He threw his head back, groaning. “I’m still mad at him for keeping quiet, but if he’d spoken right after Dad’s crash, I wouldn’t have moved to Stetbourg. I wouldn’t have you. I can’t imagine life without you anymore.”
I kissed his neck. A smile curved Asher’s lips. “So that’s what I need for a kiss? Say nice things to you?”
“And lose your clothes.” I straddled his legs. “You’re leaving again soon. I need something to remember you by.”
He traced my jaw with his thumb. “All of them?”
“The socks can stay.”
“No.” He snorted. “I’m not the one whose feet are ice.”
I gasped. “Rude! And you never even complained.”
“Never said it was bad.” He slid a hand to my ankle. “You’re warm in other places.” He tugged me forward until our chests met. “For example, here.”
His mouth captured mine, and for the first time all day, I stopped thinking about the test.
Asher parted my lips with his tongue. His phone buzzed behind me. He broke the kiss, groaning.
“Miguel?” I whispered as he reached for it.
He froze. “No, the lab. Want to read it together?”
I scrambled off his lap, dread rising like a lump in my throat. “Of course, Ash.”
He opened the email. I skimmed the text—and a sob tore from my chest.
“Russell Demeri is excluded as the biological father.”
***
I could’ve waited for my father at his house, but being surrounded by memories of Mom would make the conversation harder.
So would seeing Sharon.
His office felt safer.
I rapped my knuckles on the mahogany door.
“Come in,” he answered, his voice carrying that familiar edge of impatience.
As I stepped into the spacious, impersonal room, he rose from his chair.
“Kaia? What are you doing here?”
“We got the test results.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Close the door.”
I pushed it open wider.
“Right. Wouldn’t want everyone to hear what kind of person you are. Strangers might lose respect.” I stepped up to his desk. “The test is negative.”
He gripped the desk’s edge, lips twitching in a smirk. “Good. At least we can put that nonsense to rest.”
It was—but hurt still swelled in my chest. “You know what isn’t good? That you cheated on a woman who was devoted to you. Even when Mom was sick, you went on your so-called business trips. And she waited for you. She always made excuses—that you were busy, that she was lucky to stay home with me. But she wasn’t. She was miserable because you were absent even when you were here. You should’ve left her, given her a chance to be loved by someone. She didn’t deserve the lies. Neither did Asher and I.”
Color flared in his cheeks. “Don’t lecture me about marriage, Kaia. You know nothing. Your mother was weak. She lived to please everyone, and when she couldn’t anymore, she crumbled. That wasn’t my fault.”
