I finally caught up to them in the foyer, hearing Jude say, “Not here,” in a stony voice. His gaze didn’t even dare meetmine. Instead, he turned, going toward an ornate golden door. He went inside, and I followed both him and Jada into the private library off the ballroom. I looked between Jude with his thunderous expression and Jada’s ashen face.
As soon as the door closed behind us, I demanded to know, “What the fuck is going on?”
Jada stood behind a chair like it could protect her. From what, I didn’t know. She was regarding Jude like he was some kind of monster to be feared instead of my best friend who had stood by my side througheverything.
“Several months ago, I went out with a friend to a club to blow off steam. That’s where I met him. He told me that I should call him if I ever wanted to meet again.” She turned to face Jude. Her voice had been steady earlier, but it shook when she said, “He is the father of my baby.”
Suddenly, my ears filled with something like water, drowning me, distancing me from the conversation. My vision blurred at the edges. It was almost like watching them talk from a distance. From below the surface of the water I was drowning in.
Jude’s jaw ticked as he stared at the plush carpet. “Ican’tbe the father.”
“You are,” Jada said, hurt lacing her expression.
“Biologically, perhaps, but you’re not hearing me.I can’t be the father of this baby.It would be far better off without me.”
“She,” Jada corrected angrily. “My child isn’t an inconvenient ‘it.’”
A tortured look marred Jude’s face into something I didn’t recognize. “She, he, whatever, it doesn’t matter. This baby cannot be associated with me in any way. I know your messages said you’re keeping it. Is it too late to consider adoption?”
Jada was about to talk, but I cut in, staring at my best friend like the stranger he was. “You’d abandon your own child? Force that trauma on them both?”
Jude swung his gaze at me. “Did you hear me? I can’t.” His voice rose. “I won’t! I won’t subject a child to being my daughter.”
I stared at him and then at Jada, who had her arms wrapped around her waist, around the child growing there. Rage tinted my vision, my judgement. “How could you say that?” Jude hadeverythingI wanted. He had a child with an incredible woman, a chance to have a life and a legacy outside of The Tower’s four walls.
And he was casting it aside? Treating Jada and her baby like an inconvenience?
“You’re not the person I knew,” I told him, disappointment washing over me, hot and thick, burning like acid. Before, I thought he was acting a fool, but we could come back from that. This... it was unforgivable.
Jude ignored me, speaking directly to Jada. “If you tell anyone that baby is mine, I’ll deny it. If you push for any connection to me, I’ll sign my rights away. This isn’t about making my life easier. It’s about protecting hers.” He let his warning linger for a moment, his words giving me an uneasy feeling. I fought the urge to see if someone was watching us, putting us in danger now.
Then he turned to me. “Bryce, I know you’ve always wanted to be a father. We look similar enough. Tell everyone the baby is yours. Keep her out of the public eye long enough to let them question the timeline. Don’t letanyonefind out that baby is mine, or she will be in danger.”
“Danger?” Jada’s voice caught.
“If anyone knows I’m the father, she isn’t safe.”
I stared at the man who used to be my best friend. The man I thought I knew as well, or better, than any of my brothers. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, disgusted by his melodrama. “Even if the child were at risk, you have unlimitedresources at your disposal. Round-the-clock surveillance, an in-home health aide. Armed security guards. Whatever you needed to keep that baby safe, you could do with a snap of your fingers.”
“All it would take is a second, a momentary breach and...” Jude shuddered.
Either he was an incredibly good actor or seriously worried someone was out to get him. Maybe his mental health was deteriorating. All possibilities were concerning for entirely different reasons.
“Once I leave this room, we can’t discuss it again,” Jude said. Desperation leaked into his features as he looked to Jada. “If you don’t marry Bryce, I will find a way to get you money that looks legitimate and can’t be traced to me. Money that will give you and your child a good life.” Then he looked to me. “But if you go through with this marriage, then that baby is yours.”
Giving us both a final look, he left the room.
My legs threatened to give out, so I sank into a green velvet chair, knowing Jada and I needed to have a decision made before leaving the temporary privacy of this room.
63.Jada
I had never felt so utterlyrejectedand alone as I did in this moment. The room fell completely silent, but I could feel Jude’s denial of my baby and me echoing around us as surely as a cymbal crash.
It thundered, rattling me to my core until I was on the verge of tears, a million nasty thoughts racing through my mind.
Was my baby really in danger?
Or are those the lengths her father would go to for some distance from me?
