Steele 05 - Irresistible Forces

hands on her naked hips. “I don’t care what you won’t have so get over it. I will not break my promise to him.”
    “And what about your loyalty to me?”
    Taylor figured that now was not the time to tell Dominic that not only did he have her loyalty but that he also had her love, but that this was one issue she could not, would not agree with him on. “I am loyal to you, Dominic, however, I will not deny my child the right to know its great-grandparent.”
    The room got quiet, and the tension surrounding them was almost unbearable. Then Dominic spoke as he began picking up his clothes off the floor. “Then it seems we have nothing more to discuss, Taylor.”
    He turned his back on her and went into the bathroom and closed the door. He reappeared in the room a short while later fully dressed. He came over to the bed, stood over her and glared down at her. His face was tight, his features still intense. “I’m leaving.”
    “Fine, and once you realize just how unfair you’re being, please call me.”
    He face darkened. “I will call occasionally for no other reason than to check on my child. Otherwise, Taylor, our association is over.”
    Taylor fought back the tears in her eyes. “If that’s the way you want things, Dominic, then that’s the way they will be.”
    He stared down at her for a few more minutes and then without saying anything else, he turned and walked out of her condo.
    * * *
    It was later that day before Taylor was able to get out of bed, and only then because she knew she needed to eat something. She had to take care of the life growing inside her—the life Dominic had placed there.
    As she began moving around her apartment, she couldn’t put out of her mind the words Dominic had spoken. Did he hate his grandfather that much? Okay, she could imagine how he must have felt as a child growing up to discover the rift that existed between his parents and his grandfather, but if his parents could forgive the man, then why couldn’t he?
    “Because he is so damn stubborn,” Taylor muttered as she sat down to eat a bowl of cereal and milk. “Okay, so I won’t be at his beck and call anymore,” she said to the walls, sneering. “It will be his loss. I should not have been at his beck and call anyway. The only thing between us was lust…at least on his end.” She knew for her it was more. It was love.
    After breakfast she decided to go for a walk. She had to leave the apartment for a while. And later she would take in a movie. She needed to keep her mind occupied so Dominic wouldn’t consume so much of it. He’d made his feelings clear and there was nothing left for her to do but accept it and move on.
    And she would. He’d given her no choice.

Chapter 13
    T wo weeks later, Dominic was standing at the window in his New York office, staring down at the people below. They were moving rather quickly along the sidewalk, and he thought about just how fast their lives seemed to be moving. But for him it appeared that his had come to a complete standstill.
    And all because of Taylor.
    He inhaled deeply. He hadn’t realized just how much he loved her until he’d had to do without her. He had called her twice and their conversations had been brief. He had asked how she was doing, she had said fine, and then she had ended the call. He had said some harsh words to her that day, words he now wished he could take back.
    Taylor was who she was and he couldn’t expect her to have a beef with his grandfather just because he had one. She was not that type of woman. She had a mind of her own, she thought for herself. He would not have wanted her any other way.
    And he did want her. Damn, he also loved her but he had been willing to turn his back on that love and let his intense stubbornness rule his mind and common sense. But it hadn’t been able to eradicate what was in his heart.
    “Mr. Saxon, your mother is here to see you.”
    He turned at the sound of his secretary’s voice on the intercom. As much as he loved his mother she was the last person he wanted to see right now. She had gotten upset with him when he had told her about the argument he’d had with Taylor. His mother had called him, among other things, pigheaded.
    “Mr. Saxon?”
    “Yes, Liza, please send her in.”
    The door opened and his mother walked in, beautiful as ever, but she was frowning. She retained that frown as she crossed the room and came to a stop in front of him.
    “Okay, Nicky, you have sulked long enough.