Page 12 of Always Right

He reached down, his hand caressing their little hands. The thumping in my chest was loud, heavy. But his rage was louder.

Derek finally turned to face me, green eyes set ablaze.

“Can you please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Chapter 5

Hannah

Anger coursed through my veins, its fire igniting me, pushing me to the edge as Derek stood next to my daughters. His green eyes shone with disbelief...pain. So much fucking pain. I felt it too, but kept it hidden.

It was better that way. Always is.

Evie opened her mouth to say something, the poor thing terrified I wouldn’t be able to handle the situation, but I waved her off, silently asking her to leave. Nathan placed a hand on her back, whispering something in her ear before they both walked away.

“I have two daughters.” I kept my words nonchalant, though inside I could feel the wind knocked out of my chest as Derek scoffed, shaking his head.

He knows.

I could see it--the calling he had to them, the way his eyes filled with both love and guilt at the sight of them. It was there, palpable, sucking the air out of the room. His grip around the edge of the playpen turned his knuckles white, but he didn’t move. Didn’t budge.

“You have two daughters? Like you made them on your own. Right...why don’t you tell me the truth? Hm? Like I asked you to do so yesterday? Remember? That’s the one fucking question I asked you, Hannah. The one truth I asked from you.”

I let out a laugh. “Like you’ve earned that right...” Derek visibly flinched at my words, but I was too far gone to give a damn. I was done caring, done with protecting everyone else’s feelings, because who would protect mine? “You have absolutely no right to make demands, to ask for an explanation. Why should you? You don’t even know if they are yours.”

Oh, I saw it then.

The pain.

The hate.

Sadistic, maybe, but a small part of me felt relief. A twisted, sick part of me, hoped he would feel the same hurt he caused me.

“Don’t you dare pull that bullshit with me,” he said, his words laced with venom.

I didn’t back down. No way I could.

My mom taught me better than that.

“It’s true. For all you know I went and fucked around with Blake since you think we were working together to take all your goddamn money anyways. Maybe I did.”

His jaw ticked, his hands fisted to his sides, but he held on.

How thin was the thread that held him together?

How much weight could it handle?

“You should have told me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You wouldn’t have believed me even if I put the test in your face. I did tell you, remember? I told you and you treated me like shit. You made it very clear what you thought of me.” I approached him, shoving my finger in his chest, taking the knife and twisting. “You made this choice, not me. And now, you expect me to open the door to my life—a life you forced me to start without you. You expect me to slam the brakes so you can join in, to allow you into the life of my children like it’s your right. They are not yours. They never will be.”

The thread snapped.

Derek took a step forward, taking my arm in his hand, pulling me toward him. I couldn’t help the stunned gasp that left my lips as he held me against him. The fury in his grip sent a cold chill down my spine because this was the Derek that held me captive. This was the Derek that didn’t let go.

“Don’t. Don’t pretend like you can erase what happened between us. Don’t minimize it. I know I fucked a lot of things up and said things that hurt you, but I didn’t know they existed. I didn’t know they were real. If I had known, I wouldn’t have walked away. You know that damn well.”

I couldn’t take the intensity in his gaze.

---