“This is your new home,” I tell Arron. “Do you like it?”
Selene’s mouth drops open in horror, and she throws me a deadly look.
I ignore it.
Arron scrunches his nose and glances at his mother. “Mommy, is this our new home? Why?”
“Because children don’t belong in motels. It’s much nicer here, don’t you think?” I ask the kids.
“It issss!” Solenne squeals, jumping onto the sofa and flopping all over it.
“It is,” Arron agrees, but I can see he still wants to know what’s going on.
I crouch down on one knee in front of him. Half of my mind is saying I should go slow, the other half is telling me she could disappear in the blink of an eye, and I might never have this chance again.
My heart hammers against my ribs when I say my son’s name.
“Arron, Solenne… can you come here for a second?” I ask.
Solenne, full of curiosity and wanting to know everything first, rushes to my side and looks at me with raised brows.
I swallow hard. Selene senses what is about to happen, and I hear her gasp as I say the words.
“You have never met me before, but I am your father. I’m your dad. Do you know what that means?”
“You, our dad?” Solenne says in disbelief.
“I am.”
Arron tilts his head to the side. “But where were you?” he asks.
“I… was looking for you,” I say carefully. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. And now that I have found you,I want to get to know you. That’s why you are going to come live here with me. So, we can get to know each other.”
Arron glances at his mother while Solenne stares at me. “I like this place,” she says.
“That’s good. But why don’t you look excited then?” I ask.
“‘Cause sometimes I need to first decide stuff before I decide.”
I start laughing, reaching out to cup her cheek. “Well, you take all the time in the world to decide, I’ll be here when you’re ready to tell mewhatyou decide.”
She nods, immediately bolts back to the sofa, and explores.
I stand up, my eyes catching Selene’s. She looks livid.
“I had to tell them. I couldn’t risk you disappearing in the night. They deserve to know who their father is,” I say roughly.
“Arron, go play with your sister,” she says.
Once Arron is out of earshot, Selene turns on me.
“They arefive years old!You have no idea how overwhelming this will be for them! You should have discussed it with me first!”
“And give you a chance to deny it or somehow convince them I am crazy and wrong? Absolutely not,” I growl beneath my breath.
“We’re not staying here,” she huffs.
“You are, Selene. You’ll very quickly find that the doors require pass codes you don’t have, and unless you want to try to climb off the balcony, there is no way out of this penthouse.”
