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“Oh, so I’m Brianna, now?”
His face reddens as his jaw turns to steel.
Good, I think, feeling a moment of triumph, knowing that I got under his skin. Even if it was only for a second.
“You were almost killed,” he barks. Unfolding his long arms, they fall to his sides. As if trying to hit his point home, he smacks the top of his desk with his palm. “You almost died because of me. Do you get that?”
“I was there, so yeah, I’m pretty sure it was crystal fucking clear.”
“This isn’t the time to be a smart-ass.”
“Well, hallelujah, you do have the capability of getting something right,” I retort.
“If you aren’t going to eat, then take your ass upstairs and get some rest, but first, hand over that phone.” His arm rises, palm held out, waiting for me.
I stand there dumbfounded, not believing the words that fell out of his mouth just now. I almost want to laugh, because now he’s spit out the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard.
“I’m waiting.”
“And you’ll be waiting until the end of time.” I’m not going to hand over my phone like I’m some teenager getting grounded by her daddy.
“You need to take a step back from all this shit, Bri.” His hands go to his hips. “You might be alive, thank God, but our baby isn’t. It was murdered just like you were supposed to be.”
I have to lock my jaw in order to hold myself upright. I’m not ready for this conversation. Not today. Probably not tomorrow either, but that doesn’t stop him from continuing.
“And my—”
His voice cuts off abruptly with Drago taking a breath while shaking his head. My head leans to the side, stretching the muscle in my neck as my eyes squint at him. Was he about to say,my son? Was he about to acknowledge Gabe as his?
“That boy was stolen, kidnapped right under my nose. If you had—”
“If I’d what?” I demand, realizing exactly what he’s thinking. I’ve thought it too in the last three days. It’s a thought that will not go away no matter how hard I try to pretend it isn’t so.
It was my fault.
“If you would have told me about him, I would have known to protect him. I wouldn’t have let him get taken by a goddamn drug lord.”
My stomach plummets to the floor and something deeper sinks into my chest. It hurts. I knew he blamed me. I’ve seen it mocking me, silently yelling at me through his eyes for days.
“You don’t think I have regrets.” I throw my hands up. “I had a job to do. I couldn’t tell you no matter how much I wanted to. I would have lost my job if I’d broken protocol.”
It ate at me to keep the truth from him. And now that my job is hanging in the balance, maybe he’s right. Maybe if I’d revealed the truth about Gabriel then maybe he wouldn’t have been at my place, and maybe he wouldn’t have been taken to be used as a pawn in Diaz’s plan.
“Fuck protocol. It’s a job, Bri. It doesn’t come before us. Before what you think is the truth,” he yells.
“What does that mean? What Ithink is the truth? I’m not following here.”
“You’ve thought from the beginning that boy was mine.”
“He is your son,” I retort, cutting anything else he was going to say off.
“No, you think he is. There is a difference, and if you’d—”
“What the fuck!” I yell. “Don’t be a dick right now. He’s. Your. Son.”
“Enough of this shit already. He’s not. Whatever, whoever made you believe he was, is playing you for a fool. Can’t you see that?”
“No.” My eyes widen as my head shakes from side to side. “If there is one thing I do know for sure, it’s that Gabriel is your flesh and blood. It’s your DNA he shares with that cunt bitch of a mother of his.”
