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Easton nods.
Tears spring to my eyes.
“Oh, Sadie.” Everleigh hugs my side, knowing what that means.
Finally, after all these years, we know his name. My mother never did. She met him at a nightclub in Atlanta on a girl’s weekend trip. He was in the VIP section. She said they locked eyes, and that was it. He beckoned her over, and she went. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Bronzed skin, chocolate hair, full lips, and bright blue eyes. She knew he had money from his suit and watch alone.
He invited her to play a game where they made up names and pretended to be whoever they wanted for the night. She had so much fun and just enough to drink that when he invited her to his hotel suite, she didn’t say no. In hindsight, she says, it could have gone badly had he been a horrible man. He wasn’t.
They spent the evening drinking Champagne, and eventually, they slept together. When she woke in the morning, he was gone. A single rose rested on the pillow beside her with a note about what a wonderful night he’d had. He signed it with his made-up name, Roman. His accent had been so slight Mom never knew if he was Italian, or Spanish, or something else, but she’d assumed he was American.
It had been the most romantic night of her life, until she met Tim. Not once did she regret conceiving me with the man of mystery. She only regretted not being able to contact him about the pregnancy or share with me who my father was.
It haunted her for a long while, until Tim helped her let go of the guilt. I never held anything against her. She was an amazing mother who did the best she could. She never lied to me about the night I was conceived, although the version I got when I was younger was more fairytale. For a long time, I wished for him to appear at our house and whisk us away to his castle. It was the wish of a child. As I got older, I resented him for what he did, but never my mother. Then Tim became a part of our lives, and I stopped caring about what might have been. To learn about him now, after all this time, is bittersweet.
Tears of joy and heartache spill down my cheeks. Everleigh cries too as she clings to my side. “I have to tell my mom. She deserves the truth.”
“Now?” Everleigh asks. “While she’s in Greece?”
My stomach knots. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair to do that to her while she’s on vacation. I already dumped the stalker news on her. But this is huge and something she’s wanted to know for so long.”
“She’s also moved on from that time in her life. I think if you wanted to tell her, she’d be okay. She has Tim with her if she needs support.”
“Yeah.” He knows everything about our past, too. “That doesn’t mean it’d be fair to either of them.” I fight a fresh wave of tears at the heartbreak this could cause my mom. When I was younger, I cried for my father at times, begging to know who he was, and she hated that she couldn’t even give me his name. “I don’t know if I can tell her and risk ruining her vacation more. I don’t want to upset Tim, either. He’s been amazing to both of us. Accepting me as his daughter and being the man Mom always wanted. I don’t want to hurt him.”
“You won’t.” Everleigh says, her tears subsiding as she combs back my hair from my tear-soaked face.
I get myself together and calm my crying. Daire hands us tissues. Everleigh separates from me to blow her nose. Daire embraces her. I use my tissue to wipe my face and feel a strong arm go around my shoulder. I give a small gasp, surprised to find Easton beside me on the couch.
When did he move here?
He pulls me against his body in a sideways hug. “Sadie, I’m so sorry. I knew this would hurt you and hated having to tell you.”
“It’s okay.” I nod, wanting to crawl onto his lap and straddle him, chest to chest, my face in his neck, as he holds me until I’m ready for him to let go. We can’t do that here. We couldn’t do it even if we didn’t have an audience. This is us as friends. He kisses the top of my head, but it’s nothing more than a sentimental gesture.
“What am I supposed to do now? Do I have to talk to her? Lola? And settle this?”
“I’ll go with you,” Everleigh says.
“No.” I pull away from Easton enough to look at Everleigh. “I don’t want you or your baby anywhere near her. You know what her bodyguard did to me. I have to do this alone.”
“Like hell you will.” Easton tightens his hold on me. “I’ll go with you.”
A half-laugh-half-cry escapes me. “No offense, Easton, but this guy is massive. I’d need a bodyguard of equal size, and I wouldn’t be okay if you got hurt, either.”
“Because this is a tough time, I’ll ignore how you just shredded my manhood and remind you I fight dirty. But in the interest that I want to keep you safe, I’ll have a bodyguard of equal gigantism come with us.”
I meet his misty gaze. Was he crying, too? “I don’t want anything from her other than some information about my… biological dad.” It feels weird to say. “If he left me something small, I’ll take it. A momentum. A picture. I don’t know. Do you think that’s what it is?”
“I don’t know, Sadiecakes. We’ll have to wait to find out.”
“When can you set it up?”
“Steven will make the arrangements. He’ll want to go, too, and he’ll get the bodyguard.”
“I’ll help,” Daire interjects.
For a moment, I forgot they were there. That’s what happens when I’m cocooned against Easton’s body.
