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"What are you talking about?"
He's shaking his head, mouth twisted and ugly. "Us coming here in separate cars and having to sneak around... you constantly going to check your phone. There's someone else, isn't there? Someone else who's Madison's father."
I try to touch his shoulder. "Landon - "
He shrugs me off, stalking off a few paces to stop, back tensed. "None of this adds up. If it was really just that you had a daughter, you would've just told me. There has to be something else - someone else."
I gape at him for a few seconds, shocked, before I realize that I waited too long.
"No, no, there isn't, of course there isn't," I protest, "You're not even listening to me - "
"No, I'm using my fucking brain. Something I haven't been doing lately, apparently."
Landon stops, takes a miserable look at me. "You've been using me, Kyra. Killing us in court. Distracting me. Now you want to throw this daughter bomb to end things? Be my guest."
He starts walking, heading for the parking lot. I hurry after him. "That's not what I've been trying to do - "
"Then what has this been to you?" he says, without so much as a glance back. "Wait, I'll answer for you. Clearly, nothing. Clearly, you never saw this going anywhere."
He keeps on heading for the parking lot. I follow after him without a word.
My head's buzzing with all the different things I could say, should say.
Landon, of course there's no one else, I just - Landon, you have to believe me, I never intended to - Landon, please -
But he won't go, leaving things like this between us. He wouldn't dare.
And screw him for believing that, thinking the worst of me. Doesn't he know me better than that? Does he really think I'm capable of doing something like that?
But we get to his car, and I still haven't said a word.
"Don't worry," he says, opening his car door. "I don't see this going anywhere anymore either."
He won't leave it just like that -
He gets in the car and closes the door.
He's not going to just drive off like this -
He starts up the car.
I know Landon, he wouldn't just leave things like -
He drives away.
How is this happening?
I stand there long enough for it to get weird, if anyone else was around. But it's just me.
Funny. With all the worst-case scenarios I played out in my head, I never thought of this one.
Chapter 15
Landon
Adrenaline is thrumming through my veins. God, a kid. A goddamn kid. Whose?
Is he still in the picture? What else has she been keeping from me?
How can I believe a goddamn word she tells me now?
"Fuck!" I yell, smacking my palm against the steering wheel.
What the fuck? How could I be so fucking stupid? How the fuck could I let this happen?
And the court case...
This was all a sick game to her. I heard it myself that first day: "I hate you." Why would I think that could change so fucking easily?
Back at home, I sit in my living room in the dark, scroll and scroll and scroll through my phone's contact list. Mostly female names disconnected from any face or feeling. Like reading through the phone book - Taryn, Nancy, Jessica, Celine, Natalie.
I put away my phone.
Why even bother?
I don't owe Kyra any fucking thing. I ought to text one of them - text all of them, one of those mass 'hey's' that used to be Nolan's signature.
But I'm not in the fucking mood. Not to stretch my face into a smile, contort my voice into some sort of lie.
Right now, I need to be alone.
**
Next day, I stalk into the office like a tiger for prey.
It's not hard to find. We're out of half a dozen office supplies, haven't had a team meeting in weeks, and there's a bunch of paperwork I let slide.
How could I have let things slide so completely?
It only takes me a couple of manic, rage-fueled hours to get caught up, though.
I schedule a meeting with Dirk, who's grim but won't throw in the towel yet. Which is good, since that's what we're fucking paying him for.
Back at my office, while I'm sorting through mail - 97% of which is complete garbage - Greyson calls me up. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," I say.
"You busy? I can call back."
"Just doing mail. It's not important."
"You're in a productive mood."
"What can I say, I'm a productive guy." I can't resist adding: "You don't have to worry about the Kyra thing anymore either."
"Ah."
"I'm an idiot," I add.
"You been talking to Nolan?"
"No, but he was right."
"Shit. I'm sorry."
"It's OK. Just pissed I let things get this far."
Silence. I can almost hear the gears turning in Greyson's head. "Got plans tonight?"
"No. Why?"
"Come have dinner with Harley and me. We snagged a table at La Caverna."
