“I’m sorry?—”
“Sorry?” He moves toward me, and Julian immediately steps between us. “You stole five years from me. Five years of their lives I’ll never get back. First steps, first words, birthdays, everything. Gone because you decided I didn’t deserve to know.”
“Victor would have used them against you?—”
“Victor’s dead!”
“I didn’t know how to tell you!”
“You start with the truth!” His voice echoes off the walls. “You tell me I have sons, and we figure it out from there. But instead, you lied. Over and over. Looked me in the face and lied while I—” He stops himself.
The silence that follows is suffocating.
Julian’s hand is still on my arm, holding me back even though I’m not moving. His other hand is inside his jacket, where I know he keeps a gun.
Cassian sees it. “You going to shoot me, Vance?”
“If you take another step toward my sister, yes.”
“She kept my sons from me for five years.”
“Because your enemy locked her up and made the decision for her. She was young, pregnant, and terrified. What did you expect her to do?”
Cassian looks at me, and the betrayal in his eyes cuts deeper than his anger.
“I loved you,” he says quietly. “I spent six years looking for you because I couldn’t let go of one night we spent together. And the whole time you were raising my children and lying about it.”
“I was going to tell you—but I didn’t know when or how or if telling you would make things better or worse. The boys ask about their father every day, and I don’t know what to tell them because I don’t know if you’ll want them or use them or?—”
“Use them?” He stares at me. “You think I would use my own children?”
“I think you’re dangerous. I think people around you get hurt. I think my sons deserve better than growing up in your world.”
“They’re already in it. They’re Vances. Or did you forget that part?”
“Julian is getting us out. Making things legitimate?—”
“And you think that makes them safe? You think being a Vance is any better than being a Rourke?”
I don’t have an answer.
Julian pulls me back toward the door. “We’re leaving.”
“No.” Cassian moves to block our path, and Declan shifts position to back him up. “We’re not done.”
“Yes, we are.” Julian’s voice is hard. “You know about the boys now. That’s what you wanted. We’re leaving before this gets worse.”
“I want to see them.”
“No.”
“I’m their father.”
“You’re a stranger to them. They don’t know you.”
“Because she never told them about me!”
“And now you know why.” Julian meets his eyes. “You’re standing here threatening violence because you’re angry. You think I’m letting you anywhere near those boys while you’re like this?”
