Page 102 of Knot My Only Fan

“Bardot,” I whisper.

“Coffee?” Mom asks. “It looks like my girls have forgotten their manners.”

“Please.” He smiles as he looks at Bardot and Harlow with watery eyes. “I love they stick up for each other. You obviously brought them up well.”

Mom’s eyes close as her hand reaches behind her neck and she rubs over the claiming mark my father gave her. The one that aches every now and again.

“You okay?” he asks.

She nods. “Your son is probably hurting because Grace claimed him during her heat.”

“Mom!”

“He needs to know, Grace. If you can’t give the father of your child another chance, Senator Hilton needs to know that his son is going to hurt for the rest of his life.”

“Because you are?” I ask her.

“This isn’t about me.”

“You were claimed?” Senator asks Mom. “What did you say your name was?”

“Doctor Marilyn Foster.” She nods. “Luckily, not by my scent match, but the pain of being rejected after being claimed is still very real.” She turns back to me. “I don’t know what you were thinking.”

Tears lace my eyes as I shake my head. “I was in my heat. I barely remember it. But I obviously thought he was my alpha.”

“Oh, Grace.” Her voice is low and disappointed.

“Doctor? Have you ever worked in New York?” Senator Hilton asks Mom and I’m glad the attention is taken from me.

She shakes her head, and he sighs.

“I did my training there, though. At the Omega Memorial Hospital on Ninth Avenue.”

“That’s where we were born,” Harlow says.

Mom nods and smiles. “I went into labor while training there.”

He sucks back a breath and nods lightly, like he’s lost in time. Then shakes that thought away and turns back to me.

“If the baby is my grandchild, and you won’t give Lucas a chance to be a father, I’ll set up a trust fund to make sure you and the baby want for nothing.”

“What do you mean… if the baby is your grandchild? I was with your son during my heat.”

“And Stanton. It could be his?”

“I’ve only just started seeing Stanton,” I reply.

“But Lucas told me he asked him to help you through your heat.”

Icy fingers walk down my spine. I curl my fingers into my palms, digging my nails into my palms as I stare at him. “Sorry. Are you saying Stanton was there, too?”

He swallows, a ripple runs down his throat. “I thought you knew?”

I raise my eyebrows. I’m annoyed, but a bigger part of me is trying to hide that I’m on the verge of breaking down.

“Oh, fuck!” Shaking his head, he scrubs his face with his hand. “You really didn’t know?”

I shake my head as tears sting my eyes. “Lucas and Stanton were both Henry?” I murmur. “They were both pretending to be the same person?”

---