Page 29

“Of course not,” she snapped.

“Did you think I would hurt you somehow? Like I would lose my shit if I found out?”

“No.”

“Then why?” I barked. By now, a handful of people in the waiting room were watching through the window. Let them—a little free entertainment while they waited. “Why the hell couldn’t you tell me? Or when you got back? You’ve been here for over two months with my son.”

“Our son. See?” she whispered. Her tears had dried, her features hardened, and her sapphire eyes looked darker than ever. “All of a sudden, he’s yours, not ours. Did you ever think that might’ve been a problem?”

“Bull,” I snapped. “You’re making excuses. You know what I’m saying. Don’t twist my words around. You have lied every single day we’ve been here working together. Why didn’t you tell me? What reason could you possibly have?” I needed to know. I couldn’t live without knowing. I hadn’t known he existed an hour ago, but now nothing would stop me from finding the truth.

“Because…” If she breathed any faster or shallower, she would pass out. As it was, whatever little color was in her cheeks drained away until she was as white as a sheet. Her already large, luminous eyes seemed to jump from her face. “I don’t know. I have to get back to him.”

“Would you STOP running away?” I placed myself between her and the door for the second time tonight, just as desperate now as I was then. “What is it you won’t tell me? Why don’t I deserve to know? You never gave me a chance to decide whether I want to be part of our son’s life, and now you won’t tell me why. Why, dammit?”

She held her head in her hands, closing her eyes. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Then. Tell. Me.” I was just short of screaming, only holding back because of the security guard on the other side of the sliding glass doors, who didn’t bother hiding his interest. That was all I needed, to be threatened by some rent-a-cop who could easily call the real police on me. Somehow, I was able to keep that in mind while my head threatened to explode, and my heart pounded deafeningly. “Goddammit! Tell me so I can know for sure. What are you hiding, Winter?”

Breathing hard, she lowered her brow and squared her shoulders. Like she was letting go of something she’d been holding onto for dear life. “I have an idea,” she muttered, her voice deep and full of malice. “Why don’t you ask your mother?”

“My mother?”

“Yeah. She’ll tell you all about it,” she informed me with a snide laugh. “I’m tired of lying. She knew all this time and had me sign an NDA promising I would never tell you about Liam. She’s the reason I moved away. She is the reason I had the money to pay for Mom’s medical bills, her care, and her new house. Diana gave me enough that I was able to afford to invest in the show. Those are things I should thank her for, I guess. But she promised if I ever told you, if I ever came near you again, she would destroy my life. She would sue me to kingdom come… her words,” she concluded.

I rocked back on my heels like a bomb had gone off, the shock waves rolling over me. My mind went blank for a second, unable to comprehend what I’d heard.

It couldn’t be.

Wait! What was I thinking? Of course it could.

It sounded exactly like something Mom would do, and it made whatever was in my stomach come violently close to spilling out.

“Winter…” I whispered, the pieces coming together in my head. She hadn’t ghosted me. She had fled because it was the only choice she had. Her old concerns echoed in my memory. “I don’t know how we can afford Mom’s bills much longer. She really shouldn’t be alone at home when she’s in a bad flare-up, but I can’t be there all the time, and we can’t afford a nurse…”

“Don’t tell her you know. Please, don’t tell her.” Winter looked over her shoulder into the waiting room before turning her worried gaze on me again, waiting for me to reassure her.

How could I? I couldn’t let this go. She was asking the impossible. I had lost so much without knowing it existed. And I was supposed to pretend not to know? How could I begin to do that?

“Jackson. Please.” The tears spilling over her lashes sparkled like diamonds in the light over the doors. “I need you to promise me, or else she could take everything away.”

“I won’t let that happen. Ever.” It was the only thing I knew for sure.

“You only think you know her. Did you ever imagine she could stoop to something like this?” When her question left me in silence, she added, “So what else do you think she could do?”

She hurried back inside, leaving me standing alone. I had been alone these past four years, surrounded by friends, yes, and my bed was never cold if I wanted it otherwise. But at the center of everything, I’d been alone while my son was born, grew, and lived an ocean away, never knowing me the way I never knew him.

And all because of her.

Everything that had gone wrong so far was because of her.

Resolve replaced anger, intensifying with every breath I took. My fists tightened along with my chest when I saw Mom’s face in my mind’s eye.

She would pay for this.

I would make her sorry she had ever interfered in my life.

Before telling her to leave my life for good.