AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I heard you tell your brother that you never wanted to settle down, because you couldn’t know if a woman wanted you for you or your money.”
“Turns out, you didn’t want either.”
“That’s not true. I did want you, do want you. But I was afraid that you’d be angry about the baby.”
“Which suggests that you think I’m the type of man to abandon a woman and child.”
God. This was going so badly. Why had my reasoning made so much sense at the time? His rebuttals were making me seem so ridiculous and callous.
“Never in a million years would I have thought you’d do something like this. Why you’d take a page from Beth handbook, I can’t fathom. Ash missed five years of Hannah’s life. How many was I going to miss, Morgan? Or were you going to let me help you raise this baby never knowing I was its true father?”
“I was going to tell you. I started to — ”
“I don’t believe you. Jesus, did you even want to be with me?”
“Yes. Yes, Kade. I still do.”
He scoffed. “Well, that’s not going to happen now, is it? If I can’t trust you, what do we have? We can’t build something on lies.”
“We never said we were — ”
“Where were you when I told you I wanted more than casual? Did you forget? You were the one always pushing me away. I should have listened to that. I should have let Ash do the project instead of me.”
My brain was scrambled, and I couldn’t think straight. “I made a little mistake.”
“Little mistake?” His voice rose up a full decibel. “This wasn’t a little white lie. This was not telling me I was the father of your baby. Did you think I wouldn’t care? Did you think I was going to lose interest in you and move on? Would I have forfeited my rights to knowing if I did?”
“I don’t know why you’re with me.” That sounded lame, but it was all I could come up with.
He leaned in close. “Because I loved you, that’s why. I loved you and you broke my heart.”
I gasped as the full magnitude of what I’d lost hit me hard. “Kade, I — ”
“What was your plan, Morgan? Were you really going to pretend this child was someone else’s?”
“No, I told you. I was going to tell you — I just hadn’t found the right time.”
“Bullshit. You had plenty of time.” He shook his head. “You weren’t going to say a word.”
“That’s not true.” I felt desperate, and reached out to grab him. If I could hold him near, I could convince him that I did plan to tell him.
He stepped out of my reach. “I know it’s true because you haven’t apologized. Not once. Not even close.”
He stalked to the door and opened it. “Just so we’re clear. I will be a part of this baby’s life. Whatever legal steps I have to take to make it happen, I will. Don’t you ever try to keep me from my child again.” Then he was gone, and I was a crumbled heap on the floor.
31
Kade — Sunday
I stormed from Morgan’s apartment feeling more anger and pain than I could remember ever feeling. The closest was when my mother had died. She’d always been my closest ally in the family, and without her, I’d felt like I’d lost a part of me. Now, with this revelation about Morgan and the baby, it wasn’t so much that I had lost something, but that something between us had died. Been murdered. I’d been an idiot to think that maybe I could have the same love my brothers had found.
While I talked to Morgan, I looked at her, really looked at her, to try to find out what I’d missed. She’d seemed so sweet and innocent. It never occurred to me that her wanting to keep her distance from me was to hide my child. What sort of dumbass was I that it hadn’t even occurred to me the child was mine? For once, I’d allowed myself to trust a woman, and it had backfired magnificently. I was reminded why I’d made my commitment to bachelorhood. Morgan’s deceit would always remain as a reminder to why I needed to give up on the idea of love. I wouldn’t ever forget that lesson.
During my talk with her, my phone buzzed several times in my pocket. Now out on the street, I pulled it out in case it was important business. A kitchen fire or brawl in one of the restaurants would be a good distraction. Unfortunately, it was Ash.
Hey bro, where are you?
Are you okay?
Nope.
A few minutes later, another one came through.
Wanna get drunk?
Yep. Yep I did. I texted back. On my way home.
See you there. Glenfiddich or Joven?
It seemed like a waste to fritter away a three-hundred-dollar bottle of tequila like Joven in a pity party. Then again, when was a better time to get the best booze possible than to nurse heartbreak?
