“Your name’s Reagan, and while you were happy to lie to me, I’ll not allow you to lie to our child much longer.”
“What are you saying?”
“Today, our daughter is to know that I’m her father, and?—”
“You promised that we would wait.”
“I never specified a time limit, and I’ve since decided today is as good a day as any. And that’s not all. She is also to know that you are Reagan Coughlin and not this Rowan Lynch you claim to be.”
She looked quite stricken, and I couldn’t tell what part of that had her most scared. “I can’t tell her any of that just yet. She’s just a child, and I don’t think she’s capable of processing so much so soon.”
“I have no idea what she can or can’t process because I’ve never been given the chance to know her.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I...” When she paused, I rolled my eyes.
“The only thing you’re sorry for is that I caught you. If I hadn’t seen Ciara and you outside of the medical clinic, I would’ve never known either of you existed, at least anymore.”
“You’ve got to understand. This is too much for her.”
“On the contrary, the only one I think it is too much for isyou. And at the risk of sounding like an asshole, your feelingsmatter the least to me. Either you tell Ciara that I am her father, or I will.”
“Cillian, please.”
“I once loved the sound of my name falling off your lips in a plea, but as with most childish infatuations, that time is over. Save your breath. There’s nothing you can say anymore.”
“I-I’ll tell her that she is your daughter,” she finally said.
“And the other part?”
“Don’t make me do that. I couldn’t bear having to change her name to Coughlin after everything that?—”
“Her name is to be changed to Brannington. She ismydaughter and will be afforded everything that comes with her title. Now, if there is nothing else, then?—”
“I’m not done,” she said as soon as I turned to head back toward the kitchen.
I spun back around. “What is it?”
“You left with my daugh?—”
“Ourdaughter,” I corrected.
“You left with Ciara and didn’t even leave a word as to where you were going. Despite what you think about me, I am still her mother, and I’m to know where she is at all times, especially when she is out and about with you.”
I wanted to argue with her that she lost that right as well, but she did have a point. “I’m sorry if my taking our daughter to pick up donuts for breakfast worried you. I’m not used to having a child, or anyone that I need to consult with when it comes to such simple matters. I’ll remember to fill you in on our whereabouts. Now, if there is nothing else...”
Her gaze raised to mine, and I could see the curtain of tears blurring those blue eyes I’d once loved staring into. I wouldn’t allow her to use those same feminine wiles she’d used back then to sway me now. The very fact that I hadn’t tossed her into the dungeons that the Branningtons used to deal with traitors andthieves was already a concession. I had now also agreed to let her wait to reveal her true name to our daughter, but allowing Ciara to go another day thinking I was some random stranger was out of the question. As long as she abided by what we’d just agreed upon, she’d keep herself from such a fate.
“Ciara knows by nightfall tonight, or I tell her. You won’t like the consequences of me having to do so,Rowan.” I spat the fake name out, and it tasted as bitter on my lips as her real name now did.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” she said to me.
“Ciara has told me stories about all the other kids at school and the events they got to do with their fathers. She has been hurt by your lies, but not for much longer. I’m in her life now, and I’ll never leave it.”
“Fine,” she told me as she threw her hands up in surrender. “I’ll tell her today.”
“Good. And now that that’s settled, she said you were partial to raspberry filled jelly donuts, and she picked out two of them for you. We should join her in the kitchen.”
Reagan said nothing else as she just brushed past me. The incidental contact sent a shockwave of electricity shooting through me. It was like a lightning strike of adrenaline, and something I had been living off of since I first laid eyes back on her in New York City. Just like those drug and alcohol fueled benders I’d gone on over and over since I’d thought Reagan died, the crash would soon come. Once it did, I knew I would be unable to control myself. For Reagan’s sake. Hopefully, she would be nowhere near me when it did.
