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“We have to talk,"I tell Luke when we get home, but he ignores me. The boys jog upstairs, probably sick of being with us, although I remind Chase, I need to look at his bruise. I’ll probably check in on Mikey too, to make sure he isn’t banged up somewhere we can’t see. But for now, I need to talk to Luke.
I know he hears my request, but he doesn’t respond.
“Luke,” I say again to his back. “We need to talk.”
Luke heads up too as though I didn't say a word.
Anger immediately bubbles through me.Why is he treating me like this, as if this whole fiasco is my fault?
The indignation rides me and I take a few seconds to calm down, before following him, throwing open the door of his study. I know we can't avoid the conversation anymore and I refuse to have more secrets between us. It all has to come out today, including everything about Chase.
I'm sick of holding it in.
"We need to talk."
“So talk.” He leans back in his seat and shoots me a look that would disintegrate steel. Under different circumstances, I would find his appearance a tad sexy. But right now, I’m too pissed to care.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
Instead, I take a deep breath. “We didn’t finish our talk yesterday. There’s more I have to tell you about Billy…and Chase.”
He stiffens and his eyes are flat as I continue.
“Billy isn’t…”The words choke on their way out of my throat. “He isn't-"
“He’s not Chase’s real father,” he says.
I raise my eyes toward him, shocked. There’s no surprise in his tone, only disappointment.
"I'm Chase's dad," he says much to my horror. "Aren't I?"
And then a single horrific thought hits me.Has he known all along? Was he just stringing me along in some sick bid for revenge? Or was he playing me?
Was I wrong about him, again?
"How..how long have you known?
"I just figured it out today, when Chase raised his shirt. I had the same birthmark under my arm. It faded with time.” He crosses his hands over his chest, and suddenly his earlier reaction makes sense, the anger seething out of him. He knew when he saw Chase's birthmark.
“Oh,” I say lamely. I don’t know what else to say next. He's furious and even an apology won't do much for him right now.
Still, I feel the need to say it. "I'm sorry. You probably won’t believe that I didn’t set out to deceive you."
"You're right." He smiles with no humor. "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say."
The deeper meaning strikes in my chest and I nod, accepting it.
"I’m sorry," I say and my voice sounds so weak and lifeless. Pathetic, like all my excuses. "I’m sorry about hiding it from you. But let me explain the whole story-"
"I don’t fucking care about the whole story." He doesn’t yell but his tone cuts through the atmosphere anyway. “You knew. This whole time you knew Chase was my son and you kept it from me."
"Yes but-"
"I don’t give a fuck about anything else." He leans forward. "But if you think I’m going to let you keep my son from me for much longer then you’re going to have another thing coming."
"I wouldn’t dream of that." My voice shakes, but I clutch my hands together to keep from crying. This is exactly my worst nightmare. Tears stuck in my throat. I expected this to happen but that doesn’t make it any less painful. Maybe because somewhere along the line, I started to believe that everything would be ok. That I would get to explain and maybe just maybe, he would understand why I did what I did.
