An Act of Persuasion - By Stephanie Doyle Page 0,96

Anna. What do you want? What possible outcome could there be to finding out about whoever these people are? These people who left you. The baby is coming. And I’m here. Let us be your family.”

* * *

ANNA COULDN’T RESPOND. The fear inside her was suddenly paralyzing. Her stomach felt tight and her mouth was so dry she thought she could drink a pool filled with water. He was asking too many questions. She didn’t want to think about why finding her parents was important. She didn’t want to say why she was keeping him at bay.

She couldn’t believe he sensed something was wrong. How clever she thought she was going through the motions, thinking he was fine with her level of commitment. She actually started to believe that she could make this arrangement work permanently. He could move in and she could have all the comforts and joy of having him here but still hold a little of herself back. As long as she didn’t give him everything, as long as there was something that was still hers and not his, then it didn’t matter if he left.

Or if in the end he didn’t love her the way she loved him. Or whatever it was that she was afraid of.

But now it was Ben who wanted more. Ben...the guy who wasn’t supposed to know what real love was all about. She’d gone from despairing that he would ever feel the way she wanted him to feel about her, to being content with what he was willing to give her because it meant she didn’t have to give as much to him.

Only now he was changing the game and every instinct she had said to run.

Fast before he catches you.

Except an eight-months-pregnant woman wasn’t running anywhere. Which only left her one other option. She needed him to leave. And to accomplish that she needed to start a fight she could win.

“See? There you go again changing the topic. You think I don’t know you? You think I can’t tell when you’re being purposefully vague. The fact that you have to play that game means one of two things. Either you already have the information I want and you’re withholding it from me for some reason, or you chose not to go looking for it after I asked you to. And what about Mark? Is he in on this? He told me he was working another case, but maybe that’s a lie, too. Maybe you’re working together to hide the truth from me.”

“It’s not a conspiracy, Anna. You’re becoming paranoid.”

Paranoid. Furious. Righteous. Whatever it took to start the fight. “Oh, so this is in my head? You’ve had that birth certificate for four months but you’re telling me you haven’t learned anything? Nothing at all?”

She watched him close his eyes and knew he was deciding how to tell her only what he wanted her to know without actually lying to her.

“I have information, but you’re going through a lot right now. I don’t know if this is the best time...”

He served up that concession like a softball. How easy this fight was going to be. Part of her felt bad because she knew it wasn’t the truth about her parents she was needling him for. It was only the fight she wanted.

She remembered arguing with him the night before taking him to the hospital to have the stem cell transplant. She remembered feeling as though she was fighting for her life as well as his. She remembered with such vivid clarity how her heart felt as if it would burst from her chest when he’d apologized for making love to her.

This was totally different. This time she was in control. This time he was the one who would feel the pain. This time she would be in the driver’s seat. She had a reason now. He’d kept something from her. And he had no defense. It would be her best opportunity. Calmly and with a few moments to gather her poise, she eased off the bed so she could stand face-to-face with him.

If she was going to do this, she should at least be on her feet.

“How dare you? How dare you presume to tell me what I can or cannot know about my parents? My past!”

“Anna, please. I was trying to protect you.”

Of course he was. Because that’s what Ben did. His natural instinct was to shield and protect. He did it because he cared for her. But that caring