“What pills, Lu?” she asked, worry spiking in her voice.
Lucas slowly crouched in front of her and ruffled her hair. “Nothing bad, Mel. My knee just hurts sometimes. Don’t worry. I don’t actually need the pills,” he murmured, his voice so soft – so warm – that Anna felt dizzy.
She had never heard him talk like that before. He had never spoken so damn much!
“Really?” Melody asked uncertainly.
“Really.” He gently stroked her head. “Melody, would you go into the kitchen? We’ll start dinner soon. Anna and I need to discuss something.”
“What?” She looked up at Anna curiously.
“Melody,” he repeated stonily.
“Yeah, fine!” she said, drawing out her words and sighing dramatically. “But I get to use a sharp knife!”
“You can break the spaghetti. Why don’t you get it out of the cupboard? And use your stool.”
“Of course!” she said enthusiastically before calling out, “See you later, Anna,” and running down the hall.
“Is she…yours?” The words were out before Anna could stop them. They had to come out; everything else was irrelevant.
Lucas rocked back on his heels and narrowed his eyes, putting distance between them with his body and gaze. “Yes,” he finally stated.
“What?” Her lungs suddenly contracted. So he could tell her how much he liked his blowjob, but not that he had a daughter? And if she called him Lu, not Dad…was she his step-daughter?
“Are you married?” she snapped, shocked. “You have a wife and still slept with me? Oh my God, was Ithe other woman?”
“Hold your ponies, Anna,” he replied calmly, his jaw still tense. “Not a wife. Melody is my niece. But she…” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “She’s my responsibility.”
She stared at him with her mouth open. Part of her was relieved, but the other part was completely stunned. She knew his sister had died last year. Google had told her that — not Lucas himself, God forbid! But there had never been any mention of a child on the Internet! Only that the goalie had tragically lost a family member, and that was the reason he had either missed or messed up the last few games of the playoffs. Other than that, however…
“I don’t understand. You have a child and didn’t tell me?” Anna hated that she sounded so breathless. Hated that Lucas was so tall and looking down at her. Hated that he raised his damn eyebrow again, while his words sounded completely composed and calm, unlike hers.
“I don’t know what it would have to do with you.”
“No?” she exclaimed in disbelief. “So you wouldn’t be a little confused if you found out that I had kept a daughter from you?”
“I would only be confused if a second brother suddenly appeared and started the biggest scandal in the history of the L.A. Hawks,” he replied tonelessly.
Anna snorted and ran her hand through her hair. “You’re such a hypocrite, Lucas! You told me: No lies. You judge me for keeping the thing about Jack from you, but you have a child of your own?”
“I didn’t lie.”
“But you kept it a secret!”
“And?” His voice was as unyielding as the brick house itself. “I asked you if there was anything I needed to know that would be my downfall. You said no.”
“I didn’t think it would be our downfall either!” she snapped, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. How did the easiest sexual relationship she’d ever had turn into such a disaster?
“God.” She rolled her shoulders, exhausted. “I’m so sick of secrets. How is it that no one knows about her?”
“Easy. The press isn’t interested in me. No one is interested in me. Which would change if two of my teammates beat me up within an inch of my life.”
Oh, please – Dax and Jack wouldn’t beat him up. They would kill him.
She pressed her lips together. “That’s why you’re so angry. Because the media doesn’t know anything about her and you want it to stay that way.”
He turned his face away. “Her mother died last year. She’s been through enough.”
