Page 155 of A Major Puck Up

Millie clasps her hands over the blanket pulled up to her chest. “Did I total it? Oh shit. I’m sorry, Gav.”

I push past the doctor and take her hand again. “I couldn’t care less about the car. I just need you and Vivi.”

Millie blinks, and her bottom lip quivers. “What about her mother?”

I can’t help the scowl. “What about her?”

“Beckett said?—”

My gaze swings to my brother. “Beckett said what?” My voice is deadly.

Millie squeezes my hand, drawing my attention back to her. “He said he found her mother.”

My stomach lurches, and I claw at my chest, though it doesn’t ease the piercing pain. I turn to Beckett, my gaze lethal. “You did what?”

My brother sighs, his shoulders sagging. “I didn’t want to do this here. Maybe we should let the doctor finish her exam.”

“I need to know,” Millie rasps, her eyes welling as she sets them on Beckett. “I know I’m not who you would want in Vivi’s life, but I love her. If her mother is going to have a relationship with her, then I need to know that she loves her too.”

Jaw clenched so hard my teeth ache, I hover over Millie so I’m all she can see. “You are her mother. No one else.” Angry, I straighten and turn, but I don’t let her go. “Beckett, you had no fucking right.”

“If you’d give me a second to explain?—”

“I don’t care what you have to say.” Chest heaving, I fight the urge to stalk across the room and knock him the fuck out. “Get out. I’m done.”

“She’s not your daughter either.” Beckett’s words are a physical blow that almost takes me down.

“The fuck she’s not.”

My brother must have a death wish, because he steps closer, but he holds up his hands, placating. “She’s Sebastian’s. He’s the coach the woman left the note for. She assumed he still lived there.”

I shake my head as the room closes in on me. This can’t be happening. Not like this. Not now. Vivi needs me. And I need her.

Fuck, I figured she was Seb’s, but that scum doesn’t deserve her. I can’t lose her. She’s my daughter. My baby. And I’m the only father she knows.

“You said it yourself,” Beckett says, his voice eerily calm. “You had no memory of sleeping with anyone after meeting Millie. You’ve been infatuated with her since the first night. You gave up the drunken hookups. The playboy ways. It didn’t make sense. We were together constantly that entire year after Ford’s wedding.”

Ford lets out a heavy sigh.

Beckett winces. “I’m sorry. But it’s true. He was in love with Millie. From the beginning, this didn’t feel right. So I did some digging.”

“You had no right,” I grit out, hands trembling and knees threatening to give out. “You think I didn’t know we don’t share DNA? You think I can’t do simple math? Of course I fucking knew.” I suck in one breath, then another. “But Vivi,” I say, slamming my fist against my chest, “is mine.” I pound on my chest again for emphasis. “My daughter.” Then I look toward the woman I love with all my heart, hoping like hell she’ll forgive me for hiding this from her. “And Millie is going to be my wife.”

Across from me, Ford’s mouth pops open, but I ignore him. I cup Millie’s tearstained cheeks. “I know this isn’t ideal, and I know it’s not what you signed up for, Peaches.” With my thumbs, I wipe the tears as they fall down her face. “And, fuck, this is not how I planned to ask, but you and Vivi, you both stole my heart. I know it hurt to think I’d had a child with someone else. I’m sorry I let you believe that.” I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her knuckles. “I’ve known since day one that another man fathered her, but that’s just science. What’s real—what’s true—is this. Us. You, me, and Vivi were always meant to be a family,” I choke out. “Please be my wife and help me fight to keep our daughter.”

FIFTY-SEVEN

MILLIE

My head throbs as I process all the information being thrown at me.

Gavin isn’t Vivi’s father.

He never slept with anyone else.

His words jumble and blur together, mixing with my warring emotions and the tears welling in my eyes.

Gavin’s frantic, his face etched in fear, his eyes swimming with pain and remorse, silently pleading for forgiveness. “Millie, please,” he begs.

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