Page 110 of Blade

Blade’s eyes widened as fear crossed over his features.

“Shit,” he murmured, closing his eyes.

“Yea, shit. So keep your damn mouth shut until I get back, Blade.”

King walked out the door and I glared across the table at the man sitting across from me. The man that hurt my daughter. I just didn’t know how yet. When I found out how, he’d better fucking run.

The silence in the room was deafening as we sat and waited for King to return. He wasn’t gone long. I assumed she was across the street at her house. When he returned, he wasn’t alone. Rachel, Cash’s old lady, walked in first, cautiously looking at Blade, then me.

Then my daughter walked in just before King.

I stared at her. I couldn’t help myself. She looked so much like my mother. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before.

She was beautiful.

She walked over hesitantly and sat between Rachel and Blade. He held out his hand to her and it surprised me when she placed her hand in his. Her knuckles turned white with the force of her grasp.

“It’s ok, baby, I’ve got you now,” he whispered to her.

Asshole.

Rachel looked up, breaking the silence.

“King what’s going on?”

“I don’t even know how to start,” King said.

“I’ll start.”

I waited until my daughter looked in my direction.

“Let me start by apologizing for my actions at your grandmother’s graveside. I met Willow right after moving here, and I had nothing but respect for her. Seeing your mother was a tremendous shock. And learning she was your mother, well, let’s just say I lost my mind.”

“How do you know my mother?” she asked quietly, never taking her eyes from mine.

“I met your mother twenty-six years ago when she was attending U of A at Little Rock. She was nineteen, and I was twenty-three. I was a beat cop, barely out of the academy. She’d been out with her friends and was being harassed by some dumb college kid. I stepped in to rescue her. We started talking and before either of us realized what had happened, we were spending every spare minute we had together.”

Running my hand through my hair, I stalled, searching for the right words.

“I want you to know I loved your mother. I thought we were on the same page. Building something that would stand the test of time. Little did I know, she was in a completely different book.”

I stood up again, not able to stay still any longer.

“About three months in, she told me she was pregnant.”

Beck gasped, holding her hand over her mouth. Blade pulled her chair over, wrapping his arm around her.

I let him have that. She needed someone right now and I couldn’t be it for her. I needed to get through this.

“I want you to know, Rebecca. I never questioned if you were mine. From the first moment I knew of your existence, I wanted you,” I told her, hoping she could hear the sincerity of my words.

“When I asked your mother to marry me, she laughed. Told me I was just a cop, and she had bigger expectations for her life. She told me that also did not include a baby.”

Seeing the tears spill from my daughter’s eyes broke my heart into pieces.

“I begged her. Pleaded with her not to do it. It meant nothing to her. A few days later, she called and told me she’d had an abortion and that she was leaving school.” I stood there, my heart pounding. “I grieved you, Beck. For years, I dreamed about the baby I would never meet. Never knowing if I would have had a son or a daughter.”

I walked around the table, turning her chair and crouched down in front of her.

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