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“You really do that? But wait, wouldn’t that mean you actually have a heart in there somewhere? Because last time I checked, there was just a black ball of grumpy dickweed floating around where it should be.”
“Funny. And all it means is I don’t like to see people get screwed. Usually,” he added with a wicked glint in his eyes that I knew was especially for me.
I squirmed a little, but I was still unpacking everything he’d said. “Why would that matter to Trish, though? The fact that you try to help people?”
“She could show potential clients how much resources we’re wasting on athletes who are a step above charity cases. Combined with my fraudulent past and a few other little scandals she knows about, she has me by the balls, more or less.”
“She did. But now you have me. And you know what I am?”
“I do. Remember? You’re a pain in my ass.”
“You might want to get checked out for hemorrhoids with all those ass pains you apparently have. But no, I’m a problem solver.”
“Sometimes, the only solution to a problem is to avoid it or endure it.”
“Wrong. Just give me a little time, and I’ll figure this one out.” Except I couldn’t help thinking how avoiding and enduring was exactly what I’d been doing when it came to the truth about Luna. I couldn’t put it off forever. Sooner rather than later, I needed to tell Damon the truth.
I just had to decide how and when.27DamonIt was evening, and even though I knew I should really be using my time to try to patch things up with Trevor Castle, I could only think about Chelsea.
I’d told her the truth. Instead of making me feel like an idiot, I felt free. I didn’t feel vulnerable, I felt as if I’d finally been released from something that had been gripping me too tightly to breathe for years now.
I wasn’t dumb, of course. I knew Trish still held enough information to make my business go nuclear right under my nose, and she was apparently dead set on using it against me now. But for the first time, it felt like I had someone in my corner.
We were walking by the waterside. Savannah had a historic section that ran along the river. Cobbled roads led down a strip of shops that were mixed in with scenic overpasses and endless places to sit and admire the views.
Chelsea had taken my hand, and even though I’d always felt like people who held hands in public were obnoxious, I let her. I might’ve even enjoyed having the soft smallness of her fingers threaded between mine.
We sat down on a bench next to a stone monument. The water spread out in front of us and an old school, massive paddleboat trundled by while we watched.
“There’s something I should’ve told you a long time ago,” Chelsea said. “You have every right to be mad, so, I’m just going to say it.”
I braced myself. What the hell was she talking about? Whatever it was, it felt like two cold hands were gripping my insides, threatening to squeeze tight and rip me apart at a moment’s notice.
“Five years ago, you got me pregnant. The condom broke, and I never told you. I kept it a secret because I was afraid you’d use your money and influence to make me do something I didn’t want to do. Get an abortion, give up the baby—I didn’t know. But I thought you were a very bad person. I was ashamed of myself for sleeping with you and for letting something like that happen. I just—”
I realized I hadn’t been breathing. I shook my head, sucking in my first breaths. “I wore a condom.”
“It broke,” she repeated.
I blinked. “You never told me?”
I realized she was already explaining all of this, but she patiently shook her head. “I convinced myself you would hate me for it. That you’d hate the baby, too. I thought everyone would be better off if you never knew. Then I wound up working for you, and I think part of me wanted to reassure myself that I’d made the right call—that you really were the heartless asshole I thought you were back then. But you’re not. There’s so, so much more to you. You deserved to know back then, and you deserve to know now. She’s your daughter, Damon.”
I leaned forward on my knees. It felt like everything around me was spinning.
A daughter?
I had a fucking daughter?
There were too many emotions churning inside me to count or identify. It all blurred together in a thumping mass that felt like rushing water in my ears and hoofbeats in my chest. “She’s mine?”
“Yes,” Chelsea said, smiling as tears twinkled in the corners of her eyes. “And I know you probably hate me now, but I already waited too long to tell you. I just—”
