Secrets Of The Heart (Book 1, The Heart Series) Read Free

left inner thigh brushed her right outer thigh. Heat scorched her where he’d touched. She jerked her gaze to his. Did he feel it, too? Was it there burning in his eyes, searing her just as his unintentional stroke had? Or was it his usual storm brewing just below the surface?
    “Nick, listen to me,” she said, placing a hand on his upper arm. She felt the ripple of muscle as he flinched. Rejected, she dropped her hand, and then backed up. He rose, striding to the window, creating space and distance. His broad, stiff back faced her.
    “She’s a part of me. She’s family.”
    She’s all I have left, Bree heard his unspoken words. They tugged at her heart.
    He sighed, long and loud. “All right, I’ll settle for joint custody. I don’t want to rip Sydney away from you. I just want more time with her.”
    “You’re asking me to be a part-time mother. Do you think I’d give up my own daughter?” She winced at her fear-laced tone, cursing herself for allowing any sign of weakness to shine through.
    He spun around, startling Bree. “Isn’t that what you are right now? A part-time mom.”
    A well of frustration and how unfair the world was nearly choked her. “I have to work. And, come to think of it, so do you.”
    His lips thinned into a straight line again. “If I have to I’ll take early retirement from the force.”
    Bree clasped her hands. “And I’ll go to hell and back to fight for Sydney.”
    “Oh, I don’t doubt there’d be a fight, but I have more resources than you do.”
    The constant nugget of dread that resided in her center for the past five and a half years now seemed to expand to boulder-size terror. With her daughter’s well-being paramount, Bree lashed out at him. “Judges in your pocket, Nick? I thought you were more of a man than that. I’d be the last one to think you, Sergeant ‘By The Book’ Carletti, would stoop so low, be so damned underhanded.”
    That struck a chord, she noted, as red flags slashed across his cheeks. A hint of satisfaction slid into her, barely warming her chilled, numb body.
    A muscle jumped along his clenched jaw. “Rest assured I don’t operate on your level.”
    A fistful of hurt slammed into her belly, stealing her breath away. The hot sting of tears smarted the backs of her eyes. She blinked several times, holding them at bay. How could she ever convince him he’d been wrong about her from the very beginning? How could she ever gain his respect?
    No matter how many times she pled her case Nick would never trust her, Bree realized hollowly now as she stared at his uncompromising stance. The rigid set of his shoulders and balled up hands spoke volumes.
    There was only one way to set the record straight. She balked at the solution; she’d put Sydney in danger. No matter what, she’d protect her daughter, at any cost, even her soul. Her secret would die with her, the terrible truth buried in the casket inside her heart.
    In order to ensure the lid stayed firmly on the facts, she couldn’t risk the exposure of a custody battle.
    Taking a shaky breath, she said, “I’ve tried to work out a suitable arrangement for you to see Sydney.”
    “It’s been nowhere near to suitable. Four, maybe five, hours in tiny increments a week, if that. You have some nerve suggesting you’ve been generous. Hell, even the babysitter sees Sydney more than I do.”
    “I’ve been—”
    “Reasonable, is that what you were going to say?” He listed the many times he’d call to talk to Sydney or try to arrange more visits with her only to be turned away or shut out.
    As he made an impassioned point, Bree noted his large, long-fingered square hands hacking the air. Every slight movement, every change of expression, every shift of his dark eyes only endeared him to her more, stabbing at her treacherous heart. He loves her just as much as I do.
    He finally ended. She rallied her defenses, saying, “You will not take my daughter away from me.” The vow ignited her