Page 14 of Crimson Love

My lips tip up on one side. “You saved my life once. No need to worry about me anymore.”

She smiles. “Dad is waiting on us.”

I lose my smirk. “It’s a family meeting? Chrissie didn’t tell me that.”

“Chrissie has a lot on her plate, and they’re headed back to New York later today. It’s a miracle I got Dad back again so soon. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Sorry,” Blake says. “It’s my fault you’re late. I talked your ear off. I tend to do that.”

I lift my chin to the young kid who looks out of place but not out of his element. “Good to see you. See you around.”

“That you will,” he promises. “I see everyone around.”

I give him a low wave and follow Harlow as she weaves through the restaurant, which is an actual greenhouse. Trees touch the glass ceiling and potted flowers line the garden beds. The grounds of the manor are so perfect they look fake. We finally come to a round table for five tucked away where the windowed walls meet in the corner.

I guess my meeting isn’t a private one with my father. Devon sits next to Patrick, and Harlow takes the seat between Devon and Chrissie, who seems to be the assistant to everyone. That leaves the seat next to my father.

He stands and offers me his hand. “Thank you for coming.”

I shake his hand and lift my chin to greet the others. “I’m not sure I had a choice. Plus, curiosity clawed at me.”

“It’s been two months since the surgery,” Devon says as he motions to a waiter across the room. “That’s something for everyone to celebrate.”

I sit and toss the linen napkin on my lap. Before anyone has the chance to speak, a waiter appears at my side. “What can I get you to drink, sir?”

“Coffee. Thank you.”

He barely has time to walk away before Harlow speaks directly to me. “It doesn’t matter that I get to see you every day, this is a dream come true. And when Dad visits, it’s even better. We’re all here and healthy. You don’t know what it means to me after the last year. It doesn’t matter how we got here. What matters is we’re together.”

Patrick clears his throat before he takes over. “Like Harlow said, everyone is healthy. I came back to Winslet to see you both, but there’s also some important business to attend to.”

A cup of coffee appears in front of me at the same time Chrissie hands me a stack of bound papers almost an inch thick. “This is for you to look at today, but we’ll send an electronic copy for your signature.”

I ignore my coffee, and my gut tightens for reasons that have nothing to do with a kidney transplant. The front page has my name and the date on it, but that’s it. “What’s this? Are you making me sign an NDA?”

Harlow gasps. “Oh my gosh, no.”

Patrick doesn’t gasp. He’s all business. “There’s no need for an NDA. Our public relations department has handled the news that our family has grown by one. There’s nothing to hide. I have two heirs, and the world knows it.”

I toss the mountain of papers onto my menu, pick up my coffee, and ignore the unanswered questions I can’t seem to bury no matter how much I tell myself they don’t matter. And I don’t mince words. “I’m not a Madison, and I’m no heir. I thought by now, I’ve made myself clear. I bent over backwards to contact you because I didn’t want to die. I’m alive because Harlow is more convincing than a trial attorney, so I thought I’d give the wild west a try. I’m at the manor.” I motion around the five-star restaurant. “If I like it, I’ll stay. If not, I’ll take my ragtag pets and head back to Iowa.”

The strays who adopted me as their human can be a pain in the ass, but they’re mine. Panther is an orange tabby, and Smoke is a mutt who barely resembles a golden. They wandered up to my door and never left. It was either feed them or ignore them. I might not be all flowers and unicorns, but I’m no monster. So I let them in, and they took over my house.

Devon found someone in town willing to take them in until I can find a place to live. They also have abandonment issues, so I visit them daily.

This sends Harlow into a panic. “You can’t leave. You promised you’d give it a try in Winslet.”

Devon reaches out and takes Harlow’s hand. “Baby, relax. Give the bloke a break. He doesn’t understand what this is about. In his defense, you Madisons are an overwhelming bunch.”

I tip my head at Devon since he’s the only other person at the table who gets me.

Harlow glares at her father. “Why are you making this so awkward?”

Patrick pulls in a deep, tense breath, but I put a hand up to stop them all. “I have no idea what’s in this encyclopedia you just handed me, but let’s get this out in the open, because the word awkward doesn’t do this situation justice. I have no idea why someone in our past decided to keep us apart, but they did. You say you didn’t know about me —”

“I didn’t,” Patrick interrupts on a bite. “We can get into that in the future but today is not the day. My attorneys have been working on that file sitting in front of you since the day Harlow told me I had a son. She didn’t even have to show me the DNA results. The moment she told me your name, I knew.”