Page 29 of Unveiled

For a long moment, he just stared at her. There was an explanation for this. There had to be. Fury and anticipation warred within him, the emotions threatening to bubble to the surface. His body flushed hot, then ice cold, rendering him numb. “Whose little girl is that?”

“Mine.” She looked tired, defeated. And scared. There was no mistaking the fear in her eyes.

Deep down, he knew the answer to the question he was about to ask. But he wanted to know—he needed to hear it come from her mouth. “And her father?”

He held his breath, suddenly terrified to hear the answer. He wanted her to say it out loud, yet at the same time he didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility.

She bit her lip and glanced at the ground before meeting his gaze again, moisture clouding her eyes. Her voice was whisper soft. “She’s yours.”

For a moment, everything went completely still around him, and he felt his mind go blank with shock. He misheard her—he had to have. Yet, he’d held the proof that what she said was true. He inhaled deeply and speared Adalyn with a sharp look. “You need to explain what’s going on. Right now.”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip as her face twisted into an expression of remorse. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“You didn’t…” He gave his head a little shake, still trying to digest everything. He had a kid. “Seriously, Adalyn? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She flinched at his words. “I tried!”

“You tried?” His eyes narrowed to cold, angry slits. “Explain to me how you ‘try’ to tell someone they have a kid?”

“Please, I—” She reached one hand toward him, but he evaded her grasp.

“Tell me, Adalyn, because I’d love to know. How could you keep this from me?”

“I don’t know!”

He refused to be moved by the tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t believe this.”

His throat tightened as cold settled in his bones. He fought to keep his voice even as he spoke. “You condemned me years ago, chalked me up as bad husband material. And now you’ve hidden my daughter from me?”

“I didn’t mean⁠—”

“You did, Adalyn. You had every chance to tell me, but you never said a word. How could you?”

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and despite his anger with her, his chest tightened at the sight. “Please, Jaxon, I swear I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t take her away.”

He stared at her, rooted to the floor as her words sank in. “Jesus, Adalyn. Do you really think I’d do something like that? You really think I’m so horrible that I’d take a little girl away from her mother?”

He shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t be here right now. I need to leave. But we are not finished, know that right now. You don’t get to make the decisions anymore.”

He stomped through the salon, and the women scattered as he made his way toward the front door. His entire body felt hot with anger, fit to burst. How could she do this to him? He replayed the moment in his head over and over again, seeing those blonde locks and big gray eyes for the first time. He couldn’t believe he didn’t figure it out sooner.

She was an exact replica of both of them—mostly him—and it was like a spear to the heart. How had he not known he had a little girl? How could Adalyn not tell him? It was the ultimate betrayal, and he was tempted for a moment to turn around and confront her again, but he forced himself to walk out the front door before he did something stupid.

Out on the sidewalk, he seethed. What she’d done was completely unacceptable. She’d had a million opportunities to tell him about the baby, yet she’d been too much of a coward. In that moment, he hated her. He wanted to lash out and hurt her, and he felt the need to physically restrain himself.

Pulling the poker chip from his back pocket, he flipped it through his fingers. Pedestrians veered in a wide arc around him as he glared straight ahead. He probably looked like a crazed person, a scowl on his face as he pushed onward, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

A thousand thoughts bombarded his mind, echoing in his ears and drowning out the sounds around him. He’d missed out on everything. Adalyn’s pregnancy, his daughter’s birth, her first steps… Jesus. He scrubbed a hand over his face. In his fury, he hadn’t even thought to ask the little girl’s name. Guilt prompted him to turn around and go back, but residual anger pushed him to keep walking and blow off some steam.

He drew in a deep breath, forcing his heart rate to calm. Anger warred with confusion, and his fury won out. He’d missed almost an entire year with his daughter, and he wanted to punish Adalyn for keeping her from him. One thing was for certain though. He was never going to miss another day in his baby’s life, whether Adalyn wanted him around or not.

His hands paused in the act of shuffling the chip. The monotonous act wasn’t nearly satisfying enough. Still too pissed to think clearly, he did the only thing he could do at the moment. Spinning on his heel, he headed down the street to where his truck was parked and hopped behind the wheel. He needed to channel some of his negative energy, and he didn’t want to be alone. Steering onto the main road, he headed toward headquarters.

Thirty minutes of navigating through bumper-to-bumper traffic later, he turned into the parking lot behind the large brick building and cut the engine. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back against the seat and remained there for a long moment.

A thousand thoughts flitted through his brain. He traveled back in time to those first few months after they had parted. She’d emailed several times. Why hadn’t she given any indication then? She asked to talk, but nothing more. How could she keep something like that from him? Why hadn’t she said anything?

Rationality slipped away as anger took hold again. His jaw clenched and his eyes popped open as his fingers gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white with tension. He forced them loose and took a deep breath before climbing out of the cab. He jiggled his keys anxiously as he rounded the building and shoved the front door open.