I bite my lip and tap my fingers on the table. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I jumped the gun. Either way, I can’t trust her until I’m certain.
“What else?” he asks, and my eyes involuntarily dart up to meet his.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, boss, you know I know you well enough to sense that something else is off. You’re not just mad; you’re uneasy. What else happened while Ellie was in here just now?”
I almost hate how well Diego knows me. It’s enough that at this point, I can’t lie. That, and the issue is festering in me to the point of driving me fucking insane.
“She said Luca is…” I pause, and Diego narrows his eyes. “Mine.”
With that, his eyes widen. “Your…?”
“Luca is my son,” I repeat.
“Holy shit,” Diego leans back in the chair. “Is it possible?”
I nod once. “It’s possible…”
“Is it true though?” He presses and I pinch the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut.
“I don’t know. It all came out of nowhere, and I haven’t had two fucking minutes to process any of it,” I snap.
“Alright, new question. How would you feel if it were true?” he asks, and my jaw pulses in the corners.
“Again, I haven’t had time to process.”
“Pour two shots of whiskey,” he says. “While you’re doing that, I’ll give you thirty seconds to process everything. Then, we drink and I tell you what I think.”
I don’t like that Diego is calling the shots right now, but kicking him out would be more work than just putting up with him. For now. Diego swallows the hot bourbon and winces. Then he sucks the air between his teeth and deadpans me.
“You love her,” he says.
“What the f–”
“No, no. I’m not done. I know you said it would never happen. I know you’ve spent a lifetime preventing it from happening. But even dragon scales are penetrable by something. And that someone, Damien, is Annelise Bates.”
“You’re dangerously out of line,” I warn him but Diego is on a roll and I know from experience that unless I am in the mood to take this argument to a physical level (which, I am not) there’s no point in trying to stop him.
“Everyone falls in love, Damien,” he goes on, enunciating every word. “Nerdy guys, romantic guys, rich guys, poor guys, guys who make pizzas for a living and guys who build empires. Good ones, bad ones, soft ones, tough ones. They all fall in love. You’re not exempt. It doesn’t work that way. And I know it doesn’t work that way because I see the way you are with her. You might not get googly eyes or smile more or any of that bullshit. But the things you do? They’re even more obvious. You take care of her. You sacrifice time for her. Prioritize her. You treat her like a queen, something you never do with your personal assistants, boss.”
“This is crazy,” I shake my head.
“She’s different, and you know it. And I think you know the truth too. You know she wouldn’t betray you. But assuming something like that is easier than admitting you love her. And believing that Luca is Dylan’s is easier than paternal love, that shit’s a wrecking ball to walls like yours.”
Diego stops talking, and I stare at him. For a long, hard minute, neither of us blink. Then, I look away.
“If you’re done talking, I really want nothing more than to be alone right now,” I say. And I wait until I hear his shoes against the tile, taking him further away, before letting my chest deflate.
Chapter 39
Ellie
It takes everything in me not to break down on my way to Rachel’s.
Because I thought I was…working the night shift…tonight, I already made arrangements for her to pick Luca up from school and keep him overnight. Obviously, that’s not going to happen anymore, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. Damien must have talked to someone, someone who is out to get me, someone who has something against me. Enough against me that they felt it necessary to completely ruin my life.
“Wait,” I say as I pull up to a stop light. My hands slide off the steering wheel into my lap. “Dylan.”
