Page 61 of Prodigal

Ennis’s jaw worked, expression darkening. Gideon just watched him, daring him to say something else. He might havesaved the fucker, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t end him just as swiftly.

“We need to talk,” Ennis told André finally.

“So talk.”

Ennis flicked a glance in Gideon’s direction. “Not withThe Winterspresent.” He spat out Gideon’s name as if it was foul tasting.

“Gideon stays. I don’t know who you think you are, demanding things from me, but you got me fucked up if you think that’s how this is gonna go.” Anger made André’s words shake and Gideon stroked his thumb over his knuckles, over and over.

“André, please. I’m your father.”

André released a bitter chuckle. “The fuck you are.”

This man had the balls—thefucking gall—to call himself a father? André’s father? André balled his fist, willing the swell of anger in his chest to go away. He’d been in the best mood until Samir told them Ennis wanted to see André.

For what?

What did he want to share that his actions over the years hadn’t already said?

He was no fucking father. And the fact that he thought he could dictate what André did with his life? He was delusional.

He clung to Gideon’s hand, greedily taking the support he offered silently.

André didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to be staring down at Ennis, who gazed up at him with hope in his eyes as if he thought he could sway André with his words. André wasn’t hismother. Ennis was a bullshitter, point blank, and André saw him for who he was.

“What do you want?” he asked the man responsible for impregnating his mother. “You’re interrupting my night.”

Ennis’s jaw tightened. You could tell he wasn’t used to being spoken to, or handled, that way. André's sperm donor was a multibillionaire. He was the man in charge. The man who looked down on people, who had no time for anyone, especially his secret son. Obviously, he’d expected André to rush into his arms and thank him for what the fuck he’d done over the years, no matter how measly it was.

Shit wasn’t happening.

“I wanted to know if you were safe.”

“I am.”

Ennis cast a dirty look in Gideon’s direction. “No one would tell me anything or give me any updates on you.”

“Why would they?” André frowned. “I don’t know you. They don’t know you.” Gideon hadn’t shared that Ennis had been demanding updates, but André appreciated his man for not capitulating, for protecting him. That was all Gideon had ever done, wasn’t it? Protect him. Even now, as he stood strong and silent next to André, he protected him.

“What do you expect to happen here?” André asked Ennis, an eyebrow raised. “Do you think you and I will ever have a relationship? Because I can tell you flat out, that ain’t happening. You didn’t want me in your life then and I don’t want you in mine now.”

“I was protecting you!” Ennis roared. “I had to protect you.” Veins bulged in his neck, his face darkening in his frustration. He was still hooked up to an I.V. drip, and it jerked when he lurched upright. “Your mother and I agreed.”

“And what about your daughter, Sienna?” André asked softly, ignoring all that hurt and physical pain shining in Ennis’s eyes.“Didn’t she also need protection? You did it, didn’t you? Kept her close to you, showed her off to the world, claimed her as yours. You lived under the same roof as her, so she got all of you.” He couldn’t hide the hurt, the bitterness, the pain in his voice. Gideon leaned into him, thumb stroking André’s knuckles. “She got you. Your name, your love, your attention. Somehow, you managed to protect her just fine despite such close proximity. She was special to you. And me? I was just a product of an affair you had, a nasty reminder.”

“No.” Ennis shook his head. “I loved your mother. She was—” He choked. “I loved her.”

André chuckled despite the pain in his chest. “And somehow, she lived and died without you being there, at her side. Fuck you, Ennis. I mean seriously,fuck you.” He turned away, ready to put some major distance between himself and that man and his attempts to rewrite history.

“Iwasthere.” Ennis’s words were a weakened shout. “I was at the hospital when she got sick.”

André froze. “What?” He faced Ennis. “What?”

“I was there.” Reaching for the glass of water at his bedside, Ennis gulped it down, then put back the empty glass, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “She called me, told me she was scared. And I dropped everything, without hesitation.” His voice trembled. His hands, too, when he brought them together, clasping them above his heart. “I was there, holding her hand when she got the diagnosis. And I held her when she wept because she was scared to leave you and your sister.”

André gaped at him. What the fuck?

“I wanted to be with her, but she denied me. She protected me.” He thumped his chest. “She didn’t want to be an issue for me, but I didn’t care.” A tear crept down his face then. “I didn’t give a damn, but she did. She pushed me away like she did overthe years whenever I wanted to give it all up and come home to her. To you.”

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