My father licked his lips. Wringing his hands, he looked at me with pleading eyes. “Yes.But he didn’t know who I was.”
Until that moment, Ihad never experienced the soul-crushing effects of a broken heart, and he’d accomplished it with a single word. I couldn’t look at him a minute longer and needed to leave before I raged again, and Thomas might not be able to stop me.
Standing, I loomed over him as he looked upwith fear in his eyes.My father hadnever looked at me that way, and it made me sick to my stomach to see it now. Whodid he see when he looked at me?Did he see Mason, or did he see my brother?
Unable to form words,Istrodeto the door as my fatherurgedme to stay.“Mason. Please stay. I can explain. Please don’t walk away like this. You owe me that much.”
At those words, I whirled on him as my anger grew so fast it caught me off guard. I didn’t recognize myself, but I couldn’t control it. Shaking with rage, I pointed at him. “Don’t you dare say I owe you any fucking thing. You separated me from my mother. Because of you, I don’t know her or my brother. The only good thing I got out of this farce of a family was Maddie and Makenna. So don’t you fucking dare say I owe you a god damn thing.”
His mouth hung open as all the color once again drained from his face. There was a time I would have worried about the impact my words held. Never would I have spoken to anyone like that. But I was a mess, inside and out, and if I didn’t get out of there, I wasn’t sure what I would have done.
Yanking the door open, it bounced off the wall hard enough to dent the drywall. But I didn’t care. Maybe every time he looked at it, it would remind him of how many lives he’d destroyed.
Heading for the stairwell, I pushed the door open and jogged down each flight until my legs burned. I was so caught up in myhead, I’d forgotten about Thomas. I checked over my shoulder to find him a few paces behind me. He didn’t require words. He didn’t need anything from me. He was just there, like he said he would be.
When I reached the bottom floor, I pushed through the stairwell and headed for the street. The city noise dulled my thoughts as I walked, block after block, with Thomas following behind me.
Chapter 11
Thomas
Mason strode ahead of me with his hands stuffed in his pockets and shoulders curled forward. I ached to stop him so I could wrap him in my arms and tell him it was going to be okay. But I wasn’t sure that was true, and I’d never lie to him if I could help it.
As we walked upAvenue of the Americas,Mason didn’t look up at a single landmark we passed. He only paid attention to the crosswalks as we walked by our hotel andRockefeller Center. He never noticed the gathering crowd outsideRadio City,nor was he affected by the delicious aroma coming from the food trucks he loved that lined the streets. Mason didn’t stop until he ran out of sidewalk on 59th Street outside Central Park. By that time, the sun had given way to twilight, and the wind had turned cooler coming off the Hudson, and I was almost positive he hadn’t noticed any of it.
As he stood like a desert island in a sea of people walking by, he stared at the stone wall that surrounded the park. Looking left, then right, he walked toward the closest entrance. When he entered the park, I reached for his arm and led him to a bench. I was worried he’d walk all night if I let him.
As he sat, I got a glimpse of his face. He wore a blank stare, his eyes bloodshot, and the saddest expression I’d seen in a long time. The ache to take care of him returned as I squatted in front of him. Unafraid to touch him, I put my hands on his broad shoulders and massaged until some of the tension left. “Do you need anything? Water, something to eat, anything?”
Mason blinked and spoke softly. “No. But thank you.”
I moved to sit beside him with my arm propped up on the back of the bench. Mason leaned into my side. Shifting toward him, I repositioned my arm over his shoulders. “I’m here if you need anything.”
Almost two hours after we’d walked into his father’s office, Mason started talking.“I’membarrassedyou had to see that,” he mumbled. “But I’ve never been that angry.”
I tightened my arm. “You have every right to feel that way. I’m just glad I was there.”
He released a caged breath. “Me too. I don’t… I don’t think I would have hurt him, but I was so…” he breathed. “How could he…” A strangled sob tore from his throat as he covered his face with his hands.
Wrapping both arms around his shoulders, I spoke into his ear. “I don’t know, but you’re not alone. You have me, and your friends at home. And you have your sisters.”
Mason’s phone vibrated multiple times, but he ignored it. “My life is never going to be the same. I think I just tore my family apart.”
I took a moment to think before I spoke. “No, it won’t. But in time, it could be even better. You have the information you came for. Now you have to decide what you do with it.”
He turned to look at me, panic written all over his face. “I didn’t ask her name. I have no idea who she is.”
I smiled softly, itching to run my fingertips over his face. “You leave that up to me. I’ll take care of that.”
His eyes began to glass over as he looked into mine. We stared at one another as the tension between us grew. He memorized my face as his eyes drifted down to my mouth. I wanted so many things I’d never desired before, but Mason was hurting, and this wasn’t the time to give in to the moment.
“Thomas,” he whispered, his warm breath ghosting along my lips. The heat of the closeness sent a shiver down my spine, and it took every bit of strength inside me to hold back from giving him what he wanted.
Looking away, I stared up at the sky. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of his emotions for my own satisfaction. Could we come back from this if it were a failed encounter?
Mason straightened, causing my arm to slip away when he got to his feet. Looking down at me, he gave me a half-smile. “Thanks for following me out here, but I think I need some time.”
Standing, I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Okay. Let me get us a cab.”
