Nate kept on speaking to me like I was a wild animal. To be quite honest, I needed it. “What’s going on, Benny?”
I turned to him, his face blurring through the tears I couldn’t seem to kick. “I have a kid.”
Nate’s head jerked back. “What? What are you talking about?”
Roman climbed to his feet and slowly approached, wisely keeping his mouth shut. If only he’d done that back then.
“Hey, Romeo, you remember a pregnant girl telling you she was having your baby?” My hands curled into fists as I imagined Mazzy standing at the barricade, all her hopes demolished by my arrogant twat of a brother. “You remember what you said?”
His brow crinkled as he blinked. “I’m not—are you talking about Shira?”
I chuffed. “No, asshole, I’m not talking about your wife. God, are you stupid? I’m—you—Mazzy…fuck.” My brain was on fire. I couldn’t seem to put what I wanted to say in the right order.
Nate got in front of me, cutting off my view of Roman. Both hands on my shoulders, he put his forehead near mine. He was good at this—keeping calm, talking things out.
“Slow down, Benny. Forget about Roman. He’s not here right now. Talk to me.”
I took a deep breath. Then another. “I have a daughter, Natey. A little girl.” I didn’t even know what she looked like. Why hadn’t I asked to see a picture? “She’s four and a half.”
He stiffened, and his breath stuttered, but he quickly evened out and got back to business. “And you’re saying her mother…told Roman she was pregnant?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. She’d tried to come tell me, got us mixed up, and our fucking asshole of a brother told her to get lost. Hethreatenedher, Nate.”
“No,no,” Roman grumbled. “That’s not right. When is this person saying this happened? And how do you know it’s true? You can’t just go by some random woman’s word.”
“Oh yeah?” I would have shoved Nate out of my way so I could strangle my twin, but I didn’t want to hurt him, and the way I was feeling, I would have. “You’re telling me you don’t remember a woman approaching you at the player’s entrance a little under five years ago and telling you she was pregnant? That never happened? Before you answer, think really hard.”
Nate moved just enough for me to see Roman’s grimace. He shoved his fingers through his hair and tugged hard, leaving his curls to look a hell of a lot like mine.
“Ben…” He sighed. “Yes. I’d put it out of my mind, but yes, I do remember something like that. I assumed she was just another mixed-up fan. That wasn’t the first time something similar happened, and I didn’t want to give her even an inch to run with the story she’d made up.”
“She didn’t make it up,” I bit out. “She thought you were me.”
“Who is this woman?” Nate asked.
“Mazzy.” When he still seemed puzzled, I explained. “The woman I met when I almost crash-landed on the way back from New Zealand. And no, she isn’t lying. We had sex without a condom, and this shit happens when you do things like that.”
Nate shook his head. “Christ, I remember you telling us about her…she got pregnant? She has your kid?”
“She does.” I choked on my words—on the reality of all I’d missed. “Her name’s Kateryna. Mazzy calls her Katty.”
“Goddammit.” Nate pulled me into a hug, holding me tight, and I let my face fall onto his shoulder, clutching at his shirt.
“What am I gonna do?” I mumbled. “This is so messed up.”
A hand landed on my back, and I knew without looking it was Roman’s. “Ben, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry, man. I didn’t know, but that’s no excuse. I realize that. I want to make it right. Tell me how I can.”
I lifted my head, catching his gaze. “How do you think I could make up for you missing Jonah’s first four years?”
His jaw rippled then he nodded once. “You couldn’t.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Nothing’s going to get those years back.”
Nate, always the big brother, guided me to Roman’s chair. “Now that you’re not going to murder Roman—”
I held up my hand. “I never agreed to that.”
He raised a brow. “Now that you’re not going to murder Romantoday, let’s take a deep breath and talk about this.”
