“He’d married that other woman, and quite frankly he had to dispose of Regan and the baby or he’d lose the wealth and privilege he’d just married into.” His jaw tightened and his voice carried the disgust he obviously felt over the situation.

“She came back home then? Back to Nashville?”

“The moment she found out he’d married that other woman. She was hurt and angry, but she figured she still had her baby and she could go on, just the two of them.”

Zach took a deep breath and thought of the scar on her stomach. A lump formed in his throat. He’d never even considered that it was a cesarean scar. “Tell me about the baby.”

Carlos shook his head and sipped his beer. “She was Regan’s life. It gave her pride and purpose that she’d be someone’s mother.” He smiled. “I never saw her. None of us did except Curtis. He was the only one with Regan when she gave birth.”

Zach swallowed the lump lodged in his throat. “The baby died?”

Carlos shook his head and he latched his look onto Zach’s. “No. Because of Regan’s injuries, the baby was born six weeks early. She spent weeks in intensive care. Regan fought for her life, and the baby fought for hers. She signed papers for adoption. She gave her to a family who could love her and raise her the way Regan couldn’t. It was the best choice she could make for both of them.”

“But she wanted the baby.” And she had a family who would support her through anything—emotionally, financially, whatever she needed. He’d seen the way they came together for him and his mother after his dad died. “Why didn’t she keep her?”

“She was afraid he’d find them. Take her daughter away from her, or finish what he started. She did what was best for the baby.” Carlos shook his head again. “She ordered her to be taken out of the room. Curtis said she screamed at them to take her. She closed her eyes so she’d never see her.”

Zach scrubbed his hands over his face. It was no wonder she’d shied away from him when he confessed his love and spoke of marriage and babies. There was such pain there. And the nightmare she’d had, she was yelling for someone to take her away. It all made sense now.

Carlos set his beer down on the step and turned to fully face Zach. “When Hamilton came looking for her, Curtis told Hamilton that they had both died. Regan didn’t have any other choice. If she pressed charges, it would just keep him in their lives. If he thought she was dead, he’d leave her alone. They never would run in the same circles. He dashed off to Italy for a few months to avoid any heat, and he never showed up at her door again. As far as we were concerned, he was gone.” He picked back up his beer and drank down the last bit in the bottle. “The baby turned a year old last Tuesday.”

“That’s why she called in sick to work? I was worried about her. She wasn’t any kind of sick I’d ever seen.”

“Her heart was broken.” He began to pull the label from the bottle.

“I love her.” Zach caught Carlos’s stare. “I want her for my wife. I want a life with her. None of this matters. Not one damn bit.”

“If I didn’t think you were sincere, I’d kick your ass.” Carlos smiled.

“I know.” Zach stood and Carlos followed. “Where is she?”

Carlos shook his head. “I can’t tell you. Give her some time.”

He’d felt as though he’d been socked in the stomach, but he couldn’t blame them for protecting her. “Please put in a good word for me. All of this is the past. It doesn’t change how I feel for her.”

“You’ll tell her soon enough.” Carlos offered his hand, and Zach shook it before walking away.

When Regan pulled up in front of her parents’ house, it was midnight. Her eyes stung from the hours she’d shed tears. She’d stopped multiple times along the drive, trying to decide what to do. Go home or go straight to Arianna’s in New York? She’d chosen her mother’s arms and her comfort for the night. Zach would surely look for her here, but her family would keep him at bay. And if Alexander came looking for her—they’d take care of him in any way necessary.

Her mother was waiting for her at the door and enveloped her and held her to her bosom as Regan sobbed. Carlos had called her as Regan had asked him to do; she just couldn’t make the call herself and hear her mother’s voice while she drove away from the man who had hurt her so badly, again. Her mother held her as she walked with her to her bedroom. The bed had been turned down, and the lamp on the nightstand gave a soft, comforting glow to the room.

Regan fell onto the bed and lay back. Her mother pulled her shoes from her feet. “You are going to rest. Eventually this was bound to happen, but I won’t let it destroy you, and neither will your family. Alexander Hamilton is a bastard. Zachary Benson isn’t.”

“Mama, it can’t work now.” She wiped her eyes.

“Someone gave you and your sister to me so I could love you. People don’t look at you different because of that, do they?” Regan shook her head. “So imagine what a wonderful thing you did giving up your angel to someone. Don’t you think he’ll see how special that was?”

“But, Mama, I lost him the biggest contract of his career. And I wasn’t honest with him about the baby. How can he still love me?”

“Regan, you are a wise woman. You know that he will see past all this.” Her mother kissed her and left the room.

Regan rolled to her side. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t see him again. She was too hurt and too humiliated. It was over.

Zachary paced his office for two days. Any business he tried to attend to only ended with him thinking about Regan.

Mary Ellen had come to his rescue, bringing the baby with her. She sat on his couch, nursing her daughter under a small blanket. “You’re being an ass. Just go to her.”

“I can’t. She won’t see me.” He pulled his fingers through his hair as he paced again by the window. “I’ve been by her house. Carlos tells me she’s not there. I’ve gone to the hospital, and Curtis says to give her time. Her mother smiles at me and kisses me on the cheeks and says that her daughter loves me.” He leaned against the wall. “If she loves me why won’t she see me?”

“Zach, until you have a child, you can’t imagine the pain of giving one away. Imagine making that decision thinking you were going to die,” Mary Ellen said in a calm adoring manner. “Do you love her?”