Page 11 of Kiss Me Forever

Dash cursed under his breath. “And she never told you?”

“I’m on the birth certificate. Which doesn’t do anything if I don’t fucking know.”

“And I guess there’s not an alert or something that lets you know when you’re put on someone’s birth certificate. Like a Google alert that emails you.” Dash tried to make a joke of it, but I couldn’t find any humor at this point.

“They…are giving her to me. Or rather…just…letting go? I need to talk to my lawyer because the way they speak about her makes my skin crawl. They don’t want her. How could they not want her? I don’t care if they’ve been in her life for all those twelve years, because if she’s my kid, I’m not just going to walk away. I don’t know, something sounds weird about this. It’s so fucking fishy, and I’m so far out of my depth I’m drowning.”

“You’re not alone,” Brooklyn said, squeezing my arm once again. “You’ve got us, and I know your family’s supportive. Do you have a good lawyer? If not, we know people.”

I snorted, liking her touch far too much. “I would make a joke that of course, the Montgomerys know people, but yes, I have a lawyer for something like this. I think. Fuck. I thought we were just going to have a meeting about the project, and here I am, living a fucking soap opera.”

“I kind of liked the fact that it’s not a Montgomery this time,” Lex said with a shrug, and that made my lips turn up.

“It does feel out of character that it’s me and not you guys.”

“Well, you’re not alone no matter what,” Dash said with a firm nod. “I suppose we should start calling you Daddy now.”

Brooklyn tried to hold back laughter beside me, her shoulders shaking.

I glared down at her. “Don’t you start.”

“I promise I won’t. But Reece?”

I raised a brow in answer.

“I think I know the Longs.”

I froze. “Excuse me?”

She held up both hands as I whirled towards her. “I didn’t know they had a grandkid. And honestly, I don’t even know if I’ve met their daughter. But the Longs, well, they were in the same circles as Duke’s family. I think I remember them from a gala or something. But it’s been a while.”

It felt like the floor caved in under me, and I let out a shaky breath. “Meaning they have money and connections, and if Bella is mine⁠—”

“If you’re on the birth certificate, you have rights,” Dash said. “And they said they were giving her to you. Like she’s a fucking sofa or something.”

I rubbed my temples. “I could hate you for that comparison, but they were so damn cold about it. I don’t know how any of this works. Why are none of you Montgomerys lawyers?” I asked, trying to put some humor in the situation.

“We’ll make sure that the next generation has a few lawyers,” Brooklyn said, worry on her face. “Take the night off and figure something out. I’m so sorry. From the few moments I had with Bella, she’s amazing. She’s smart, funny, and she misses her mom something fierce. No matter what happens, no matter what you’re feeling or what her grandparents are feeling, there’s a scared little girl here. And I know you’re going to take care of her. No matter what.”

I wanted to soak in the fact that she trusted me, that she believed, but in that moment, I couldn’t think.

Because I had a feeling my life had just irrevocably altered to the point of madness.

I was a forty-one-year-old man. Single by choice. And apparently a dad.

Chapter 3

REECE

Trying to figure out the next steps of whatever the hell my life had become, while on zero sleep, in a slight panic, and wondering what the hell I was supposed to do, wasn’t for the weak. In fact, I kept pinching myself wondering when I was going to wake up from this nightmare, and yet it was all too real.

After the lawyer and the Longs left—taking Bella with them—I had stood there, feeling as though I was finally wrapped within that quicksand everybody had been so afraid of in the ’90s.

I really thought as a child that quicksand would’ve been more of an issue in my adult life, and yet perhaps all of that preparation, including a traumatic experience with a movie horse, was for this moment.

I hadn’t told the Montgomerys to keep this to themselves, but I knew they wouldn’t spread word over social media or outside of their family. But their family included far too many people for my liking sometimes. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was the subject of more than one family group chat. And knowing them, they probably already had a plan to ensure that I was taken care of and not alone in my insanity. But this wasn’t a Montgomery problem.

This was a Fox problem.