“Imogen,” he groaned, reaching for her hand. “I have no intention of taking her away from you. Ever.”
Her eyes shone as they lifted to his. “I don’t believe you. Marie said you wished the baby had been hers.”
“Believe me, that’s not true.” His lips curled in a derisive smile. “The sordid truth of my divorce is something I should have told you sooner. If you knew Marie, if you knew what she’s capable of, you would understand she’s a master-level manipulator.”
“But she didn’t know about the custody arrangements. That was your mother. And that was you.” Betrayal rang in her words. She clutched their daughter closer, breathing in her sweet new-born scent, a sob thick in her throat. “Please just go, Theo.”
“Absolutely not. I can’t lose you again. This last week, not knowing where you were, I have been desperately worried. And all I could think was that you believed those filthy, disgusting lies. I need you to know the truth, Imogen. Please.”
“You’ve told me the truth. You saw a lawyer months ago to get the custody arrangements in place. God, I’m such an idiot,” she muttered angrily, angling her head away. “Such an idiot!”
The baby flinched at the loudness of her tone and Imogen groaned. “Just go, please.”
“I can’t.” He shook his head and reached for her hand but Imogen pulled it away. “I won’t leave you again.”
“Did you tell your mother that you had to stay with me so that I wouldn’t end up with another man? So that another man wouldn’t end up raising your child?”
He froze, his eyes haunted as they met hers. “I…”
“It’s a simple question,” she prompted angrily, stroking the baby’s head in an attempt to defuse the anger in the room before it reached the newborn’s ears.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, or no?”
He ground his teeth together. “I said something like it.”
Imogen swept her eyes shut. “So everything I overheard was the truth.”
“No!” He forced the word out as a plea. “God, Imogen! You know me. You know me better than anyone. Do you really think I’ve been lying to you?”
The question dove right into her heart. Hadn’t she been asking herself that? She held his gaze, and her stomach twisted painfully. “I didn’t,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to. But everything they said…” She sucked in a breath. “I’m not an idiot, Theo. I’m not going to let the fact we slept together and happened to make a baby blind me to what you are. Who you are.”
“And what’s that?” He pushed curiously, grief making the words muted.
“A liar. Someone who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. You told me that the first night we met. You told me you’d sue for custody unless I moved in with you.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I apologized for that. I was desperate to keep you and the baby in my life.”
“Yes, I know,” she nodded. “Because you didn’t want me living away, meeting someone else, having a life that didn’t involve you. You want this baby, but where does that leave me? You and Marie playing happy families and what? I’m on the outside?”
“No,” he groaned. “You have to believe me…”
“Like my mother believed my father? And like your mother believed your father? I’m not an idiot,” she repeated, but the words were saturated with sadness.
Theo paled at the comparison to their fathers, both of whom had engaged in acts of infidelity. “That’s not me.”
“You’ve been lying to me this whole time!” She shouted, and then, when the baby began to cry, she shook her head angrily. “Please.” She bit down on her shaking, lower lip. “I’m … a mess. I’m barely holding it together and I need … I need to be strong for her right now. I know we have to deal with this and I will, but I’m tired and I’m sore and I just want a cup of tea and to sleep.”
“Okay, okay,” he nodded. “I’ll get you a tea. But honey, I need to explain this. You’ve got the wrong idea.”
“I don’t care.” She swept her eyes shut and perhaps it was the emotion of that moment or the exhaustion that followed a week of having barely slept, but Imogen sobbed again. “They’ve ruined this for me. Nothing you can say will fix this. Don’t you get that? I’ll never look at you in the same way again.”
“What if I promise you that you’re wrong? What if I promise you I can fix all of this?”
Theo groaned inwardly just as the door pushed inwards and the nurse returned.
“Right,” she said, encompassing Theo with her stern gaze. “Five minutes are up.”