“Whatever you want, baby. It’s your call.” Vince followed.
Cringe.
April sat with her back to the wall, the way Shane had taught her. Hannah worked the register and poured coffee with one eye on her sister. Same with Sonny, but with the phone to his ear. April imagined he was calling the police.
Vince took the chair across from her, still smiling that terrible smooth smile that fooled her so long ago.
“Let’s get right to it. How did you find me?”
And how did Watchdog not know you were here?
Vince grinned and spread his arms as he looked around Riversong. “How does anyone find anything these days? This place was all over social media, celebrating something. Saw a picture, thought I saw the woman I loved,” He stopped, lifted a finger, “stilllove, excuse me. And I had to come and make sure it was you.”
Oh no. Oh shit.Shit.
How could she be so stupid? April wracked her brain, trying to think about which picture of Riversong and the family Hannah had posted. Was Kevin in it? April did her damndest to keep her son’s face off the internet, so she didn’t think so.
"You look so good," he said softly, his voice the embodiment of warm whiskey by the fire. "You don’t look a day older than they last time I saw you. Colorado agrees with you." He reached for her hand and she snatched it away.
"Don't."
"Don't what, baby?"
"Don't touch me, don’t call me baby, and donotact like this is a friendly reunion. Don't pretend you have any right to be here. So you found me, big deal. I’m not yours. You lost that chance a long time ago."
Vince leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands. "I did my time, April. Paid my debt to society. They even let me out early for good behavior and my parole officer helped me end my parole early. I'm a free man now, and I want to make amends."
"Amends."
"Yeah. For everything." His voice dropped, going soft and earnest. "I was a different man then. Angry. Scared. Greedy. I made terrible choices, and I hurt you. I know that. And I'm sorry. But I did it all for you, ba—April. I wanted you to have the best of everything."
April stared at him. He sounded sincere. Looked sincere. And for just a second—just the briefest, most treacherous second—she wondered if in his sad little deluded mind, he meant it.
Then she remembered the feel of his watch connecting with her jaw. The sound her body made hitting the floor. The pain in her ribs when he kicked her, knowing he was aiming for her belly. Aiming for her unborn child. The fear of Vince finding her—and the fear of picking the wrong man again, she realized—that had lived in her bones for years. That had kept her from opening her heart back up to Shane the minute he walked into Riversong.
"You hit me," she said quietly.
Vince looked down as he rubbed his forehead. "I know. And Ihatemyself for it." He dropped his hand, leaned forward, and she regretted her seat against the back wall that gave her no room to retreat. "Prison changes a man, April. I had a lot of time to think. To get help. I went through anger management, group therapy, found God, all of it, just for you, out of regret for what I’d done. I'm telling you, I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve found peace."
“Yeah, right.”
Vince leaned on the table, fixing her with sorrowful eyes. “I’ve changed, April. For your sake, yeah. But now I know why God really set me on the path to better myself.” He smiled through suddenly teary eyes.
April’s blood froze.
Oh no. Please no.
“I want to be a good father to our son.”
April closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Of course, he knew. How could he not?
“Kevin, right? That's what you named him? I like it. Kevin Romano’s got a good ring to it."
April’s eyes flew open. The protective fury that surged through her was so fierce it almost knocked her sideways. "You don't get to say his name.Ever. Especially attached to yours."
“I want us to be a family. It’s only right a boy should know his father.”
"You wanted me to get rid of Kevin. You told me to get an abortion the day I told you I was pregnant." She gripped the table, white-knuckled, tempted to flip it. “You hurt me trying to hurt the baby.”
