“Like Chloe kept the blanket her birth mother gave her.” How could he not have noticed the resemblance? The smile was the same, the angle of her eyes. All Chloe.
“Are you seriously implying that I’m Chloe’s mother?” Alice laughed but it was a hollow sound, unconvincing. The words cut deep and he gritted his teeth, shock turning to a simmering anger.
“Hallie is Chloe’s mother. I’m asking if you gave birth to her. Are you Chloe’s birth mother?” Please say no. Deny it for real.
She waved a dismissive hand, averting her gaze from his. “It’s a ridiculous question.”
“Is it? Because no matter how many ways I’ve asked, you haven’t said no.” He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, teeth aching from clenching them so hard. How had things moved from near perfect to horrifically wrong? Last night, he’d realized he loved her but everything changed with a single revelation. “How did you find her? The adoption records were sealed until recently.”
When she pressed her lips together, unwilling to speak, he continued to press her. He had to know the truth.
“Hallie said the intermediary contacted a member of the birth family to get medical records, but medical records only. How did you find out where she was?”
She hugged her arms around her waist and tears filled her eyes. He couldn’t allow himself to soften toward her. She’d lied to him. Manipulated his family and his sick niece. He didn’t know her at all. “Stop avoiding the truth. Be honest with me for once.”
“I haven’t lied to you, Niko. Brooke was in a car accident a few years ago and I donated blood, and gave them permission to put my name in the blood donation database. I started to think about my…the girl…what if something happened to her like with Brooke…so I contacted the state of Washingon and filled out a contact preference form, just in case she needed access to my medical history. Then right before Thanksgiving, the stem cell donation program contacted me. The program is anonymous and I was simply told I’d be donating for a girl in Seattle. I tried not to assume anything. I mean, what are the chances? Then I received a call from an intermediary, asking for my medical history and my gut told me something was wrong. It was too much of a coincidence to ignore so I hired a private investigator.”
Niko stared hard at her, barely able to breathe through his encroaching rage at her and at himself. An hour ago, he’d considered proposing, but his hopes for a future with Alice were being smothered by her confession. How much of their time together was an act? He didn’t know what was fake and what was real anymore. “You hired someone to investigate my family?” To investigate me.
“When Grace mentioned she was doing a show on local businesses in Seattle, I gave her your name. I had to know she was all right.”
Fury burned a path into his gut and he clenched and unclenched his fists. “You. Used. Me. To get to Chloe.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks and she brushed them aside. “When Grace did the interview with you, Chloe recognized her from 3Square’s first season. Grace told her if she truly wanted you on the show, she’d have to go through the regular process but she’d forward the application to me to expedite it. It was Chloe’s wish, and I’d been wanting to do a show in Seattle since the donor program needs to do multiple tests to verify if I’m the right donor. I needed to be in one place for more than two weeks and the Easter special was supposed to make that happen. I don’t know if I’m Chloe’s donor. I might never know. But if I can save a child’s life—”
“You lied to me and wormed your way into my family in the process. There’s a reason the program is anonymous and I’ll bet there’s a damn good reason you sealed the adoption papers.”
She blanched and took a step back before she caught herself. The quiver in her lip gave her away.
Niko felt winded, like he’d received a vicious round kick to the solarplex. He’d fallen in love with her and she’d been using him.
“I think I’d better.” She shot past him, her sobs floating behind her.
He slumped against the door jam and pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting against the pain. The entire time they’d been together, she’d been interested in one person and one person only.
And that person wasn’t him.
Chapter Fifty-One
Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry. Not yet.
Alice hauled the suitcase down the back staircase, the hard plastic handle biting into her palm. She welcomed the physical pain because it helped to distract from the ache in her chest. Revulsion washed over her in waves, churning her stomach and shattering her soul.
Niko was repulsed by her, she’d read it in his eyes, and she couldn’t blame him one bit.
Things had gone horrifically wrong and it was all her fault. The lump in her throat choked her and she stumbled on the last step in her rush to get away. She had to leave, to find a place to curl up and cry until she had no more tears. There was still the matter of her escaping the house unseen to where the town car she’d ordered waited on the street.
The staircase was at the far end of the kitchen, kitty-corner to the back door. Ten feet and she’d be in the backyard.
Peering around the doorframe, she was relieved to find the room mainly empty. People were lingering in the doorway leading to the living room, but their backs were to the kitchen at large. Alice could hear Marc’s distinctive voice above the din telling one of his many stories, and the high-pitched squeals of kids playing in the background. She darted across the kitchen, suitcase dragging behind her.
Was Chloe one of those kids? She’d be forever haunted by the hope and confusion in the girl’s eyes and the contempt in Niko’s voice. Had she already forgotten the incident in her room or would she press her uncle for more answers? Would he tell her and the rest of his family the truth or keep this to himself?
She might never know one way or the other. He wanted nothing to do with her. Biting back a sob, she swallowed. Alice was a fool to let this happen, a selfish woman who put her own self-interest above her child’s because she couldn’t leave well enough alone. And once again, Chloe would pay the consequences. She’d hurt Chloe, the one person she’d meant to help.
Marc must have delivered the punchline because laughter erupted. Alice ground her teeth. If things hadn’t dissolved into chaos, she would have been mingling among the throng, learning more about Niko from the people who loved him. Like she loved him. She hefted her suitcase, and laid her hand on the back door knob.
“Alice, are you leaving?”
