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“Hello, Liam,” she said, walking inside and closing the door behind her.
She had been calling me Dad more and more lately. Being addressed as Liam meant the stern expression on her face was because of me. It didn’t take me asking her to know why. Saturday had come and gone without my telling her about Liberty. I’d been a little distracted with Liberty in my bed. Blaise sure didn’t give any leeway.
I stood up and walked around the desk. I didn’t like the formal feeling of talking to her with my office desk between us. She wasn’t business. She was my family.
“By your tone of voice, I’m taking it that Blaise told you about Liberty,” I said.
She tilted her head slightly to the left and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. My husband did tell me that my father was going to have another child. Why is it that my husband had to tell me? Why didn’t you tell me? This is kind of big news. Something that I should have heard from you.”
I really hadn’t wanted it to happen this way. She was angry and probably hurt. Disappointed in me. A host of shit that I hadn’t even thought of yet.
I motioned at the chair. “Have a seat. Let me explain,” I said.
She moved over and sat down, crossing her legs. “I’m listening.”
There was no way to make this sound good. I couldn’t sugarcoat it.
Sighing, I sat in the chair across from her and leaned back.
“A little over two months ago, I stopped at a bar on my way back from Miami. I was on my Harley, and the rain got too heavy. Anyway, the bartender was attractive. She made me laugh. I enjoyed talking to her. Her boss sent her home early, but she didn’t have a ride. I gave her one. She was living in a motel because she and her boyfriend had broken up due to his cheating on her a few weeks prior and they’d been living together.” I paused.
How was I supposed to explain this? A sexy-as-fuck woman invited me in, and I kissed her, then peeled her tank top off?
“You had sex with her,” Madeline said. “Got that part. Continue.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Well, I left before she woke up. Figured I’d not see her again. She was young. Too young for me to be messing with. And I had my first date with the doctor lined up.”
“You’re aware my father-in-law is married to a much younger woman, and we are very close.”
I shook my head. “Fawn isn’t as young as Liberty.”
Madeline said nothing, and I took that as my cue to continue.
“I started dating Selena. She was good company. Checked all the boxes I was looking for in someone permanent. Maybe to even marry. Except …” I paused, not wanting to discuss how sex with her hadn’t been great and felt like a chore.
“She was bad at sex,” Madeline supplied.
I cleared my throat, uncomfortable talking about it. “Her younger sister needed a place to stay for a few weeks, and she let her stay with her. Imagine my shock when I saw the bartender I’d had a one-night stand with coming out of an upstairs bathroom in Selena’s house.”
Madeline’s hand flew to her mouth as her eyes went wide. “Nooo,” she said, sounding surprised.
“Blaise must have left that out.”
She laughed. “Yes, he did. I’ll deal with him later. Continue.”
“Selena said some things about Liberty, not knowing about us, and I believed her. I judged Liberty unfairly. She passed out, walking home from the bus station late one night. I thought she was drunk or on some drugs. I took her to Selena’s. Then …” I paused, realizing we hadn’t discussed this when she told me about her parents and Selena’s lies. The Liberty I knew wouldn’t have reacted the way Selena had said she did.
“She ended up leaving Selena’s house. I decided to stop by her place of work and check on her. Thinking I was helping out Selena. I caught Liberty outside, throwing up in some bushes. I confronted her about it. She admitted she was pregnant. Said it was mine. I didn’t know that I could trust that. Brought her here and kept her in my bedroom up here while we waited on the results of the paternity test.”
Madeline held up a hand, her eyebrows raised. “You mean to tell me, you brought her to a strip club? Seriously? You have a house. No woman should have to stay at this place—unless she works here, of course.”
“It’s not that bad,” I defended myself. “Your husband just doesn’t want you here. I understand it, but that doesn’t mean it’s some awful place to be. Speaking of which, when he finds out you came here, he’s not going to like it.”
Using her thumb, she pointed over her shoulder toward the door. “He’s right outside. Huck is at the back entrance. Six is at the main entrance,” she told me with a roll of her eyes.
“Surprised there is no one with the vehicle,” I drawled sarcastically.
“Trev,” she replied.
