“That girl,” he murmurs, his voice so low I can almost feel it vibrating through my body. “Is she... Is she mine?”
He gestures to the next room. For a second, I wish I could take it all back.
Shit, maybe confessing to having been working for his enemies would be better than the look he is giving me right now, the way he is glaring at me as though he cannot believe what he is hearing.Is hiding a child from him the worst thing I could have done?That’s certainly what it feels like, as he stares down at me, the shock taking a moment to register on his face.
I nod slowly. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“There was no one else it could have been,” I reply. “I know she’s yours. She has to be.”
He stands there for a long moment, taking it in. I don’t even want to think what must be going through his head right now. It’s hard to tell.
He’s standing there before me, his fists scraped up, his face and shirt covered in blood that I don’t know belongs to him or someone else. But even with that, I won’t let him intimidate me.
At least, not any more than it already has.
Finally, he speaks, his voice strained. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I had no idea who you were,” I protest, swallowing hard. “It’s not like we exchanged names and home addresses, in case you’ve forgotten...”
He pauses, mulling it over, and then comes back sharper. “Then why didn’t you tell me the second you saw me again?”
I shake my head. “I–I was too shocked to say anything. What was I supposed to do when I saw that tattoo, just announce in front of the kids that we had been...?”
“And that’s why you wanted to go,” he mutters. “Because you didn’t want me around your daughter.Ourdaughter.”
I could have sworn that I heard an inch of hurt in his voice, like he is stung by the idea that I wouldn’t want him around. But I’m not going to just roll over and feel sorry for him, not when he’s come at me like this.
“Well, you can’t exactly blame me, can you?” I argue, challenging him. “The way we met, it doesn’t exactly speak to you being the most amazing, caring father figure for a child...”
He glares at me. “You never even gave me a chance.”
“You had your son by then, right?” I shoot back. “You should have been at home with him, not out and about with some woman you had never even met before?—”
“Don’t you tell me how I should raise my son,” he warns me, his voice hot with anger, looming over me in a way that reminds me he could snap me in half.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I retreat, trying to calm him. “I–I’m sorry.”
He steps back slightly, catching his breath, and I draw in a long, shaky lungful of air, trying to calm myself as best I can. He has every right to be angry at me. I can’t even imagine how I would feel, if I learned I had had a child out there I knew nothing about. Even the thought of being kept away from my daughter is enough to make my heart ache.
“Max, does he have any idea?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head. “I didn’t say anything to Nina, and I don’t think they’ve noticed how... how alike they are,” I reply. I have though. It’s hard not to notice how similar they look, even the tone of their voices sounds the same. And they’re both the sweetest kids, so they have that in common, too.
“So you noticed it, too?”
I widen my eyes. For some reason, I didn’t think it would have clicked with him as swiftly as it did with me, but the way he is speaking, it’s like he’s already sure of what he’s saying.
“I can’t believe this,” he mutters, running a hand through his hair. “You...” His voice trails off as he turns to me, and his face darkens. Whatever was briefly open in him before snaps shut,right there before my eyes. “You’re not going anywhere. Either of you.”
“No, please, Alex, this is what I was scared of—that you would try to make Nina part of this world...”
“She doesn’t have a choice,” he fires back. “She’s already part of it. Whether you like it or not.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the words, but I know it’s pointless. Whatever I try to hide from, whatever I try to deny, the truth is that heisher father, and there’s nothing we can do to dodge that. And a man like him—a man with his power, his influence, his lifestyle—I know he’s not going to let her just slip through his fingers as though it’s nothing.
“So what does this mean for her?” I breathe, trying to contain myself and hoping he can’t see how much I’m shaking right now. “That means she can’t leave, or?—”
