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“How did you get my number?”
“From your assistant.”
A prick of something dark stabs my heart. I should be surprised that Nova intervened and forged a link between me and Alexa behind my back.
But I’m not.
Nova has a habit of making moves and then informing me about them later. I trust her implicitly, so I’ve never had a problem before. But now… I wish she’d given me a heads up.
A simple ‘hey, remember that fling you had in college who sent an eleven year old to your doorstep? I gave her your number’would have gone a long way.
“How’s Rowan doing? He didn’t respond to my texts tonight. He’s supposed to call me before he goes to bed.”
“He’s…” I stammer over my words. “He’s good.” I clear my throat. “For the most part.”
“For the most part?What does that mean?”
I rub the back of my neck.
“What happened to my son, Adam?”
“He had a minor accident in one of our labs today.”
“What?”
“It shouldn’t be fatal. I don’t think. We’re going to observe him over the next few days.” I try to make my voice more upbeat when I say, “But he should be fine. I’m eighty percent sure.”
“Adam, it’s been forty-eight hours since he’s gone to live with you and he already has a medical emergency?” Her voice rises to another level of frantic. “I’ve had my son for eleven years and he’s only gone to the hospital a handful of times! You need to do better than that.”
“I’m sorry, Alexa,” I grind out, my annoyance seeping into my tone. “Maybe if I’d had a little warning, I’d be better at this dad thing. But since you decided to sic Rowan on me at random, I’m still trying to get used to it.”
“He’s a child, not a dog, Adam. I can’tsichim on you.”
“You know what I meant,” I grumble.
“You’re his father. You should have been involved from the start. You’re eleven years too late.”
“And whose fault is that?” I bite out.
She goes silent.
I feel a flash of regret for lashing out at her and speak in a quieter voice. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know, Adam. Maybe it’s because we were never anything serious?”
“Come on, Alexa. That’s bull and you know it. If you’d told me, I would have taken responsibility.”
“I know.” Her words escape on an exhale. “I wanted to tell you. I went all the way to your dorm. Then I overheard some guys talking about how brilliant you were and how you were going to do great things. I didn’t want to clutter your life with a kid you didn’t ask for. I didn’t want to shackle you to me when I knew you didn’t love me. I thought I deserved more than that.”
I rub a hand over my face, my heart fraught with guilt. “You still should have—”
“We can’t change the past. Rowan’s with you now and you can prove exactly how you would have taken responsibility back then.”
“Of course I’m going to take responsibility.”If the kid’s really mine.“But Alexa, you were okay with hiding him for eleven years. I think I deserve to know why you suddenly changed your mind about keeping Rowan a secret.”
Her breath skitters through the phone.
She says nothing.
