Not his brothers.
Not me.
The world narrows down to just the two of them standing there in the middle of it.
Hadley shifts her weight slightly, then glances back at me for half a second, like she’s checking something, asking permission without words.
I give her the smallest nod I can manage.
That’s all she needs.
She looks back at him, her voice soft but clear when she speaks again.
“Are you my daddy?”
The words land in the middle of everything like they carry their own gravity, heavier than anything I said. Heavier than anything he’s had time to process.
My chest tightens so hard it almost hurts, and for a second I can’t breathe, can’t move, can’t do anything but watch his reaction.
Because this is the moment that matters.
Not what I said.
Not what he thinks.
This.
What he does right now.
Jace goes completely still.
Not frozen, not shut down, just… still, like the world narrowed in the same way it did for me earlier, like everything else just dropped away and left him standing in front of something he didn’t see coming.
His gaze stays locked on her, something raw and unguarded breaking through in a way I didn’t think he was capable of.
And then, before I can step in, before I can soften it or redirect it or protect her from whatever comes next…
Hadley takes one more small step closer.
And wraps her arms around his leg.
“Daddy.”
Chapter three
Something Changes Fast
Jace
The word hits me harder than any bull ever has. Everything in me locks up for a second, not from fear or anger, but from something I don’t have a name for yet. Something that settles deep in my chest and refuses to move, like it belongs there whether I’m ready for it or not.
I look down at her, really look this time. At the way her arms are wrapped around my leg like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Like she didn’t just turn my life upside down with one quiet word. The thought hits fast and hard that she’s been out there forfive years while I didn’t know, didn’t show up, didn’t protect her, didn’t do a damn thing I should have.
That realization lands sharp, but it doesn’t stay long. Something else pushes in right behind it, stronger and louder, something instinctive that doesn’t ask permission before it takes over.
I shift my weight carefully, slow and deliberate, like I’m handling something fragile. Even though she’s the one holding onto me, not the other way around. I lower my voice without thinking. “Hey there,” I say, rougher than I expect, but steady enough that I don’t pull back or step away. “You just gonna claim me like that, huh?”
