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Slate
Ashlyn is mine. She’s my daughter. I’m a father. I have a kid, a little girl who is so fucking awesome that she puts all other kids to shame, something I thought even before I knew she was mine.Mine.Shit, that thought is a total mindfuck. All this time I had a kid, and I never knew about it, never felt that she was out there in the world.
Not one fucking clue.
I stood in the middle of my backyard in nothing but my boxer briefs as my thoughts raced. I was so focused on Emma being Vick that the rest of it never quite registered. That wasn’t what I expected after those two little words changed everything. She was Vick,isher, she admitted that much.
“Fuck,” I whispered into the late night air. I figured her for some chick with a kink for bad boys that she never intended to do anything with other than share a few orgasms. She wouldn’t be the first and probably not the last, but she was the first one I actually liked and started to think about something other than fucking her. Only I’d misjudged Emma the same way she misjudged me all those years ago. This wasn’t some kink, it was much bigger than that.
I had a kid. I was a father. And worse, my kid had been raised, at least in part, by a monster and I wasn’t there to protect her. To keep her safe from him.
He’s lucky he’s fucking dead.
A soft hand landed on the center of my back, and I froze. “I’m so sorry, Slate. So fucking sorry,” Emma said barely above a whisper. “I realize that I’ve messed up. Badly. I’ve deprived you and Ash of a relationship for all this time. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, and it was easy to believe since I couldn’t find you. And then I met Alex, and he seemed like, well everything he actually wasn’t. Nice and kind and stable.” She pulled her hand away from my bare flesh and I felt immediately cold.
“He was what you wanted as a father for your child.”
“No. He was a nice guy, and he didn’t seem opposed to the idea of a woman with a kid. He seemed like the best option but that was years later.” She let out a sad sigh. “I’ve packed up our things and we’ll be gone sometime tomorrow.”
Gone. “Why?” I turned to face her, a dark scowl on my face.
“You need time.” The words rushed out on a heavy sigh as if she’d given this plenty of thought. “I won’t keep Ash from you, but you need time to adjust to this new reality.”
“The fuck I do, I’m taking the time I need right now. You’ve just dropped a huge bomb on me, Emma, and I’m trying to let that news settle in and adjust to it.” I glared at her, angry that she was ready to up and leave so quickly. So easily. “It’s not an unwelcome bomb, it’s just…fuck.Some asshole put his hands on my little girl, and I wasn’t there to protect her.”
“Slate.” She reached out to me but retracted her arm before she even came close to touching me, to offering comfort, as if she thought it might be an unwelcome touch. “You didn’t know about Ash and that was my fault. I married him and I stayed so it’s all on me.” She looked away, wrapping her arms around her middle.
“Did you even try to find me?” I didn’t know why that was the point I stuck on when I had tried to find Vick based on the things we shared that night, and I hadn’t found shit.
Emma nibbled her bottom lip as she turned her gaze up to the inky black sky that sparkled with millions of stars. “I did try actually. I didn’t hire a private investigator, but I went back to the bar. Twice.”
I sucked in a shocked breath at her admission.
She nodded, a half-smile on her face that didn’t go anywhere near her eyes. “The bartender who worked the night we met looked at me with pity, as if I was one in a long line of women who came looking for you only to face heartbreak.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal but even now, I saw the embarrassment on her face. “The second time I went in, about a week later, the female bartender was less helpful. I asked about the name of your club because I couldn’t remember the name on your patches. She told me if you’d wanted me to know you would’ve told me and that I should take the hint. So I did.”
My jaw clenched angrily. “People are assholes.”
“Maybe but I could have tried harder than I did, and I’m very sorry for that.” She shook her head, sorrow heavy on her shoulders. “I’m going to bed but if you have more questions, I’m happy to answer them. Good night.” She turned and walked across the yard, her shoulders heavy and her demeanor disappointed.
I watched Emma slip inside the house and head upstairs. The light in my bedroom never came on and I wasn’t surprised, not since Emma thought she was leaving tomorrow. She wasn’t going anywhere, not as long as I had a say in it.
Sure I was upset, but not because I had a daughter that I knew nothing about until an hour ago, it was only because of the years I missed and who she ended up with. I wasn’t mad at her, but Emma wouldn’t let herself believe that.
I would show her the truth, that she and Ash were mine to protect.
From any and all threats.
Chapter 23
Emma
Istood at the stove cooking breakfast as if it was a typical Thursday morning, as if there was such a thing in my life as a typical day. I fried strips of thick-cut bacon and scrambled eggs while the buttered bread crisped up in the oven and then I got lost in thought. I’d dressed quickly in jeans and a baggy old t-shirt and tossed my hair up into a sloppy bun since I no longer needed to dress to impress, except for online job interviews and figured I’d give Ash one last big breakfast until we found our own place with a kitchen.
I had no clue how Slate would react to me this morning and I had everything ready to go, just in case.
“Mommy it smells so good in here. What’s for breakfast?” Ash stumbled into the kitchen still half-asleep, which was proof enough that she was very comfortable—possibly too comfortable—in Slate’s home.
I turned to her with a bright smile that she didn’t notice was a littletoobright. “Everything is for breakfast. Bacon and eggs, toast and fruit.”
