She folded theblanket over her and avoided his eyes. "I don't want to seehim."
"He didn’tknow-"
Her eyes flew to hisface, and there was a hard, determined light in them. "I don’twant to see him, and if you came here to plead his case, you wastedyour time."
"He said he wentaway because he wanted to get his head straight."
"Good for him."
"He wants to seeyou-"
"You told him."
"I did. He has aright to know."
"In time, I willallow him his so-called rights, but not now. I don’t want himcoming around or offering to pay for any expenses. I’m doingfine on my own. He can continue to stay away like he did before."She heaved out a breath. "I know he has all this fricking moneyand can fight me for custody-"
"Let's not getahead of ourselves." Kane interrupted firmly. "He wants toapologize and explain-"
"No." Shepressed her lips together. "I don’t want to hear anythinghe has to say. I’m fine without him. We’re fine withouthim."
"I understand-"
"Do you?"Her eyes shone with tears. "He pursued me. I told him no, andthat didn’t stop him. I was a puzzle he wanted to solve, achallenge he wanted to take on, and he did. Right after he did that,he left without a word. He broke me into pieces, and just when I toldmyself that I was over him, I found out he’d left somethingbehind."
She pressed a hand toher stomach. "I’m going to love this baby despite whathappened, but I don’t have to talk to him or have anything todo with him. He can go straight to hell."
Kane smiled slightlyat her fighting spirit. He’d warned Kenji this was going to bedifficult, and it was. Rising to his feet, he came forward and tookher hand. "Get your rest, get better, all the way better, andcome back to managing the restaurant. We won’t speak of thisagain.”
“Thank you.”She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry you’re caught upin this."
"He’s myfamily, and I wanted to strangle him. He’s been through a lot-"
"I don't care."
"Right."Letting go of her, he stepped back. "Get well."
Caleb came into theroom a few minutes later with a tray. "I think this is beefbroth, and it's delicious as hell. I want you to scrape the bowl."
"It was good ofKane to come." She sat up against the pillows as he placed thetray table over her lap.
"Yeah. The guyis back."
Her eyes flew to hisface. "You heard?"
"Hmm." hetucked the napkin into the collar of her sweater. "I left thedoor partially open. So he wants to see you to apologize?"
"Yes."
"You said no?"
"I did. I hatehim."
He gave her a mildlook.
"Well, maybehate is a strong word." She tasted the soup and closed her eyesin appreciation. "This is really good."
"You said youloved him."