Page 28 of Deadly Lust

“Don’t even go there. Are you fucking kidding me?” I stood and put distance between us, rage consuming my every step. I knew what he didn’t want to say. He thought Joaquín was involved with the kidnapping, which was something I refused to entertain. “The only logical explanation is that Joaquín found out Tiffany kidnapped my son, so he murdered her. That means he lied to me about killing her, and I ruined my life for his lie—but he did it to protect our son, his nephew! He’s my hero, if that’s true. But me transforming into Ksenya led us to our son.”

“If that were the case, why didn’t he tell you about him? If he were willing to go to such extremes to protect our son, why hide it? Besides, he had no idea you would do all this.”

“Maybe he thought telling me would put me in danger. Or put Julián in more danger.”

“Because keeping it from you kept you so safe, right? Did you forget his attorney attacked you?”

Dammit, he was right that something didn’t add up, but not about Joaquín being involved. “There’s something we’re missing.” I turned to the window and bit my bottom lip. Then, after a second of indecision, I knew what we had to do. “We just need to go ask him what he knows about Julián.”

Grant closed the distance between us and clutched my wrist. “Over my dead fucking body! And even if what you think is true, he won’t or can’t tell us. He’s about to go on trial for a murder he probably committed. Our son is missing. We have no idea who kidnapped him from that hospital, why they did it, or where he is. Until we figure that out, we aren’t telling Joaquín about him. Keep your goddamn mouth shut. Do you fucking understand me?”

He released his grip but I stayed in his space, forcing him to look at me. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do and what to say! Even though Joaquín and I aren’t blood related, he’s still my fucking brother!”

Grant didn’t back down. I’d never seen him this pissed. He bared his teeth at me. “I’m not fucking playing with you anymore. You robbed me of the chance of ever getting to know Elías when you had him. If I’d known you were pregnant, I would’ve never let you out of my fucking sight! If I’d been at the hospital, I’d have been right next to you, taking care of our son. You owe me this. Let me fucking handle it.”

I gulped hard. He was right…again. Even so, he was being a complete jackass.

“Elías is my son! I carried him for nine months, and I have spent every minute of every day for the last two years missing him! You only found out you had a son today. I have every fucking right in the world to find out what happened, so stop acting like this is all about you!”

His face was red and his brows were furrowed.

I exhaled, forcing myself to calm down. He was furious. I was furious. Yelling at each other wasn’t helping anything.

“No matter how much you hate me now, we are in this together,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “He’s our child. I would never have kept him away from you had I known the truth. I had intended to test his DNA. If he was yours, I was going to immediately tell you, beg your forgiveness for leaving, and pray you would take me back. They told me he died, Grant. How could I put that heartbreak on you? Tell me. How?”

He looked at me, maybe for the first time since I walked back into his life as Ksenya, and let my question hang heavy in the air between us.

“Fine,” he relented, as his shoulders dropped, and he finally lowered his voice. “We can go see your brother. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

Well, today Mitch took me to Rafael’s where I snorted cocaine and Mitch kissed me. Then he drove me here.

I shook my head, a knot of guilt building in my stomach, but I couldn’t speak. It wasn’t relevant really—none of that had anything to do with finding our son.

“Promise me, Mia. Say the words.”

Before they had the chance to choke me, I spit the words out. “I promise.”

“Good. Listen, I’m going to ask Kyle to hire some former Team guys to trace Tiffany’s mother. Her name is Lorraine. I just hope to God she hasn’t harmed him. She seemed to love him, but clearly my judgment sucks. I fell in love with you.”

Just like that, all my guilt for holding back information fell away, and a spark of anger flickered.

“Real mature, Grant.”

He looked out the window. “How’d you get here? Your car is still wrecked.”

“Oh, I took an Uber.”

He cocked his head and lifted a single eyebrow. “Are you sure no one gave you a ride?”

Fuck. “Yup.”

Grant shook his head and went upstairs while I stayed planted where I was. Numb. I sent a quick text to Mitch to tell him that I was okay and that he could head home. Then I deleted my texts to him.

After a few minutes, Grant came downstairs, holding a tiny kitten. She was orange and white and fluffy.

“The only thing I found in this place is the fucking cat.”

I grabbed her from his arms. She let out a tiny meow, and I stroked her until she purred. “Can we take her?”

“Of course. She’ll die here if we don’t. Plus, she was probably our son’s.”