Page 122 of Just Like That

I grinned. “That’s solid advice. I’ll think about it.”

I fluffed his dark hair. “Ready to go?”

Teddy stopped. “Where’s Dad?”

A lump expanded in my throat. “Oh, uh ... JP had to head into the office early. I’m sure we’ll see him later.”

His face twisted at the odd use of JP’s name but, thankfully, he let it go. As we walked to the bus stop, I let Teddy carry the conversation. By the time he waved at me from his seat and the bus turned a corner and disappeared, I was emotionally wrung out.

I started to send a quick message to JP, letting him know that Teddy was off to school, like I’d always done.

After last night, I was sure he needed, as badly as I did, a way to reconnect and get reassurance that everything was going to be okay.

Instead, I steeled my nerves and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

FORTY

JP

I frowned downat my phone.

Normally, if I left early for work, Hazel would tell me how the morning had gone and what she planned to be up to while he was at school.

I tried texting her, but it went unanswered.

The past few days had been fraught with tension and the uncertainty of how to broach the subject of Teddy’s paternity.

The last thing I wanted to do was fuck the poor kid up for life.

I leaned back in my chair and exhaled, hating that we even had to tell him at all.

How gloriously simple would it be to pretend like the paternity results were different and Hazel and I were still playing house and living a life where we both took care of Teddy?

I needed to quell the riot of uncomfortable emotions I was fighting.

Hazel’s notable withdrawal was surprisingly painful, even if it was unintentional. She wouldn’t be the first woman in my life to leave me, but damn did it leave behind an uncomfortable ache in my chest.

This was different.

Shewas different, and I meant what I’d said—she was mine and there was no surviving if she ran away and took Teddy with her.

That’s not going to happen.

I shook my head and looked around. My pathetic attempt at self-reassurance wasn’t doing a damn thing.

Work was the only solution.

King Equities was hanging on by a thread. But with the prospect of my father’s return imminent, I simply couldn’t find it in me to care.

Still, Veda and the other employees were counting on me.

Sure, I could burn the company to the ground, but my father would find a way to survive. He was like those cockroaches that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The only people who would suffer were those stupid enough to follow me into that battle. I was stretched thin and on the verge of breaking.

“Boss.” I jerked at Veda’s voice and exhaled. She held her hands up. “Whoa, sorry.” Veda gestured vaguely at her laptop. “I need to know how you want to play this.”

I sighed. “Veda, you deserve to hear it from me.” I swiveled in my chair and rested my elbows on my knees. “I’m done.”

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