Page 18 of Hacker Betrayed

I pinched my brow. "He's here, and I don't know—"

Donovan reached forward, but Paxton growled. "Do not touch her."

Part of me should be angry at Paxton for his comment, but damn, it turned me on. "Can I use your office and speak to him?"

"I'll come with you." Paxton turned and headed toward the house.

"Men," I ground out. "Kat, Lucas is playing basketball. Can you make sure he stays where he is until I'm ready for him to come in?"

Kat slung the gun strap over her shoulder.

"You sure she's the safest person?" Donovan asked.

I trusted Kat with my life, and there was no doubt in my mind she would do anything to protect my son. Brock was another person I trusted, but I needed him inside.

Donovan followed Paxton and I through the house to a study. I hadn't looked around his place much, but the main areas were tastefully decorated. It almost looked like his house came out of a magazine. Large gray shelves covered the back wall of the office. Leather-bound books filled the first three sections and novels filled two sections. The leather-bound volumes I assumed were all medical books or nonfiction.

Paxton stood with his arms crossed, glaring at Donovan. The big bad Dom was worried about me, but Donovan and I needed to have a conversation. "I'll be okay."

"You're still hurt." He waved toward my side. "I've read enough books to know he probably has another gun hidden somewhere. He could sneak you out the back door."

"He has a point, Dalia." There was a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I'll shoot him way before he tries to kidnap me." I rested my hand on Paxton's chest. "You need to trust me."

"I trust you. I don't trust him," he said as he pulled me closer. "I don't like to share."

"We haven't negotiated yet. How are you so sure I don't have a threesome kink?" I shot back.

"Then we can find someone we both agree on," he replied, not missing a beat. "I'll add it to your list."

He winked and left the room, getting the last word, and somehow, I asked to be in a threesome. Not something I’d ever considered.

"He loves you." Donovan leaned his hip against Paxton's desk. "For what it's worth, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

I slid onto the charcoal couch against the wall. No way could we have a conversation without dredging up the past. "Did you know before you left on your trip that I was pregnant?"

"Yes." He strolled across the room and sat next to me on the couch. In the past I got butterflies when he entered the room. Those feelings were long gone. "I was the one that told my father you were pregnant with my child."

My heart pounded against my chest. Donovan was the reason Cyrus came to kill me. "How did you know I survived?"

He grabbed my hand and twisted my wrist. "I'm happy you didn't remove my initials." We'd gotten matching tattoos a year after I moved to Mexico.

I kept them to remind myself of something I could never have. "How?"

"Who do you think pulled you from the water?"

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't remember the night in the ocean after the explosion. Twelve years ago, cameras weren't like they were now. I'd tried to get video, but nothing.

Part of me dreamed Donovan would come to save me from his father all those years ago, but that meant going against his father. Suddenly it clicked. "You blew the boat up, but you weren't alone."

I heard two voices that night, I was sure of it. But the crashing of the waves made the voices hard to make out who they were. He'd come for me, and I spent my life hiding from him.

"I wasn't alone. Your brother helped me take down my father. When I couldn't find you anywhere on the boat, I thought we were too late, and he'd killed you and disposed of your body, but when the explosion happened, I heard your scream."

When I'd arrived at my parents' house to beg for help, my brother was in the room and said nothing when they wanted to offer me up to another family. Did he only come save me to broker another deal? "Why didn't you take me back to your house?"

Donovan leaned back on the sofa. His eyes wandered out the window to where Lucas was playing one-on-two with Kat and Paxton. "I wanted to, but your brother talked me out of bringing you back to Mexico. He wanted you to have a fresh start."

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