Page 98 of Deceived Wrath

I stare at her, completely mesmerized by the way her blue eyes light up when she smiles.

“Tell me, Scout. How old are you?”

“He’s five.” Even though my son is six, adjusting his age is just another way I can ensure that his mother’s true identity can be kept a secret, in case Adrian Smirnov does decide to come sniffing around me.

“That’s a pretty good age. That’s halfway to ten.”

“But I’m tall for my age.” Scout puffs out his chest.

“You’re almost as tall as me!”

I bend down to whisper in Scout’s ear. “Why don’t you ask if Fiona wants something to drink?”

“Oh, right. Fiona, you can have a drink!”

She laughs. “Thanks.”

I meet her gaze. “Champagne okay?”

I watch her throat bob, and for a beat, I let my eyes trail down her elegant neck that is practically begging for my attention.

She bites her lower lip. “Champagne is perfect.”

It feels like torture to peel my eyes away from her.

Thankfully, Scout does the hard work for me by taking Fiona by the hand and dragging her over to the table where he’s lined up a bunch of his toy cars despite me telling him to tidy them away.

Hearing the two of them laughing together both pleases and annoys me.

The fact that he’s so quick to accept someone else, a stranger no doubt, tells me all I need to know about the bond I thought I had with my son.

I push the thoughts aside as I finish pouring the drinks.

Right now, I need to focus on making sure Scout is comfortable.

I’ve barely put the glass of champagne in Fiona’s hand when the elevator opens and the entirety of my family steps out, including Addison and Nico.

Scout immediately steps behind me as all eyes turn to him.

“Where’s my nephew?” Brennan forces his way between Ronan and Kieran. “Hey Scout, I’m Brennan. Just so you know, I’m about to be your favorite uncle.”

Scout looks at me, and I offer him a nod of encouragement.

“I’m Scout.”

Ciara offers me a one-armed hug as she holds Addison on her hip. “Cormac, it’s so nice to see you. I hope you don’t mind that we brought the kids. We gave Elena the night off, and honestly, it didn’t feel right to have a family dinner without them.”

“Of course not.”

“We thought Scout might want to meet his cousins,” Ronan says.

“Where’s Riley?” I suddenly ask.

“She didn’t feel up to it,” Kieran replies, though his eyes are fixed on Fiona.

He opens his mouth as if he’s about to ask, but I quickly shut it down.

“We can talk after dinner.”