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I pull off my shoes and run barefoot across the cold stone floor, my heart in my throat. I’m so angry with him. So hurt and confused. But I’m determined to hear the truth from him.
I have to hear him say it.
I stop as I reach the bottom of the old staircase.
He’s sitting in his usual spot in a pair of workout shorts, his skipping rope coiled on the step beside him, his chest shining with perspiration. His head is hungas he stares at something he’s twirling between his fingers.
He looks exhausted.
“Jet?” I breathe.
He looks up, the hollowness in his eyes making me falter.
“You’re supposed to be resting, Ava.”
His deep voice sends a shiver through me. Even looking completely drained, the way he does, his voice always has that same steadiness about it. That same control.
“I’m fine. I just forgot to eat because I was worried about Gramps.” I hover at the base of the stairs and study him. “But you know that already. The nurse said you wouldn’t leave their desk until they told you how I was doing.”
He says nothing.
“And I’m not pregnant. They checked.”
His eyes pinch at the corners as his jaw tenses. I thought he’d look relieved, but torment clouds his features as he huffs out a heavy breath.
I force myself to sound calm, despite the banging inside my skull. “Tell me.”
There’s one swift shake of his head as he continues to spin the small object in his fingers, his attention fixed on it.
“I know it wasn’t you. My mum…” My voice cracks, and I force a swallow. “You knew it was her, didn’t you?”
He rolls his lips, still not meeting my eyes.
“Did you always know? That day I came to your office and you were on a video call? You acted like you knew something.”
“I didn’t.” He lifts his eyes to mine. “I’d finalized the deal with Callaghan, and he mentioned how pleased Ophelia was to be working with you. I thought you’d made the decision yourself.”
“I hadn’t,” I whisper.
His brows pull together. “I knew something was wrong the moment you mentioned your father.”
“You let me scream at you. The way you were speaking… I thought you’d given it to her.”
“I thought you were talking about something else. But the second I got off that call, I had my suspicions. I wanted to be wrong, Ava. I’ve never wanted to be so fucking wrong in my life. That son of a bitch, Mitch, told me it was just business when I figured it out,” Jet hisses, his shoulders rippling with tension. “He spun me my own fucking line.”
“But why did you tell me you did it? I flew all the way to New York, and you looked me in the eye and lied to my face.”
“I was so damn proud of you when I saw you walk into the hotel that day. You got on that plane by yourself.”
“Don’t avoid the question,” I say desperately holding a sob at bay. I knew he’d looked at me with pride in his eyes that day. And I hated him so much at that moment for what I thought he’d done.
Pain flashes over his face as he clenches his jaw.
“I lost my mother for good. You lost yours and got her back. I was given a choice…. For you to hate me but still have her. It’s what you dreamed of. You told me.”
“Jet—”
“It was only a matter of time before I had to let you go, anyway. I’d have stopped you spreading your wings. Stopped you from seeing the world. You’d have resented me for controlling you like that.”
