She nods slowly, understanding in her dark eyes. “I know this must be a surprise, and I’m willing to admit I was suspicious when he called yesterday afternoon, but I had Owen check his story and look into his past, and everything adds up so far …”
“I don’t understand,” I mumble as I cross my arms to steady the tremors that are making my body feel like it’s ready to crumble and break apart. “I thought as long as I was here …”
My voice fades as I look back at Lana.
She’s given me so much, but when it comes right down to it, she’s virtually a stranger.
As compassionate as she’s been, I know I can’t expect her to protect me.
“Robin, you don’t have to agree to meet him,” she tells me, one hand reaching out to touch my shoulder lightly. “I’m only here to tell you so you can decide if you want to see him, or not. I won’t allow him onto academy grounds if you don’t want him here.”
Letting out a sigh, I nod slowly. “Thank you.”
“I understand why you might not want to see him. Believe me, I get it.” Lana gives me a wry smile. “You can take your time to think about it.”
“I don’t need to think about it.”
The words rush out of my mouth, and it takes my brain a second to play catch up.
It’s a relief to feel like the decision has been made.
I don’t want to meet him.
My mother ended up with me because of the things that were being done to her.
That means my father had to have been one of her abusers.
I don’t want to have anything to do with someone so evil.
Lana chews on her bottom lip for a moment before she nods and lets her hand drop from my shoulder.
“That’s fine, but I should give you the rest of the information anyway. He claims he met your mother at a party he was invited to by a friend of a business acquaintance. Apparently, she acted like any other guest in the room. He claims he had no idea she wasn’t there willingly.”
“And you believed him?”
“He sounded earnest,” Lana says, shrugging. “I know sometimes liars can be very convincing. All I can tell you is his story checks out. He was at that party, and we couldn’t find any kind of link to connect him directly to Ivan Hamilton. A couple of the people he works with confirmed he spent some timeasking around about your mother, trying to find her in the weeks and months following that party.”
Oh, God.This is why she’s telling me. She thinks he might be a decent guy.
There’s no way he could be … is there?
“I don’t …” I start, shaking my head.
I can’t find the words to continue. I don’t know how to feel.
“It’s a lot, I know, and you should take your time to think about it. If you do decide you want to meet him, I can make sure the meeting happens safely. If you don’t, I’ll let him know.”
She pauses, and I can’t help but ask, “How did he know about me?”
It doesn’t make a lot of sense, really. He met my mother once and never saw her again.
How would he know she had a child? How would he know I was his child?
“He heard your name on a news report, and he called us. The reporter stated your age, and he said his Alpha instincts told him you were his kid. The second he heard your name, he knew you were his daughter.”
It almost feels like she’s asking me if I believe in fate all over again.
Alpha instincts are something I’ve only really seen show up in romantic movies.
