Page 99 of Dream Girl Drama

“I’ll look forward to it,” she said in a weepy voice.

Sig hung up and stood on shaky legs, lurching forward to catch himself on the partition in front of him, the relief so wild and potent, it was hitting him in startling waves, knocking the air out of him over and over and over again. “Stop.” He raised his thousand-pound arm, waving at the young woman who was in the process of closing the airplane door. “Stop, I’m getting off. I have to go. Now.”

“I... what?” she sputtered. “Is something wrong?”

No. Something was finally right.

Christ. Chloe’s performance was tonight and he wasn’t there. But he’d get there. He’d fucking be there, like she’d asked. And afterward, he’d hold her and inform her he’d never let her go. Not ever. The misery and madness were over.

It seemed to take a million years for the steps to be lowered once again, but as soon as they touched the tarmac, Sig raced to the bottom and sprinted for the charter office, phone in one hand, bag in the other. He didn’t bother calling an Uber, wasn’t even sure he could manage to think critically enough for that, because the joy was an explosion inside of him, sending his muscles into bouts of weakness, followed by bursts of strength. And he couldn’t think, he just ran, throwing himself into the back of a waiting cab once he exited the building.

“Symphony Hall, please,” he said raggedly.

Satisfied that the driver was picking up on the urgency in his tone, based on the way the man hit the gas, Sig looked down at his phone once again and dialed, not even bothering to catch his breath.

“Reese?” Sig slumped back against the leather seat, unashamed of the moisture blurring his vision. “Reese, it’s Sig. I’m going to forward you an email. It’s from a private investigator. Read the attachment.” He could barely operate his phone, his hands were shaking so violently, so he blew a heavy breath up at the ceiling, tried again and finally succeeded. “If that’s enough for you, if the organization will accept this information and use it to have my back if anyone comes for me or Chloe, then I’ll stay in Boston.”

SIG DIDN’T WASTEtime exhaling with relief when the white pillars of Symphony Hall came into view. The taxi hadn’t even reached a full stop before he dove onto the sidewalk, taking theconcrete steps two at a time. Whether or not he’d planned on attending tonight, Chloe would have left him a ticket at the box office. He didn’t even question that—their loyalty to each other was an unwavering fact—and the small ticket window was where he headed as soon as he cleared the entrance...

But he stopped in his tracks before he could reach it.

Harvey and Sofia stood between Sig and will call.

They were in a small group of people, Sofia holding out her diamond-bedecked hand for everyone to admire. An hour ago, that sight might have gutted Sig. Not now. Right there, in that moment, he could only thinkI’m going to buy one twice as big for my girl.

As if he’d made that declaration out loud, Harvey turned partially and locked eyes with Sig over the heads of the milling crowd. The older man didn’t appear surprised to see him, but whatever he read in Sig’s expression caused Harvey’s eyes to narrow. With a gentle pat of his new wife’s shoulder, he began cutting through the crowd toward Sig.

Sig waited, not willing to take a single step to meet the other man halfway.

Not now. Maybe not ever again.

At the moment, he didn’t feel forgiving, but something in the back of his mind told him he was on the verge of so much happiness that holding grudges wasn’t in his future.

“Son,” Harvey said, by way of greeting, flicking a glance at Sig’s attire. “Did you just come from practice—”

“Son?” Sig could feel his pulse hammering in his neck. “Care to rephrase that?”

Harvey rocked back on his heels. Took a long pull of the champagne in his hand. “Your mother finally told you the truth.”

They’d both known. Son of a bitch. It took everything insideof Sig to suppress the fresh wave of rage. “I had to find out for myself first,” Sig snapped.

“The private investigator?” Harvey made a sound. “He must be good.”

“Answer my questions, please. Don’t draw this out any more than you already have.” Chloe was in the building. He just needed to get to where she was. The delay burned. “Did you find out you weren’t my real father? Is that why you really left?”

“It was a complicated time—”

“Answers. Now.”

“Christ. Fine.” Harvey lost some of the starch in his spine, a hint of the bravado in his expression and for a handful of seconds, Sig could almost picture the man thirty years younger. “I was going to stick around, Sig. I was going to be your dad. You have to believe me on that. I spent that entire pregnancy at your mother’s side. I was there in the delivery room. And believe me, her parents didn’t want me there. I was not of their ilk, you see. But I was determined to raise you.” He paused to take the final swallow of his champagne. “They couldn’t have been more gleeful when the paternity test determined you belonged to your mother’s on again, off again boyfriend, Bobby Prince, the rich kid they’d handpicked for her.”

Sig forced his features to remain schooled at the utterance of his real father’s name for the second time in an hour. Someday, with Chloe at his side, he’d track down Bobby Prince. He wouldn’t get his hopes up for a tearful meeting or a meaningful relationship. At the very least he’d hope for clarity, closure. A chance to set the record straight. But he had a long way to go before he crossed that bridge. Knowing he’d cross it with Chloe as his wife made it a lot less daunting.

“Once those test results came back,” Harvey continued, “theyassumed your mother would drop me, go back to Bobby so you could be raised by your rightful father, but...” A fond smile danced reluctantly across his mouth. “Your mother was too stubborn for that. I’d forgiven her and we were determined to make it on our own. The three of us.”

Sig could feel it. He was about to find the missing piece he’d been searching for since he’d been old enough to wonder why he didn’t have a father. “What happened?”

Harvey’s collar moved with the force of his swallow. “Her parents offered me money. A lot of it, Sig. Enough to support me my entire life.” He looked Sig in the eye. “All I had to do was leave.”

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