Page 78 of My Forbidden Boss

A tremor works through the hand David has on my shoulder. “Max?”

“Max Bourke is my father.”

Chapter 28

David

Max Bourke is my father.

Holy fucking hell.

Of all the things I’d thought Adeline might say, that is not one of them.

“Of course Max Bourke is your father.” Lira perches on the edge of the sofa, as much as her withered legs allow. She pushes to the edge before her legs fail her and slides back into the dip of the cushion. The walking frame close at hand makes sense. “Don’t tell me he’s contacted you after all this time?”

The tone in her voice suggests Bourke is as welcome in their lives as he is in anyone’s.

“Oh sweetheart. What has that rotten swine done to you?” Lira’s gaze is trained on her daughter, confusion mixing with her pity.

She’s also told me that there’s no love lost between her and Max Bourke. No woman calls a man a rotten swine without history. If Max can blackmail his own daughter, I shudder to think what he’s done to Adeline’s mother.

I take in Lira’s wizened legs, her frail frame and tattered baggy clothes and wonder how the hell Bourke can live knowing the mother of his child — and his child — live in these conditions. Anger lights a fire deep in my gut, turning my blood to lava.

Adeline sighs. Her inhale expands her chest and straightens her shoulders. She notches her chin and gives me a flat stare. “It’s all right, Mom. The time for secrets has passed.”

The squalor in the condo doesn’t match this woman. She is fight and flame. Steel and backbone, but when she measures her gaze on me it’s hollowed out like my insides. My stomach seizes, tips, and falls to my feet. A look like that doesn’t belong on a face like hers.

So much pain. So much loss. No hint of surprise.

It hits me. She’s not surprised at what Bourke made her do.

Adeline turns to her mother, jaw clenching. “I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t. He’s already done so much to you.”

“What did Bourke do?” I ask. The need to know what a scumbag like Bourke has done burns acid through my system. I want to know what reason Bourke has for blackmailing his daughter when she lives like this and he drips in luxury. He hasn’t paid a cent in child support. Their living conditions don’t lie.

“It’s all because of the development,” Adeline says, rubbing her forehead.

“How?” Lira asks.

Adeline’s gaze trails over the floor. “I contacted him and asked for help when it was announced.”

“Adeline, I’ve told you over the years not to contact him.” Lira scowls, her lips thinning into a straight line.

“Has Bourke not been in your lives?” I ask.

Lira sighs, shoulders hunching. “It’s not what you may think. Max turned his back on me the moment I told him I was pregnant, and flat out denied Adeline was his daughter, even when the paternity test indicated a ninety-eight percent accuracy. After Adeline was born, I persisted with contact. I might have been a one night stand for him, but I thought a baby, his daughter, would mean something more. I never asked for anything from him. Only that he has a place in his daughter’s life, but he was never interested. To be honest, a man like him doesn’t deserve a daughter like Adeline.”

“I have to agree,” I murmur. I find it hard to reconcile that Adeline is a product of anything Bourke has produced. Adeline is a thousand times the person Bourke is. There’s no comparison between the two.

And I turned her away.

Shock, unyielding and jagged, slams into my gut, steals my breath. I sensed something holding her back and should have known. I pride myself on reading people, and I missed the mark entirely with Adeline.

Never in a million years could I have thought this would be it.

She hid it well.

“I had to do something, Mom. I called Max. Asked him for help.” Adeline shakes her head, draws in a quick breath. “It was simple. I had to do what he wanted and he’d ensure we’d have somewhere to live. I did what I did for us, Mom. There was no choice.”

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