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“She was an outsider?”
He nodded.
“What happened to him?” I asked flatly. “Your son.”
Merrick took a deep breath and released it. He leaned on the counter and turned those gorgeous, heartbreaking eyes on me.
“Nothing, he’s fine,” he said.
“So you just…let him go on living his life alone after his mother died?”
“No,” he said. “I’m not that much of a fuck up. No, I finished raising him insofar as I could…he was basically an adult when I met him. But he is very determined that no one know he’s my son.”
I was sputtering, unable to fully wrap my brain around this news.
“So…so who knows?”
“You, me,” he said. “And him.”
“So Ophelia and Daphne don’t even know?”
He shook his head. “That kills me sometimes because they always wanted grandchildren, but I’m his father and my duty is to respect his wishes and protect his identity.”
There was a short silence as we stared at each other. He’d wiped my brain clean and there were too many roiling emotions in my chest for me to even realize what I was feeling.
“Who is he?” I whispered. “Where does he live? How old is he?”
His jaw worked. “I spoke with him and he gave permission for me to tell you so long as you signed an NDA afterwards.”
I gaped at him. “Merrick, I’m going to be your wife.”
His eyes flashed.
“And he’s my son, Clara,” he said. “It’s my duty to protect him. I signed an NDA too.”
I took a beat and breathed in deep, releasing it slowly. When I opened my eyes, he was pacing back and forth, his hands on his hips.
“I understand,” I said evenly. “I’ll sign the NDA.”
His shoulder relaxed. “Thank you, cariad.”
“So where is he now?”
He stopped pacing and returned to the table. His energy was all over the place, still jittery and unfocused. His eyes were pleading as he laid out his palms and I placed my hands in them. Praying this wouldn’t change anything.
“He’s here in Providence,” Merrick said softly. “It’s Caden.”
I shot to my feet.
“What?”
“I don’t know how no one has figured it out,” Merrick said. “We both have the same hair and eye color and we’re around the same height. I got a paternity test when he showed up and he’s definitely mine.”
I just stood there like an idiot, wringing my hands and running over every interaction I’d had with Caden in my mind.
“That makes sense,” I whispered.
“What does?”
