Page 7 of Inheriting Miss Fortune

Despite his shock, his voice was warm and solid. It carried the same mesmerizing quality I’d been drawn to that night at Katie’s place.

I swallowed and tried not to lose focus. “To bring you your daughter.”

The sheriff wrapped a supportive arm around Dev’s waist to keep him upright, showing he was closer to Dev than I’d ever been or ever would be. “Dev?” he asked softly. “Do you know this man?”

Dev didn’t answer immediately, but his eyes were wide, and his jaw hung open in—there was no way to put it nicely—horror—and my gut twisted.

I realized with painful clarity I’d come here with a hidden agenda so foolish, so utterly ridiculous, I hadn’t consciously acknowledged it to myself until that moment.

Deep down, I’d been hoping Dev would take one look at me, and his face would light up with recognition and joy. I’d wanted him to push through the crowd toward me and instantly wrap me in an embrace so tight it would erase the two years we’d been apart. I’d wanted him to confess—possibly on his knees—that he’d thought about me every day, been haunted by me every night, and had deeply regretted not exchanging contact information. I’d hoped he’d tell me he’d missed me desperately all along.

I’d wanted him towantme.

And while I was wishing for impossible things, I’d also hoped he’d provide me with an honorable, logical, unassailable reason for agreeing to father Katie’s child that made sense of his decision to stay out of Lellie’s life. I wanted an explanation that would reveal a depth of thought and feeling, and possibly hinted at a profound love for his daughter, even if it meant loving her from a distance. I hoped for words that would bridge the gap between his choice and my understanding and show that he could, in fact, be the sort of loving, responsible father Lellie needed.

But the look of stark terror on his face when confronted with his child was enough to make it all clear.

Not only did Dev not want me, but he also didn’t want his own child.

And I could never forgive him for that.

The worst part was I still had to offer Lellie to him. I still had to tell him that he was, at least for the moment, not onlyher father but her legal guardian and the trustee of an obscene amount of money.

I wanted to scream. I selfishly wanted to yank the stranger’s arm away from Devon and seek a quiet place where we could talk, where I could explain everything as quickly and stoically as possible. Where I could break the devastating news of Katie’s accident to him in peace. And then follow it up with the offer to relieve him of his parental duties.

Instead, Lellie chose that moment to lose her ever-loving mind. “Mamaaaaa! Ma-maaaa!”

The words cut through my chest like dull cleavers, taking chunks out of me with each desperate syllable. Hot tears flooded my eyes, and I suddenly realized I’d reached my own breaking point for the day just as surely as Lellie had.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I have to go.”

And I turned around and hotfooted it back to the rental SUV as fast as I could.

FOUR

DEV

I stared after them in shock for several moments until I realized everyone around me was talking at once. I focused on Silas. He knew me well enough to know how hard the news would hit me.

The only problem was he hadn’t known I was a father.

To be fair, I hadn’t been certain, either… and I hadn’t wanted to be. Only my friend Katie and possibly my assistant, Kenji, who I’d asked to coordinate certain legal aspects of the matter, would have known for sure whether my “contribution” had resulted in a child.

Mychild.

“Dev, take a breath,” Silas said. I could tell by the tone of his voice it wasn’t the first time he’d said it.

“I’m breathing. Jesus,” I said, sucking in a giant gulp of air.

“Who was that man? Do we know him?”

I loved that Silas assumed anyone I knew would be someone he would know also. I shook my head. “He’s from Texas. Friends with Katie.”

The brotherhood knew about Katie. They knew she and I had been close in high school, that she’d helped me find a way to afford Yale, and that I’d stayed with her for a few nights when my parents wouldn’t let me in their house after Matt died.

“That… that little girl looked like you, Dev,” Silas said hesitantly.

“Yeah,” I croaked.

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