“Apparently.” X smacked his own forehead. “Bruh, that’s fucked up. He’s gotta be, what…thirteen or something?”
“That’s right.” The news I’d received today had rocked me. A few days ago, I’d contacted a jeweler. I had a singular focus—to make Demi my wife. Now, all I felt was uncertainty.
Clearing his throat, X said, “I hope you know that Demi loves you. If you’re worried about how this will affect your relationship with her, don’t. We all have a past. And sometimes that past comes back and slaps the shit out of us. Demi will understand.”
X was intuitive like that. It didn’t surprise me that he’d guessed my hesitation without me even saying anything. Since he’d gotten with Zara, he’d become some sort of relationship savant. Shit, he reminded me of me. And we were both just like our fathers.
“Will she really?” I challenged. “I have a son, bruh. That changes everything.”
“It doesn’t have to,” he countered.
“I’m going to Michigan. I have to see him.” I pounded the steering wheel with my fist. I could feel myself unraveling, losing control. And I hated it. “Fuck.”
Eyeing me warily, X asked, “Is he in foster care?”
“A colleague of Carolyn’s adopted him. I know her. Donna Ware. She was a VP at The Fuller Group and a good friend of hers.”
“Then she probably knows you’re the father,” he surmised.
Donna had been Carolyn’s right-hand in business. There wasn’t much that got past her. Carolyn had never confirmed it, but I had a strong feeling Donna even knew about Carolyn’s side business. Donna had never had kids, so it didn’t surprise me that she’d taken my son in and raised him as her own. “Definitely.”
“What’s your plan, bruh?”
I shrugged. “My plan is to show up. That’s as far as I got with the planning.”
“What did Demi say? She would know how to handle this type of situation.”
Demi. I’d left her this morning to go see Sasha. She was probably waiting for me to call or come through. I couldn’t go to Michigan without letting her know, but I was hesitant to tell her about this. Not until I’d seen for myself that this was real. “I didn’t tell her.”
“Why?” X asked incredulously.
“I feel like I need to take care of this first before I tell her.”
“You’re asking for trouble.” X shook his head. “Listen, I almost lost Zara because I failed to communicate effectively. I got in my head and made a bad decision. You know this becauseyoutoldmeI fucked up. I thank God every day that she took me back, but it could’ve gone another way. Don’t make the same mistake, bruh.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“Tonight?”
“Eventually,” I confirmed. “Right now, I just need to go home. I still have to figure out when I should tell my parents. And everybody else.”
“Demi should be the first person you tell. Trust me.”
As much as I wanted to argue with X, I knew he was right. I should’ve gone straight to Demi’s after I left Sasha’s office. But I didn’t. And I wasn’t going there tonight either. “I need to go.”
X sighed. “You’re going to leave without talking to Demi, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Headed for the airport.”
“At least, call her.”
“I will.”
X reluctantly got out of the truck. “Get back at me when you get there.”
I stopped by my house and packed a bag before I went to the airport. Once I purchased a ticket on an outbound flight and got past security, I called Demi.
“Hey, love,” she said, her voice low.
