression was a mixture of barely suppressed fury and total disbelief.

Lily gasped and the knot in her stomach turned to a sickening ache. How could their father do that to his children and especially to RJ, his oldest legitimate son? RJ had worked tirelessly for years as the executive vice president of The Kincaid Group and had been led to believe he would one day take over as president of the vast enterprise when their father decided it was time for him to retire. The news that their father had given the majority of the shares in the family business to Jack Sinclair was hard for all the Kincaid children to take, but it had to be completely devastating for RJ.

“That’s only ninety percent,” RJ said, his frown formidable. “Where’s the other ten?”

Mr. Parsons shook his head. “Due to attorney/client confidentiality, I’m not at liberty to say.”

The room erupted with heated allegations and threats of legal retaliation from both sides of the table and Lily felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She knew if she didn’t leave, she was going to be physically ill.

“I need … some air,” she said to no one in particular.

Rising to her feet, she stuffed the unopened letter from her father into her purse and blindly ran from the room. She wasn’t certain whether it was the news of her father’s complete betrayal of his legitimate family or the new life growing inside her that caused her to feel sick, but she had to escape the law office.

As she hurried down the hall to the reception area, she wasn’t paying attention and suddenly ran into someone standing as if rooted to the spot. Strong hands immediately came down on her shoulders to keep her from falling and when she looked up, her heart skipped several beats.

Of all the people she could have met up with in the law office, why did she have to run headlong into the owner and CEO of Addison Industries?

Daniel Addison was not only The Kincaid Group’s fiercest business competitor, he was the father of her unborn child. A baby he knew absolutely nothing about.

“Where’s the fire, sweetheart?” Daniel asked as he steadied the woman who, in the past couple of weeks, had treated him as if he had the plague.

“I need … air,” Lily said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Her unnatural pallor and the desperate look haunting her vibrant blue eyes caused his heart to stall. Yesterday afternoon when he attended Reginald Kincaid’s funeral, he had seen her upset. But this went beyond the grief of losing a loved one. Lily looked as if her whole world was crashing down around her.

“Come on,” he said, placing his arm around her shoulders and leading her toward the office exit.

“My family … I can’t leave,” she gasped.

Stopping at the receptionist’s desk, he quickly told the woman he would call and reschedule his appointment, then instructed her to get word to the Kincaid family that he was taking Lily home. As he led her out the double glass doors and onto the sidewalk, he watched her gulp in the cool January air and knew that she was seconds away from losing her breakfast. Guiding her over to a trash can, he held her long, red hair back while she was sick.

“Please, go away and let me die in peace,” she said when she finally raised her head.

“You’re not going to die, Lily,” he said, gently cupping her chin with one hand while he wiped the tears from her eyes with his handkerchief.

“I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.” She took a deep breath. “Right now I feel like death … would be a blessing.”

“Did you drive your car?” he asked.

“No, I rode … with Momma,” she said, her voice sounding a bit more steady.

He put his arm around her and tucked her to his side as he ushered her toward the parking garage across the street. “Good. I won’t have to send someone back to get it.”

“I can’t leave,” she said, starting to turn back toward the law offices of Parsons, Gilbert and Humbolt.

He held her firmly to his side. “This isn’t negotiable, Lily. You’re upset to the point of making yourself sick.” Opening the passenger door of his diamond-white Mercedes for her, Daniel nodded toward the inside of the car. “Get in. I’m taking you home.”

“You’re being a bully about this,” she said stubbornly.

Daniel shook his head. “No, I’m making an executive decision. Now, will you please get into the car or am I going to have to pick you up and put you there?”

She glared at him. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me, sweetheart.”

They stared at each other for several seconds in a test of wills before she finally moved to sit down in the leather bucket seat. “Fine. Take me home and then you can be on your way.”

He closed the door and walked around the car to slide into the driver’s seat. “We’ll see about that.”

Considering her emotions at the moment, Daniel wasn’t about to upset her further by telling her that he wasn’t leaving her alone until he was certain she was going to be okay. He might be many things—ruthless in business, arrogant and fierce when he was in competition for a new client and jaded about most things in life—but he wasn’t an uncaring bastard who left an obviously distraught female to fend for herself. Especially when that female was Lily Kincaid.

For reasons he couldn’t explain, he had been drawn to her from the moment he laid eyes on her last fall at the Children’s Hospital Autumn Charity Ball that his mother had helped organize. Young, vivacious and with a zest for life that he found utterly charming, he had introduced himself and asked her to dance, then asked her out to dinner. He hadn’t really expected her to say yes, considering the thirteen-year difference in their ages, but to his delight she had accepted. That had been over three months ago and until the past couple of weeks, they had seen each other almost every night.

When he realized that Lily had fallen asleep, Daniel reached over to cover her delicate hand with his. He hadn’t intended for things to progress between them so quickly, but he couldn’t really say he was sorry they had. She was the most exciting woman he had ever met and the time they spent together had made him feel more alive and less cynical than he had in years. What he couldn’t understand was why out of the clear blue sky, she stopped taking his calls and started making excuses not to go out with him.

As he turned the car into the driveway and drove around the Kincaid family home to the carriage house where Lily had an apartment, Daniel shook his head. He didn’t know what had happened or why she suddenly wanted nothing to do with him, but he had every intention of finding out.

Parking the car, he reached over to trail his fingers along her smooth cheek. “You’re home, sweetheart.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she slowly sat up straight to look around. “Thank you for bringing me home, Daniel. I’m sure you have somewhere else you would rather be.”

Before she had the chance to reach for the handle, he was out of the car and opening the door for her. “Give me your key,” he said as he helped her from the vehicle.

“Really, I’ll be fine.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to see me in.”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t see you safely inside?” he asked, smiling.

For the first time since running into her in the law office, she looked him directly in the eye. “Give me a break, Mr. Addison. It’s midmorning and I seriously doubt that there’s a safety issue for you to be concerned with.”

He reached up to trail his index finger along her creamy cheek. “So now it’s Mr. Addison? I thought we were a lot closer than that, sweetheart.”

“I … uh, at one time … I suppose we were,” she said, clearly uncomfortable with his observation.

Daniel had heard about someone looking as if they were a deer caught in headlights, but until that moment he hadn’t seen it for himself. But that was the only way to describe the expression on Lily’s pretty face. She looked trapped and desperate.

The question was, why? What had made her so clearly uncomfortable about being in his presence?

Unfortunately, he was going to have to bide his time until she was feeling a little more in control before he got to the bottom of what was going on with her and why she had ended their affair. The past few days had been a nightmare for her and her family and he wasn’t going to add more stress by interrogating her as to what had changed between them.

Placing his hand at the small of her back, he felt a slight tremor course through her and instinctively knew it had nothing to do with the mild winter weather Charleston was experiencing. Good. At least she hadn’t developed a complete immunity to him.

“I know that all this has been extremely hard on you, Lily,” he said, meaning it. “For my own peace of mind, I want to see that you’re all right before I leave.”

“There’s nothing I can say that’s going to dissuade you, is there?” she asked, sighing heavily.

“No.”

She looked more tired and world-weary than he had ever seen her and he hated that the events of the past several days had suppressed her fun-loving, free spirit. Whether she realized it or not, Lily needed someone to help her get through one of the toughest times in her life and he had every intention of being the one she turned to.

“Why don’t you sit down and put your feet up while I make coffee?” he said when they walked into the living room and he helped her out of her coat.

“No caffeine for me.” Her long wavy hair swayed as she shook her head. “I, um, haven’t been sleeping well.”

“I can understand that.” He nodded as he removed his overcoat, then guided her to the couch. “You’ve been through a lot in the past few days, sweetheart.”

“You have no idea,” she said as she sank onto the cushions. Tears filled her pretty blue eyes as she looked up at him. “Why did he do it?”

If the account of Reginald’s death in the newspaper had been correct, the man had used one of the antique guns in his collection to take his own life. Daniel knew for a fact that Lily and her father had been very close and his apparent suicide had to have been extremely difficult for her to cope with.

“I can’t tell you why things happened the way they did, Lily,” he said, sitting down beside her to take her into his arms. “It might never be clear why your dad felt compelled to end things in such a drastic way. But once the shock has worn off, I’m sure you’ll be able to put this behind you and look back at the good times you shared together.”

She stubbornly shook her head. “I’m not so sure. Not when everything I thought I knew about my father has turned out to be a total lie.”

He had meant to console her, not upset her further. “Give yourself some time. Right now your emotions are still too raw to see things clearly.”

“You don’t understand, Daniel.” She pulled away from him to meet his gaze head-on. “I mean literally—everything about Daddy was a lie.”

Something about her impassioned statement told him there was a lot more to the story than what the media had reported and she needed to get it out or risk going into emotional meltdown. “What leads you to believe that, Lily?”

She hesitated for a moment as first one tear, then another, spilled down her cheeks. “I might as well tell you. It’s going to be the talk of Charleston by the end of the week.”

“I’m listening.”

“Did you notice that older blonde woman and the two men with her that sat just behind my family at the funeral?” she asked.

He nodded. “Are they relatives from out of town?”

“No. Yes.” She swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what I should call them.”

“Slow down, Lily.” He didn’t like that she was becoming more agitated. “Who are they?”

“That was my father’s second family,” she said as if the words tasted bitter. “For the past thirty years, all of his out-of-town business trips were nothing more than excuses to travel up to Greenville to spend time with that woman and her two sons.”

Of all the things Lily could have told him about Reginald Kincaid, that was the last thing Daniel expected. “Let me get this straight,” he said slowly, trying to digest the revelation. “Your father had another wife and two kids up in Greenville that you’re just finding out about?”

Lily nodded. “Actually, Angela Sinclair was my father’s first love and her oldest son, Jack, is my half brother. Her youngest son, Alan, belonged to her late husband.”

“Jack Sinclair is your half brother?” He had heard of the man and the resounding success Sinclair had made of his start-up company, Carolina Shipping, but Daniel hadn’t had the opportunity to meet the man or do business with him. “But didn’t you just say he was the oldest? How could his younger brother belong to another man?”

“My dad and Angela were involved when they were very young, but my grandparents didn’t think she was the right type of girl for him,” Lily explained, rising to pace the floor. “The way I understand it, my grandfather was building his shipping business into what The Kincaid Group is today. He and my grandmother wanted my father to marry someone who could further their standing with the social set of Charleston.”

Daniel knew all too well how the bastions of Southern high society worked. His mother came from old money and was well-entrenched in the ranks of the social elite. She and her so-called friends looked down on anyone whose fortune didn’t go back at least four generations, or whose family tree didn’t include at least one or two officers from the Civil War.

“As an act of rebellion, Daddy joined the army to escape their matchmaking and since he was in a Special Ops unit, there were months at a time that no one could communicate with him,” Lily went on. “From what was said yesterday at the funeral, Angela tried to get word to him that she was expecting his child, but by the time Daddy was wounded and sent back here, Angela had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. He thought she got tired of waiting for him and moved on.”

“So when he couldn’t find her, he gave in to his parents and married your mother?” Daniel guessed.

Lily nodded. “The Winthrops were an old, well-established family in Charleston, but by the mid-seventies their fortune had dwindled to almost nothing and they were desperate to maintain their lifestyle and place within their social circle.”

Although Daniel hated the snobbery and pretentiousness of it all, it was the social order he had been born into and knew exactly how it worked. He had seen many of the old Southern families swallow their pride and encourage their sons or daughters to marry one of the nouveau riche. If they didn’t, their lack of means effectively ostracized them from the wealthy social community.

“So it was advantageous for both families when your mother and father got married,” he said, nodding. “Your dad’s parents went up several notches on the social register and your mother’s family gained someone to help them financially, as well as prop up their position in high society.”

“I think that sums it up perfectly,” Lily agreed.

“How did your dad and Angela get back together?” Daniel asked, wondering how Reginald had managed to find the woman after all those years when he hadn’t been able to before. “And what about her husband? Where does he figure into the equation?”

“Apparently, her parents gave her a choice of marrying Richard Sinclair or giving up her child.” Lily shook her head. “Given no other choice, I would have done the same thing and married a man I didn’t love to keep my baby.”

Daniel frowned. “What about Sinclair? What happened to him?”

“After they married and moved out of state, Angela gave birth to Jack and then several years later, she and Richard Sinclair had a son they named Alan.” She shrugged one slender shoulder. “I’m not sure if it was an accident or if he became ill, but Richard died not long after that.”

“So he’s out of the picture and your dad finds Angela again,” Daniel thought aloud.

Lily sighed heavily. “I don’t know how he did it, but when he found her and discovered that she had given birth to his son, Daddy set up her and the two boys in a house in Greenville. Apparently she had been struggling to make ends meet on her nurse’s salary and life got a lot easier for them when Daddy came on the scene. After that, he starting going on frequent business trips, which were actually visits to spend time with her and her sons.”

Daniel shook his head as he tried to digest the story. “And you found this out yesterday at the funeral?”

A tear slid down her cheek and she bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling a moment before she answered. “Y-yes. But what we learned this morning at the reading of the will just compounded the hurt and betrayal we were feeling about his second family.”

“What’s that, sweetheart?” He couldn’t imagine how the situation could get more complicated.

“Daddy left the majority of The Kincaid Group to Jack Sinclair, while my siblings and I were each given nine percent interest,” she said swiping another tear from her cheek. “My father led RJ and Matthew to believe they would be running TKG one day. How could he betray Momma this way? And, for that matter, how could he betray all of us?”

Daniel didn’t hesitate to stand up, walk over to her and take Lily into his arms. He knew how crushing the loss of her father had to have been for her, but finding out that he had led a secret life for so many years, then handed control of his business to someone the family hadn’t even been aware existed had to increase the emotional pain ten times over. Pulling her against him, he held her as he tried to lend her his strength and support.

His compassion seemed to open the floodgates and he tightened his embrace as she sobbed against his chest. He didn’t like seeing a woman cry. It always made him uncomfortable and at a loss as to what he should do. Lily’s tears made him feel more useless than ever. He wanted to help, wanted to make the hurt she was suffering go away.

Unfortunately, only the passage of time could heal the pain and anguish of losing a loved one. He knew that firsthand from losing his own father to a heart attack fifteen years ago. But the disillusionment she was feeling over her father’s indisputable betrayal might never go away.

“I’m okay now,” she finally said, pulling from his arms.

“Are you sure?” he asked, reluctant to let her go. Although he hated what she was going through, he liked having Lily in his arms.

Nodding, she walked over to the couch, then curled up in the corner of it. “Thank you for bringing me home, Daniel. But I’m really tired. Could you please lock the door as you let yourself out?”

He had been dismissed and it didn’t sit any better this time than it had for the past couple of weeks. But he knew she was completely exhausted from lack of sleep and the emotional turmoil she had been going through. Now wasn’t the time to get into why she suddenly had no time for him.

“I’ll be back this evening to check on you,” he said, reaching for his overcoat.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be okay,” she said, hiding a yawn behind her delicate hand. She snuggled down to lay her head on a plush pillow. “There’s no need for you to go to the trouble of stopping by later. Really, I’ll be fine.”

Shrugging into his coat, he shook his head as he started toward the door. “It’s not a problem. I’ll pick something up for dinner and see you around six.”

He expected her to protest, but when he turned around, Daniel discovered that Lily’s eyes were closed and she was sound asleep. Good, he thought as he walked over to the couch to remove a colorful crocheted afghan from the back, then covered her with it. At least she couldn’t tell him not to bother.

“Get some rest, sweetheart,” he said quietly as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

She murmured what sounded like his name, but she didn’t wake up to protest his returning and, as far as he was concerned, that was as good as her consent.

As he let himself out the front door and walked to his car, Daniel knew he was taking advantage of the situation. Lily had made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him and up until this morning, he had respected her wishes and backed off. But for some reason, he couldn’t let it go, couldn’t walk away without an explanation of why she’d had a change of heart about their affair.

Opening the driver’s door and sliding in behind the steering wheel, he sat and stared at the carriage house for several long minutes. Considering his feelings on love and relationships, he was mystified why it even mattered. Maybe it was the fact that Lily had broken things off between them without telling him why and he was allowing curiosity to get the better of him. Or more likely, it was his stubborn pride that wouldn’t allow him to drop the matter without making her tell him what had caused her to stop seeing him.

Whatever the reason, he was going to help Lily weather the emotional storm of losing her father and the family scandal that was about to erupt. Then he fully intended to get his answers from her and move on.

Two

After waking up to find Daniel had done as she asked and left her alone, Lily frowned at her feelings of disappointment. “Get a grip on yourself,” she muttered as she pushed the afghan aside and sat up.

Daniel Addison was all wrong for her and the sooner she came to terms with that fact, the better off she would be. She had known when they first started seeing each other that it would end one day. It had to. They were exact opposites and wanted entirely different things out of life.

She wanted love, marriage and babies. But after going through a bitter divorce from his wife, Charisma, several years ago, those were the last things Daniel wanted. All he cared about were short-term affairs devoid of deep emotions, commitment and children. And if Lily hadn’t known that from the gossip she had heard at some of the social functions around Charleston, she had certainly found out when his mother took great pleasure in telling her.

A shiver slithered down Lily’s spine when she thought of how poorly she had been treated at the dinner party she and Daniel attended at Addison House, just before Christmas. His mother was, without a shadow of a doubt, the coldest, most unpleasant woman Lily had ever had the misfortune to meet. The woman had even gone so far as to accuse Lily of trying to elevate her social standing by being associated with Daniel—implying that because her father’s fortune didn’t go back several generations, Lily wasn’t worthy of circulating among those considered to come from “old money.”

She shuddered at the thought of ever being near the woman again. But more upsetting was that Charlotte Addison was the paternal grandmother of Lily’s child.

Lily nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She was having Daniel’s baby and at some point she was going to have to tell him. But how? How was she going to break the news to a man who had no interest in ever having a child of his own that whether he wanted to or not, he was going to be a daddy? And considering his feelings about children, would he try to get her to end the pregnancy?

She placed a protective hand over her still flat stomach. She truly didn’t think he would ask that of her, but it wouldn’t matter if he did. This baby was hers and she loved it with all of her heart.

Rising to her feet, she wandered into her studio and glanced at the drawings for the latest children’s book she was illustrating. Children were so very important to her and she couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to have a child to enrich their life.

She released a shuddering breath. It would just be his loss, she thought sadly. Whether he wanted anything to do with the baby or not, it was only right to let him know about her pregnancy, and as soon as she found a good time, she fully intended to do just that.

As she stood there pondering how to go about telling him that he had fathered a child, the phone rang. When she answered, she wasn’t at all surprised to hear her oldest sister’s concerned voice.

“Are you all right, Lily?” Laurel asked.

“I’m fine now,” Lily said, smiling.

She loved her family and the closeness they shared. But she hadn’t told them about her pregnancy and she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. It was a given they would be supportive, but they were all busy with their own lives and she hated to add her problems to theirs. As public relations director for The Kincaid Group, Laurel was going to have to handle the media frenzy the scandal was sure to cause, as well as get ready for her upcoming wedding. Thankfully, their sister Kara was using her skills as a wedding and party planner to pull it all together for Laurel, but at the same time she was booked up with jobs for her thriving business, Prestige Events.

Lily could always turn to her brothers for advice, but they were no less busy than her sisters. Until today, RJ had his hands full being interim CEO of The Kincaid Group since their father’s death, but she suspected he would soon be turning his attention to a legal battle as he tried to regain control of the business now that Jack Sinclair held the majority of the shares. That left Matt. Poor Matt was so busy trying to juggle his job as director of New Business at TKG and being a single father, that he didn’t have time for himself, let alone to give her advice on how she should handle this new twist in her life.

“You left so quickly this morning, I wanted to make sure that you’re feeling better,” Laurel went on.

“I just needed some air,” Lily said, sorry for the worry she had caused her sibling. “I still can’t believe that Daddy left the biggest part of the company to that awful man.”

“I know,” Laurel agreed, sounding as disillusioned as Lily. “We’re looking into finding who owns the missing ten percent. If we can get whoever it is to vote with us, then as a whole, we’ll have controlling interest in TKG. And at this point, that’s imperative. After you left, Jack smugly told RJ and Matt that he expected a full report of assets, expenses, projected growth and a comprehensive customer list for TKG by the end of the month.”

“What is he going to do with it?” Lily asked, alarmed. Did he intend to sell his shares back to the Kincaids at a ridiculously high price? Or was he planning to split the company and sell it off piece by piece?

“At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do with the information.” Laurel’s sigh echoed in Lily’s ear. “But RJ and Matt are going to be busy working practically around the clock to get things together.”

“I can only imagine how frustrated and angry RJ feels about all this.” RJ was not the type of man to put up with Jack Sinclair’s arrogance any longer than it took him to find a way to defeat him.

“RJ doesn’t have a choice,” Laurel said. “But I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Lily. RJ and Matt will figure it out and if there’s a way for us to regain control of TKG, they’ll find it.”

“Asking me not to worry is like asking me to make the sun rise in the west tomorrow morning. But I do promise I’ll try.” A knock on the front door had her walking out of her studio. “I have to go, Laurel. Someone’s at the door. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Laurel said, ending the conversation.

Lily put the cordless unit on the charger, then continued to the door. It was probably one of her other siblings dropping by to check on her. After the way she’d fled Mr. Parsons’s office this morning, she really wasn’t surprised. Since she was the youngest in the family, her brothers and sisters had always watched out for her and she loved them all the more for it.

But when she opened the door, she found Daniel standing on the other side with a large paper bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. “I was beginning to think you might still be napping,” he said as he brushed past her and walked toward the dining area at the opposite end of the room.

“What are you doing here, Daniel?” she asked, closing the door to follow him.

Looking over his shoulder, he gave her an indulgent smile. “Don’t you remember? I told you I would be back with dinner around six.”

She frowned. “I remember telling you that you didn’t need to bother stopping by, but I don’t recall anything about you bringing dinner.”

“You might have fallen asleep by that time,” he said, pulling cartons of delicious-smelling food from the paper bag to place them on the table.

“Might have?” She shook her head. “It’s more likely that you purposely waited until I had gone to sleep to mention bringing dinner.”

He shrugged as he removed his coat, then walked over to lay it on the back of one of the armchairs. “Either way, I did mention it.” He returned to the table and picked up the bottle of wine. “Besides, you have to eat and I didn’t think you would feel like making something for yourself.”

Even though the food he had brought smelled heavenly and she was ravenous, she wasn’t willing to give in so easily. “I might have plans,” she said stubbornly.

“But you don’t.” He gave her a smile that caused her to feel warm all over. “Now, why don’t we sit down and enjoy this before it gets cold?”

If there was one thing about Daniel Addison that she had learned in the past several months, it was that he never lacked confidence. She only wished she could say the same for herself, especially now that she was going to have to find a way to tell him about her pregnancy.

When he reached for two wineglasses on top of her small liquor cabinet, she shook her head. “I’m going to have a glass of milk.”

He nodded as he removed the corkscrew from the cabinet drawer and popped the cork on the wine bottle. “Considering how sick you were this morning, that’s probably a good idea.”

She didn’t comment as she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It would probably be best if he was sitting down when she told him the reason behind her illness this morning and why she wasn’t drinking wine with her meal.

When she returned to the dining area, she wasn’t surprised that he had gotten plates from the china cabinet and was setting their places at the table. He was a man who took charge and was hands on when he saw something that had to be done. A tiny tingle coursed through her when she remembered his hands on her and the magic he created whenever he …

“Lily, are you all right?” he asked, bringing her back to the present.

“Um … of course, why do you ask?” She had to stop thinking about what they had shared in the past because there was absolutely no future in it.

A shadow of concern clouded his dark blue eyes. “You’re not acting like yourself, sweetheart. You seem distracted by something.”

The endearment Daniel always used made her long to go back a few months to when they first began seeing each other and everything was much simpler. His mother hadn’t said those mean things to her and she hadn’t known that her beloved father had been leading a double life since before she was born.

“I was just thinking about how everything was before Christmas.” She shook her head as the gravity of all that had happened settled across her shoulders. “We had no way of knowing that it would be our last holiday with Daddy or that we would start out the new year with his funeral and a family scandal that will undoubtedly be talked about for years to come.”

When Daniel took her glass of milk from her to set it on the table, then reached out to wrap his arms around her, Lily placed her hands on his broad chest to push away from him. Her whole world had changed in ways she could have never imagined and it was almost more than she could take in. But she couldn’t allow herself to be drawn back under his spell.

“Please, Daniel,” she said, trying to hold herself away from him.

“Hush, sweetheart,” he whispered. “You need someone to lean on right now.”

“Not literally,” she said, unwilling to give up so easily.

His deep chuckle sent a shiver straight through her. “I think literal has its merits.”

Unfortunately, Daniel was much stronger and the more she pushed, the closer he drew her to him. Suddenly too emotionally exhausted to resist any longer, she rested her head against his broad chest. Just for a moment, she wanted to forget that the past few weeks had happened and pretend that her life was the same as it had always been—carefree and happy.

But the feel of his hard muscles against her cheek, the steady beat of his heart and the solid strength of his arms around her, caused a longing to build inside her that had nothing to do with comfort and support. She had missed this man more than she had thought was possible, and it would be in her best interest to put distance between them.

Looking up into his navy eyes, Lily started to pull away, but just as a night creature often became trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car, she couldn’t seem to look away as he slowly began to lower his head. He was going to kiss her and, for the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she shouldn’t let him. But the sudden rumbling of her stomach reminded both of them that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Daniel took a deep breath, kissed her forehead and smiled. “It would probably be a good idea if you eat something, sweetheart.”

“I think you’re right,” she said, thankful that hunger had intervened and kept her from doing something she would regret later. The last thing she needed to do was fall under his spell again. Stepping back, she turned to pull out one of the chairs at the table and sat down. “What smells so delicious?”

“When I stopped by Miss Pauline’s Southern Cupboard, I wasn’t sure which you would prefer, baked chicken or roast beef,” he said, seating himself at the head of the table. “So I got both.”

“I’m positively starved,” she said, meaning it. She might have been sick every morning for the past couple of weeks, but every evening, her appetite seemed to return with a vengeance. “I think I’ll have a little of both. I love Miss Pauline’s food.”

“We also have mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, corn fritters and fresh-made corn bread,” he said, reaching for her plate. “And be sure to save room for apple pie.”

“It all sounds heavenly,” she said, watching him fill her plate. “I have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer that would be fantastic with the pie.”

They both fell silent for several minutes as they enjoyed the delicious food. But the longer Daniel watched Lily eat, the more fascinated he became. They’d shared many meals, but he didn’t think he had ever seen her quite so hungry. She was eating like a longshoreman after a full day’s work at the docks of Port Charleston.

“When was the last time you ate?” he asked, watching her put another corn fritter on her plate, then reach for the carton of green beans.

She nibbled on her lower lip a moment as if trying to decide what to say. “I couldn’t stand the thought of breakfast this morning,” she said tentatively. “I only had a few crackers and a cup of tea. Then I slept through lunch and only woke up about an hour before you arrived with dinner.”

He could understand her inability to eat earlier in the day. Knowing that she was going to come face-to-face with her father’s second family for the reading of his will was enough to cause anyone to lose their appetite. And as exhausted as she had been, Daniel wasn’t at all surprised that she had missed lunch. But it appeared she was making up for it now.

“Don’t forget to leave room for the pie and ice cream,” he said, smiling as he watched her enjoy another bite of roast beef.

“I know that the amount of butter Miss Pauline uses when she cooks is probably not the most healthy. But she has the best food in South Carolina.” He watched Lily smile blissfully as a forkful of the buttery mashed potatoes disappeared into her mouth.

“I don’t think it does any harm to eat like this occasionally,” he said, amazed that she still had room for another bite of corn bread. “It’s having food like this every day that isn’t good for you. It clogs arteries and can add several pounds.”

As soon as he said it, Daniel wished he could call the words back. If he had learned nothing else in his disastrous marriage, it was definitely not to mention gaining weight to a woman.

Lily slowly laid her fork on the edge of her plate and gave him a penetrating look. “Do I look as if I’ve gained weight?”

Damn, Addison! Way to stick your foot in your mouth. How are you going to talk your way out of this one? Mentioning weight gain to a woman was the best way in the world to have her hand a man his head on a silver platter.

“I didn’t say you looked like you had gained weight,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Just that if a person ate this way all the time, they would.”

Instead of tearing into him for mentioning weight at all, as he thought she would, to his surprise Lily smiled as she shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose gaining a little weight isn’t the end of the world.”

It was all Daniel could do to keep his mouth from dropping open. If he had made the same blunder with Charisma, his ex-wife would have made his life a living hell for at least a month and it would have cost him an expensive piece of jewelry or a whole new wardrobe of designer clothes to pay for his sins. Then, every time they had any kind of disagreement, she would have dragged his comment on gaining weight into the fray. But Lily seemed to take it in stride and didn’t act at all concerned about it. Amazing!

Deciding there was no sense in pushing his luck any further, he stood up to carry their plates into the kitchen. “I’ll get the pie and ice cream.”

“I’ll help,” she said, starting to rise from her chair.

Smiling, he shook his head. “Just sit there and relax. You’ve had a rough day and although I’m lost about most things in a kitchen, I’m pretty sure I can handle dipping a scoop of ice cream onto a piece of pie.”

When he returned a couple of minutes later and placed the dessert in front of her, Lily smiled as she picked up her spoon. “For a man who doesn’t know his way around a kitchen, you did pretty well. It looks delicious.”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid this is as far as my culinary skills go. Why do you think I took you out to eat all those times?”

“I really hadn’t thought much about it,” she said, closing her eyes as she savored the combined flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and apple.

As Daniel watched, her expression changed to one of pure pleasure and he couldn’t help but remember the times he had seen a similar look come over her as he made love to her. A spark ignited in his lower belly at the thought of how responsive she had been, how passionate.

He swallowed hard and tried to think of something innocuous. He might have succeeded had it not been for Lily slowly licking a drop of melted ice cream from her lips. The action reminded him of other talents she had with that perfect little tongue and had him shifting to relieve the mounting pressure of his suddenly too-tight trousers.

When had the simple act of eating a piece of pie become so damn erotic?

“Don’t you want yours?” she asked, unaware of his wayward thoughts.

Daniel stared down at the dessert in front of him. Oh, he wanted, all right, but it wasn’t pie that he was craving. It was the memory of her delicious body pressed to his that fueled his hunger and caused his mouth to feel as if it had been stuffed with cotton.

Taking a gulp of his wine, he forced his body to relax. He had no doubt that at any other time, he would find Miss Pauline’s pie quite tasty. At the moment, it might as well have been a piece of rubber on his plate.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked, reaching over to steal a spoonful of his ice cream.

Nodding, he did his best to focus on Lily and her seemingly insatiable appetite. She had finished her pie and ice cream and now it appeared she was starting on his.

“I’m not all that hungry, why don’t we share?” he said, picking up his spoon. He dipped it into the melting ice cream, then held it to her lips.

Her eyes met his as she opened her mouth and he immediately knew he had made a huge error in judgment. In all of his thirty-eight years, he didn’t think he had experienced anything more provocative than having her gaze locked with his as her lips slowly closed around the bite of ice cream. His libido kicked into overdrive, reminding him that it had been the better part of three weeks since they had made love.

“I really hate to cut the evening short,” he said suddenly, making a show of glancing at his watch. “But I just remembered I have to make an overseas call as soon as the Japanese markets open.”

Lily had been on an emotional roller coaster for the past several days, and taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability to seduce her had never been his style. But if he didn’t get out of there and damn quick, that was exactly what was going to happen.

“Thank you for bringing supper,” she said, placing her napkin on the table beside her plate. “It really was delicious.”

“It looked as if you might have been happy with my choices,” he said dryly.

Confident that he had his body back under control, Daniel rose to his feet, quickly helped Lily clear the table, then walked into the living room to find his coat. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

Lily followed him to the door. “Thank you for your concern, Daniel. I do appreciate it. But it really isn’t necessary. It may take some time, but I’m going to be fine. Really.”

It appeared she was back to giving him the brush-off and that didn’t sit well with him one bit. Turning back, he didn’t think twice about reaching up to run the back of his hand along her smooth cheek. As he searched her upturned face for what she might be thinking, Lily swayed ever so slightly and leaned into his touch. He could tell it wasn’t a conscious action on her part, but it was all the indication he needed that she still desired him. Taking her into his arms, he gathered her to him.

“Daniel, don’t—”

“Hush, sweetheart,” he said, brushing her mouth with his. He intended to remind her of how responsive she had always been to his touch.

Teasing her with feathery kisses, he nibbled at her perfect lips to test her willingness to allow him to continue. When she moaned softly and brought her hands up to his chest to grasp the fabric of his shirt as if to steady herself, elated satisfaction coursed through him. Whatever her reason had been for trying to distance herself from him the past few weeks, it wasn’t because she no longer wanted him.

As difficult as it was, Daniel fought the urge to deepen the kiss. He had proven his point and although he fully intended for them to become lovers once again, he wanted to build her frustration to the degree that she could no longer deny her need for him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily,” he said, untangling her fingers from his shirt to take a step back.

The confusion on her pretty face and the disappointment she couldn’t quite hide caused him to smile and, before she had the chance to find her voice and protest, he opened the door and stepped out into the cool January night. His body throbbed with longing and Daniel knew as surely as he knew his own name, he was in for a miserable, sleepless night. But in the long run, it was going to be well worth whatever hell he had to go through to have Lily back in his life and in his bed.

He just hoped he didn’t go completely insane before that happened.

Staring at the closed door, Lily couldn’t believe the myriad of emotions roiling inside her. She had wanted Daniel to actually kiss her, not just tease her to the point of utter frustration. But that was exactly what had happened and her disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her senseless led to a deep annoyance with herself for wishing that he had.

She shook her head as she turned to walk into the kitchen to load the dishwasher. She couldn’t believe how easy it would have been for her to throw common sense out the window and lose herself in Daniel’s arms. Thank heavens he had backed off and hadn’t taken things any further. She wouldn’t have been able to resist him and that was something she had to do at all costs. Calling a halt to their seeing each other had been one of the hardest things she had ever done, but it was the only way to ensure she didn’t suffer more hurt when he found out about the baby and walked away. They wanted different things in life, and it was best to stop now before she lost her heart completely.

But that didn’t explain why she had failed to let him know about the baby when he noticed her voracious appetite. It had been the perfect opportunity to explain why she ate more than usual and that she fully expected to gain weight as her pregnancy progressed.

Her pregnancy hormones had to be responsible for her mixed emotions as well as her reluctance to let him know he was going to be a father. Either that or it was the dread of telling him and knowing for certain that his interest in her would come to a swift and permanent end.

Sighing, Lily started the dishwasher and wandered into the living room. She supposed she should work on the new children’s book she had been commissioned to illustrate. But when the family had been informed that her father had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his TKG office, she had put work on hold and hadn’t been able to concentrate on it since.

She still couldn’t believe all that had happened over the past several days—especially what had taken place during the reading of her father’s will just that morning. But as she thought about her father’s betrayal of his legitimate family, she remembered the letters Mr. Parsons had given to them. She had forgotten about them after running into Daniel at the law office.

Lily stared at her purse, which was lying on the end table, and her hand shook when she finally worked up the courage to reach for it. She wasn’t at all certain she was prepared to read her father’s last thoughts to her. But then, she didn’t think she would ever be ready for what was probably his final goodbye.

For several long moments after retrieving the envelope from her bag, she simply sat there holding it while she stared at her name in her father’s handwriting on the front. Given all that she had learned about him in the past several days, could she even believe what he had to say to her?

Finally, she decided that whether she believed what he had written or not, the only way to know would be to open the envelope. Taking a deep breath, she turned it over and, using her fingernail, lifted the sealed flap. When she pulled out the letter and unfolded it, her breath caught on a sob when she noticed the date. It was only a few days before he died.

My dearest Lily,

One of the greatest joys in my life has always been that you thought of me as your knight in shining armor. Whether it was chasing away the monsters from your closet when you were three, kissing a skinned elbow to make the hurt go away when you were eight or listening to your hopes and dreams as you got ready to go off to college, every second of the time we spent together has been very special and I never wanted you to see me as anything but your hero. Unfortunately, Lily-girl, I’m just a man with a man’s faults.

By now you’ve discovered that your dear old dad had feet of clay and wasn’t quite the champion you thought me to be. I never meant to disappoint you and I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my weaknesses. No matter what you hear about me and my transgressions, please know that the bond between us was not only real, but very precious to me.

One of the many things that you and I shared together was a love of the historic district of Charleston. That’s why I’m leaving you the Colonel Samuel Beauchamp House in the Battery. It’s one of the city’s finest examples of Southern architecture and I know from the Saturday afternoons we spent in White Point Gardens when you were a child that it’s your favorite. You may meet with a bit of resistance from the former owner, Charlotte Addison, but stand your ground, Lily. You’re a strong, capable young woman and whatever decision you make concerning the property, I know it will be the right one for you.

I love you, Lily, and I have no doubt that without me you’ll find the strength to weather whatever challenges life brings your way. From the moment you were born, you have been my little princess—the ray of sunshine that brightened my life and I feel very blessed that you are my daughter.

With love,

Daddy

Tears streamed down Lily’s face as she slowly folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. Deep down she had known that the closeness between her and her father couldn’t have been a lie, but the hurt and disillusionment of the past few days had overshadowed their relationship and caused her to question what she knew in her heart to be true. No matter what he had done, her father had loved her.

Unfortunately, it was going to take her some time to get past his handing over controlling interest in TKG to Jack Sinclair, while more or less cutting his legitimate children out of the picture. Lily sighed heavily. Then there was his betrayal of her mother, even though Elizabeth Kincaid didn’t seem to be nearly as upset about the disturbing revelations as Lily would have thought.

“What were you thinking, Daddy?” she murmured aloud.

As she sat there wondering what her father could have possibly thought to accomplish by what she could only describe as inexcusable choices, something she had read in the letter caused her to catch her breath.

Quickly removing the letter from the envelope, she reread what her father had left her and the name of the Beauchamp mansion’s former owner—Daniel’s unpleasant, ill-tempered mother. Dear heavens, what had he gotten her into?