I stare at him for a long second, then nod once.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Go ahead.”
He settles into the chair across from me. “I know this is weird,” he begins, voice low and sincere. “Believe me, it was weird for me too. But I’m really glad you wanted to meet me. Maybe even get to know me,” he adds, flashing that crooked smile again.
Before I can stop myself, the words spill out. “Are you sleeping with Abigail?”
Ryan blinks, caught off guard. Then he chuckles softly. “Guess we’re diving straight into the deep end.” He nods once, accepting it. “Yeah. She found me in LA a few months ago. We… reconnected.”
He doesn’t flinch or fumble, and for some reason, that earns him a sliver of respect.
“When did you find out about me?” I ask, leaning forward, unable to hold back my urgency.
“The moment she saw me,” he says. “She blurted it out before I could even ask why she was there. And when sheshowed me your picture…” His breath catches just slightly. “I knew. I didn’t need a test. I saw you, and Iknew.”
I swallow hard.
“Are you married?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Kids?”
“Other than you? Nope.” He grins. “At least I don’t think so, but hey, it’s LA.”
He’s trying to joke. I don’t laugh.
“What do you do for a living?” I ask a little too casually. What kind of man was hidden from me all this time?
For the first time, Ryan hesitates. “I told myself I’d be honest with you. I know I missed out on twenty years of your life, and I’ll never get that time back. But if you let me… I’d like to be in your life now. I want to show you I can be something real. Something good.”
“I’m not looking for a dad,” I say quickly, almost defensive.
“I get that,” he replies without missing a beat. “But I’ll still be here if you ever want one. I just don’t want to screw up whatever chance we have. I hope being honest with you doesn’t ruin that before it even starts.”
I raise a brow, signaling him to just spit it out already.
He exhales slowly. “I own the biggest BDSM club in LA.”
I blink. Then again. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not,” he says, dead serious.
My cheeks burn. I feel like an open book, and Ryan notices. He sighs. “Unbelievable. Let me guess, he introduced you to the lifestyle?”
“You mean Calvin?” I reply, narrowing my eyes.
“Yeah.”
“Well, yeah. He did.” Then I hesitate. “You don’t like him, do you?”
“You could say that,” he says through gritted teeth.
“But you don’t even know him,” I argue, defensive now.Protective, even.
“Oh, I know him,” Ryan replies, and something about his tone annoys me.
I frown. “That’s vague and unhelpful.”
