Page 5 of Shadowing You

Ethan pretended not to hear the doubt in his reply. “What’s the second theory?”

“Someone powerful wanted her to cease to exist.”

That wasn’t a better option. Ethan half wished Mei Lin had just run away. But he’d heard fear in her voice. Where had she been? Why would anyone target her?

So many questions. Zero answers.

He checked the text thread he’d glanced at every few minutes since her call. After wiring the money the day before, he’d bought her a ticket on the high-speed rail. He’d messaged the ticket info and wire transfer number.

A few hours later, she’d replied with a thumbs-up.

He’d never been so happy to see that little graphic in his life. He’d texted back.

I’ll meet you in Hong Kong.

She didn’t reply. Still hadn’t.

Maybe her phone was dead. Or maybe she wanted to conserve the battery.

“I’m coming with you,” Gavin said. “I have contacts on the ground. I know how to move.”

“No.”

“Don’t be stubborn. I can be more useful there than⁠—”

“No.” Ethan shifted to face him. “I appreciate the offer, I do.” But he needed to focus on Mei Lin, not on his awkward relationship with the man who’d fathered him. “If I need help, I’ll contact you.”

“You’re as stubborn as your mother.”

“Thank you.”

Gavin failed to hide a small smile. “Fine. You’ll let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.” He sipped the coffee, scanning the growing crowd. “How’s the family? Everyone…okay?”

They both knew what he meant. It’d been a couple months since Gavin’s daughters had interrupted Ethan and Gavin’s lunch in Virginia. Delaney had been curious—a little suspicious—when she’d caught them sitting together, her father and a local doctor who should have had nothing more in common with the ex-CIA agent than a prevalent last name.

It was the youngest, Kenzie, who’d figured it out. He could still hear her voice.

“Alyssa, Brooklynn, Cici, Delaney…Ethan.”

To his credit, Gavin had apparently confessed to his wife because when she’d arrived, she hadn’t been shocked. In fact, she’d given Gavin the go-ahead to confess.

Maybe Gavin had wanted to tell his daughters the truth, or maybe he just hadn’t been able to come up with a suitable lie quickly enough.

“I’d like you to meet Dr. Ethan Wright…my son.”

Ethan could still hear the cadence of his father’s words, still see the shock and horror on his half sisters’ faces.

“They’re dealing with it.” Gavin kept his face carefully blank. “Some better than others.”

Ethan wanted to ask more questions. He wanted to know how Delaney, the only one he’d known before that terrible day, was handling the revelation. She and Noah had married—that much he knew. He hoped finding out her father had an illegitimate son hadn’t put too much of a pall on the festivities.

He didn’t ask. Delaney wasn’t his business. None of his sisters were, even if he had spent years thinking about them, fantasizing that he could be part of their family.

He was done with that.

He had his own family to find.