Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“You need to leave,” I said instead of asking her anything more.
Right now, she was the last person I wanted near me.
She didn’t say anything as she turned to go. No attempt at explaining. No apologies. She just left silently as I stared out the window, thinking back to every conversation I’d had with her since I’d walked into that office.
If she had been the woman I thought she was, she’d have told me about Cam. She’d have found a way to reach me. She wouldn’t have kept that from me. Kiro had several kids, and all his baby mamas had been able to reach him. To let him know his kid existed. Brielle had done nothing.
Nothing.
thirty-three
brielle
Standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom, I stared at my reflection. My eyes were swollen and puffy from crying myself to sleep last night. I reached up to brush my wet hair. I’d hoped a shower would make me look less of a mess. When Cam returned home, I couldn’t look like this. He would get worried. He’d ask questions. He was going to ask questions anyway when we went up to Dean’s penthouse for a paternity test.
I gripped the brush to my chest, and my eyes welled up with tears again at the thought that Cam could turn away from me too. He wanted a father. I knew that. How would he react when he found out the guy he worshipped was his father and I had kept that from him for nine years? Would he hate me too?
A tear rolled down my face, and I wiped it away. I had to get control of myself. Cam needed me to be strong and levelheaded. I had to protect him. It was my job, although right now, I felt like a complete failure at it.
Dean couldn’t even look at me after I told him. When he got the results back and saw that Cam was his son, then what? He would get him every other weekend, and we would be awkward around each other, barely speaking.
I didn’t want that, but then I hadn’t wanted to fall in love with the father of my child either. As crazy as it sounded, I had known better. I had fought against it. Then, he’d made me love him anyway.
This wasn’t about me anymore. It was about Cam. It was about Dean. I was just the woman that linked them.
I washed my face with a cloth and swore I was done crying. I then dried my hair, brushed my teeth, got myself dressed, and went to the kitchen to find tea bags for my eyes. I needed something to help them look better, and I was running out of time.
By the time Cam walked in the door, I’d used some makeup to cover things up a bit. Cam, however, paused and studied me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked me.
I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing. Tell me about your trip.” I hoped his excitement over the trip would be enough to distract him.
He frowned a moment, trying to decide if I was telling the truth, then began talking about all they had done. I listened—or tried to listen—as I worried over what was about to happen next. When Cam was done talking, I pulled him to me and hugged him tightly.
“I love you,” I said fiercely.
“Uh, yeah, I love you too,” he replied, sounding confused but returning the hug.
“Everything I have ever done since the day you were born is because I love you. I made mistakes because I was young, but I have always loved you completely, and I will always love you. No matter what life throws our way, I’m here.”
He pulled back and looked up at me. “Mom, you’re not sick, are you?” he asked with fear in his eyes.
“No, I’m not sick.”
“You swear?” he said.
I nodded.
He relaxed then. “Okay, so it’s just you doing weird mom stuff. I can deal with that.”
I smiled at his comment, but inside, I wanted to cry.
“We need to go up to Dean’s penthouse,” I began.
He beamed at the mention of Dean’s name. “Okay!”
I wanted to grab his arm and explain first, but how would I do that? Should I without Dean?
He headed for the door before I could stop him, and I had no choice but to follow.
“What are our plans?” he asked as the elevator doors closed behind us.
We had no plans. Maybe one day soon, he and Dean would have plans, but there wasn’t going to be a we any longer.
“I’m not sure,” was all I could say.
I wished we had talked about this yesterday. Dean hadn’t said how he wanted to proceed with Cam. I wanted to sit him down and come clean with him too, tell him everything, but I wasn’t sure if that would be good for him. What if Dean decided that he didn’t want to be a part of Cam’s life? I couldn’t allow him to be rejected by his own father.