“I think it’s convenient timing.”
I frowned, trying not to let my hurt show. “You think he wants money? Why bother with me then? I don’t have any money.”
Alfie raised his eyebrows. “Stop being naive, Lola. You’re a billionaire now too.”
I stared at him, stunned.
“Did that not occur to you? That Harrington House will be yours soon? My house in Richmond where you walk around on tiptoe? The private plane you refuse to use to see your own friend? Soon, very soon if I get my way, everything that’s mine will be yours. Did you really not think about that?”
“No. Or at least, not in such literal terms.” I let out a humourless laugh. “Maybe you should ask for a prenup.”
“What’s the point? If you ever leave me you might as well take all this shit with you.” He came to me and I leaned into his chest, my head throbbing in time with his heart beat.
“He knew I had a man but he didn’t say your name. Maybe he doesn’t know that you’re…you.”
Alfie kissed the top of my head, then pulled back. “We’ve been photographed together, Lo. One google search and he’d know.”
“So, you don’t think he could come back just because he cares about me?”
His hard gaze softened. He traced the back of his fingers over my cheeks. “Of course he could but wealth has taught me to be cynical. He didn’t come back when you were struggling to pay rent. I just want you to be aware of that.”
“Oh, I’m aware. Painfully aware. I think he came back to see Natalie. Her and Riley announced their engagement this week, maybe that’s what prompted him to try to reconnect now? And looking her up meant looking me up and then he found out about you? Maybe that could be it?”
“Maybe.” Alfie wasn’t convinced. Neither was I, not entirely anyway.
I didn’t want to believe that John O’Connell had only come back to try and take what he could get, but I would be a fool not to consider it. Alfie was right. Whether I felt it or not, I was about to become extremely wealthy. I needed to start looking out for sharks swimming in my waters.
“Regardless of the reason, I need to see him again. At least one more time. I have so many questions. Where has he been all this time? Does he have more children? Is he married?”
“I can answer some of those. No, he’s not married and as far as records show he never fathered more children.”
I stared at Alfie, wondering how he knew all of that. “Did you have Elliot research him on the plane ride over or something?”
He paused. I got the feeling he hadn’t meant to give me that information. What an un-Alfie-like mistake.
He sighed, as if resolving himself to an uphill struggle. “You know I had Elliot research you when we first met. He put together files on all the people in your life, including your father.”
I put a hand between us, pushing him away slowly. To his credit, he didn’t fight me.
“You’re telling me that you’ve known all this time where he was?”Please say no. Please say you didn’t know.I was desperate to be wrong but his silence was my answer. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
Another pause. “I decided not to.”
“Why?” I said through gritted teeth. I felt like my world was caving in all over again.
“Because he knew where you were, Lola. In the exact same place that he left you and he didn’t come back.”
“So?”
“So, if I’d told you where he was, you would have wanted to see him and as far as I could tell, he had no interest in seeing you. I thought telling you would just be setting you up for rejection. I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
I started to laugh. I left the bathroom, returning to the bedroom. No, this was too intimate. I went into the sitting room instead. I wanted to run outside and get away from this messbut I knew it would just follow me. I felt Alfie hovering in the doorway behind me.
Finally, I turned to face him. “How many times are we going to have this fight?” I sounded as exhausted as I felt, like the life had been drained out of me. “All this work I’ve done to trust you again and you’ve been lying this whole time. Hiding something huge from me.”
“I had a good reason.”
“You always have a good reason but I always end up hurt, don't I?” My strained voice echoed in the dark room. Tears were spilling onto my cheeks again. I wiped them away with an angry swipe.
