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“I…” whatever he was going to say, he swallowed it, knowing I was right, even though the situations were completely different.
“My mother… was never supposed to get pregnant. And when she did, she was supposed to have an abortion. Hepaidfor an abortion. She used the money to pack up and leave instead.”
Wick pulled his head back. “Wow.Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow. She moved away, had me, raised me by herself. Never contacted him again, never asked for anything. She only finally told me who he was because I threatened to stop speaking to her if she didn’t.”
“Wouldn’t he recognize your last name as the same as hers? See you, and connect those dots? He had to have looked you up when he tried to buy your company.”
I shook my head. “I took my stepfather’s name, when he and my mother got married. And then, I married Kellen, so I was Monica Stuart. And as far as seeing my mother in my face… I’m thirty-six years old, and it’s not like the two of them were in love. She was his mistress, Wick. Probably one of many. So… I doubt he was pining away every night, trying to remember her face. It was more likely that he was trying to forget.”
“Okay. Okay,” he repeated with a heavy sigh, still holding my wrists. “So… your father ownsCanvas.The same company whose account signed all these crooked ass checks. You’re telling me now,why?”
“In case it matters. Even though… I never thought it did. My reasoning was that, he has to still be in the dark about it, because if not… why come after me with this kind of tactic? I’ve never dropped a hint, never said a peep, to anyone. He has no reason to think I’m a threat, no reason for all of this. So I just keep thinking… there’s no way it’s him.”
Wick dropped his head back, looking up at the ceiling for a bit before his gaze came back to me. “I… don’t disagree. It makes no sense for him to come at you like this. The Asher angle is a better fit, but that puzzle is still missing a lot of pieces. I just… I really would’ve liked to know this before now. For the sake of transparency.”
I nodded. “I know. Iknow. I swear, if I’d thought that it mattered…”
“I understand. You’ve really never told anyone else?”
“No,” I said, giving him a wry smile. “The only people who ever knew my mother was pregnant were him and my mother. And… his wife, when I showed up as a teenager, looking for him. She wrote me a check, asked me not to tell anyone, and… asked me to never come back. So I honored that.”
“Wow. That’s…”
“Dysfunctional? Yes. The only reason I’m telling you this, is on the off chance that maybe heisinvolved, now that somebody tried to harm Kayla. I… I couldn’t live with myself knowing I was holding on to that secret, if something happened to her.”
Wick nodded, and then released his hold on my wrists to slip his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. “Well… the fact that Kay factors highly enough to you for you to tell me this means a lot me. It’s appreciated. Greatly. Along with the fact that you’re trusting me with something you haven’t told anyone else… I’ll do my very best to preserve your secret.”
I relaxed into his arms, glad for the opportunity, but still… “Why do I feel like there’s a “but” coming?”
“Because there is,” he said, looking down to meet my gaze. “The attempt on Kay… it wasn’t related to this madness that’s going on with you. One of the other dancers, Anais. She has a fucked-up ex. Ol’ boy sent people for her, and when Kay stepped out of the building – similar body type, skin tone, wearing a hoodie, hair in her face… they thought she was Ana. Khalil caught one of the guys, kept him hemmed up until the police got there, while the others ran.”
My mouth dropped open. “So… you were never mad at me? Never thought my mess had anything to do with it?”
“Never,” he said, leaning to kiss my forehead. “You’re the one who started acting guilty. I just let you say what was on your mind.”
I put my hands on his chest, giving him a playful shove. “That wasnotvery nice. At all. I was thinking you almost let me end up with hypothermia because you were pissed at me!”
“Even if I was pissed, I wouldn’t do any shit like that. The bathtub thing… was an honest mistake. I was with Kay, and then I came in here to try to look this guy up, and the time just got away from me. I’m sorry.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I tried to feign annoyance, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As much as he’d done, as much work as he’d put in for me, certainly I could give him a pass.
“Apology accepted,” I told him, then let out a long sigh as I sank back into his arms. “It’s been a rough day.”
His hands came to my back, starting a gentle circular stroke that if I were a cat, would’ve had me purring. “I’m starting to notice a trend, of you forgiving me because you’re just too tired to be mad.”
I laughed. “Lucky you. Iamtoo tired to be mad.”
“Come on then. Let’s go lay down.”
I nodded. “Yes. Let’s.”
He grabbed me by the hand, leading me toward his room. “Probably a good idea to get some rest.”
Inside his room, he closed the door behind us. As soon as I heard the click in the doorframe, I turned around, unbolting and dropping my robe.
“You’re right. And I know theperfectmedicine to put us to sleep.”
