Page 117 of Stone

More importantly than anything, he was alive, flesh, blood, and bones.

His shoulders slumped, and he croaked, “Leesy.”

“John,” I whispered.

Our eyes locked, and I felt a spark deep inside as my soul came back to life. Warmth flooded me, washing away the ice in my veins as if I hadn’t been frozen for the last four months.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” I whispered. “It’s incredible.”

He held his hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s get the fuck outta here. Leave your shit, I’ll get you all new stuff.”

My heart sank. “It’s not as easy as that, John.”

His stare veered down to my ring finger, and his hand dropped back to his side. “No. I guess it’s not.” Gold met green, and confusion washed over his beautiful face. “Why’d ya do it, baby?”

My eyes welled with tears. “They told me you were dead.”

“Why didn’t you go to Dad?” The groove between his eyes deepened. “You didn’t have to do this. You had options, Leesy.”

“I did go to him,” I whispered. “I tried.” Heat hit my back as the door opened behind me, and Robert stepped outside.

“Stone,” he said flatly. “You’re upsetting her.”

John stared at Robert for a beat, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I’mupsettingher?” His eyes narrowed. “You think you’re clever, doin’ this. You think I don’t know you’ve wanted to take her away from me since the first night of our first date.” John leaned toward Robert and bit out, “You think I don’t know you were so fucking jealous I got her that it ate you the fuck up?” His eyes cut back to me. “Come on, Leesy. We’re goin’.”

My stomach churned as Robert slid an arm across my shoulder. “She’s not going anywhere. You think she’d leave our son?” He smiled sadly at John. “I’m sorry, Stone. You lost the girl.”

“Yourson?” John challenged, letting out a humorless laugh. “You meanmyson, right? Do you think I can’t count? The dates tell me he’smyson.”

Robert’s arm dropped from my shoulders, and he slipped a hand into his inside pocket before pulling out a folded piece of paper. “No, John,” he grated out, handing it to him. “Myson.”

My gut plummeted.

John reached out, and with tremoring fingers, he unfolded the paper and read it, eyes darting left to right as he took the paternity test in. “Leesy,” he whispered. “No.”

A tear rolled down my face, the voice inside my head screaming,See me, John. It’s me, your Leesy. See me. Please, see me.

“You abandoned her,” Robert said accusingly. “You went off playing war games and left her all alone. It was no wonder she came to me for comfort. We didn’t mean it to happen, but she needed more than you could give her.”

John’s shocked gaze clashed with mine, and he shook his head disbelievingly, holding the paper up. “The day he was born means that when you came to San Diego, you were already…?”

A stab of panic shot through me. “No—”

“Don’t, Elise,” Robert cut in. “He needs to know the truth. The time for lies is over.”

John snarled, the sound animalistic and filled with pain. “You bastard,” he gritted out. With a roar, he advanced and, within a split second, had Robert backed up against the door, his hand across his windpipe, squeezing. “You’re fuckin’ dead.”

A sense of dread filled me as a red dot appeared on the back of John’s skull. I swung around to see one of the guards with a rifle aimed at him.

No. No. No. No. No

My panicked shriek filled the air, and I leaped at John’s back to shield him. “Get off him,” I screamed. “John, let him go!”

John leaned down, getting in Robert’s face, now purple from lack of breath. “You’re not worth it,” he spat, his eyes sliding toward me. “You’re not worth it.”

My heart cracked inside my chest. I felt the second it shattered, tiny shards filling my body like slithers of ice.

John released Robert and stepped back. “You could’ve gone to Dad,” he said flatly. “It didn’t have to be this way. He would’ve helped you.”

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