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There were more cases of the flu that kept me so busy I didn’t even notice when Honovi arrived. Goldie pulled me aside to let me know she’d let him back to my office, so when I got a break between patients, I joined him there.
“Hey, West,” he said in his gentle timbre. “I need to talk to you about something pretty important. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Only a few. Things are crazy today. What can I do for you?”
“It’s about Pippa.” He seemed to speak with hesitation despite the fact we’d been friends for years. “Her birth certificate arrived this morning, and I… I didn’t realize you were listed as her father.”
Suddenly I got that warm tingly rush that usually hits before fainting, but I stayed steady and just blinked at him instead.
Hon cleared his throat. “Yeah, so anyway. Needless to say, this changes things. Legally, Pippa is yours, not Nico’s. So, ah… depending on what your intentions are, the adoption process would need to shift to—”
As he spoke, I must have tuned him out. All I could think about was Adriana listing me as the baby’s father. Why hadn’t she told me? She’d done it months before her death. Why? Not only did I wonder why she hadn’t told me, but I also wondered why she’d done it in the first place. If it was for easy custody transfer in case of emergency, why list Nico as Pippa’s guardian in her will?
Suddenly I realized what this meant. Nico was going to hate me. He was going to lose his ever-loving shit. “Hon, have you told Nico yet?”
Hon’s eyes widened as he looked up from the stack of paperwork in his lap. “Well, yes. When I couldn’t get in touch with you first thing, I went over to the house—”
“Shit. Shit, shit. I gotta go,” I blurted. “I’m sorry. Can I call you later?”
Before he had a chance to respond, I rushed out the office door to the reception counter out front. Our receptionist was in the process of handing out a sticker to the little girl I’d just given vaccines to.
“Morgan, I have to go out for about an hour. Goldie can cover me until I get back. Tell her to call me only if it’s critical, okay?”
She nodded in surprise, and I sent up a prayer of thanks that Goldie was a certified nurse practitioner who could handle most things without me when needed.
I bolted out the door and drove as quickly to Adriana’s as I could. When I pulled down the driveway, I noticed an unfamiliar rental car parked next to Nico’s, and movement by the front door drew my attention.
There stood Nico, completely engulfed in another man’s embrace. He was crying into the man’s shoulder, and the stranger’s hands were rubbing Nico’s back and hair in an effort to comfort him. I could tell by the body language between the two of them, it was a touch born of years of familiarity.
My entire body seemed to fold in on itself. My heart jammed into my throat, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. Who the hell had his hands all over Nico? Who the fuck was comforting Nico?
I wanted to rage—to scream and yell and claim Nico like some kind of caveman. But of course, it wasn’t my place. Nico wasn’t mine, and he wasn’t staying. I had no claim on him, and after the news about the birth certificate, I’d be lucky if he even spoke to me again.
After stepping out of the car, I closed it with a loud enough noise to get their attention. They jumped apart, and Nico turned puffy red eyes on me. My heart lurched at the sight of him—the sadness, disappointment, and anger were palpable.
Before I could even step toward the house, he was racing out to the driveway, screaming at me to leave. The stranger on the porch stood frozen in shock, as if he’d never seen the fiery Troll doll between us.
“You’re Pippa’s father?” he screamed. I heard a faint gasp from behind me and saw our local mail deliverer, Mrs. Parnell, at the top of the driveway, leaning out of her vehicle to put mail in Nico’s box. I opened my mouth to contradict his words, but she zoomed off before I could get the words out.
I turned to Nico, feeling my anger surface. Now the whole town was going to think Pippa was mine.
“Nico,” I said, but he cut me off.
“Leave, you jackass!” he snarled. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming a million miles away. You’re a liar. And a coward. Probably a seducer and a… a…”
I held out my arms in the global gesture of Stop, please and began walking toward him. “Wait, Nico. Let me explain.”
He reached me with pummeling fists and flying tears of rage. “I don’t need your fucking lies. I’m not going to believe a word you say anyway. No wonder you didn’t tell me who the father was. No wonder you were so attached to her.” Nico sucked in a breath on a sob, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight enough that he would stop hitting me.
