Page 21 of Scarred Heart

It was like she didn’t hear me, rambling, breathing fast.“She said some random guy tried to deliver food to the apartment earlier, and she brushed it off at the time.But now, she just remembered the guy used my name.He said it was a delivery for Rowan McNulty.I never ordered anything, obviously.”

I was starting to understand what she meant when she thought this was about something else.“But he used your name?Did he say where he was from?”

“Did you hear me ask her that?”she snapped, shaking her head.“Sorry.No, she didn’t know anything about it.But now she’s wondering if maybe he was staking out the place before coming back.What if I have a stalker?”She was on the move again, leaving me trailing in her wake, following her to the elevator, where she jammed her finger against the button a few times.

My blood turned to ice.“Did she say anything else?”

“Only that he forced the door open, but the chain lock stopped him.He tried to break it, but she yelled, and he ran.”She covered her face with her hands, and now sobs wracked her body.“What if he got in?What if he hurt her or took her?What if that’s what he wanted?”

“Your sister?”Vaguely, I remembered Rowan talking about her years ago.She was a couple of years younger if my memory was correct.

“No.Not her.Oh my God.Do I need to find a new place?I need to get the locks fixed.Maybe we should stay at a hotel tonight,” she mused as we stepped into the elevator car.

“I’m trying to understand.Does your sister live with you?If you need a place to stay, you could always spend the night with me.There’s plenty of room.Whatever you need to feel safer.”

“No.”The firmness of her response surprised me, as did the way she quickly ran her hands under her eyes.She was determined to pull herself back together, so soon after falling apart.“That won’t be necessary.But thank you.”

What the fuck was this?All of a sudden, she was talking to me like I was a colleague instead of the man whose fingers were inside her minutes ago.“Why would you spend money on a hotel room when you’re going to have to pay to have the locks fixed too?I’m only trying to help.”She didn’t need to act like I was the boogeyman.Like I was good enough to shove my fingers up her pretty cunt but not good enough to spend the night with if it meant feeling safe.

“Just… thank you for the offer, and let’s leave it there.In fact,” she continued as we stepped off the elevator in the lobby.“I can make it from here.Really, I’m so sorry to end the night like this.You don’t need to worry yourself over any of it.”

I had to be imagining things.No way was she walking to the exit rather than the garage, refusing my generosity and acting like there was anything normal about the past few minutes.“Wait.Dammit, why are you acting like this?”

“Please, Spencer.Trust me.”She burst through the doors and onto the sidewalk, her head swinging wildly in a panic.“I’m going to get an Uber.”

Instinct screamed in my head like a clanging bell, warning me there was something very wrong with all of this.“Like hell you are.I know you’re hiding something.Why don’t you want me to take you to your apartment?”Because that was the key.She didn’t want me there.And whatever she was hiding, she didn’t want to bring it to my place.

There was something close to hatred in her eyes when she shouted, “We’re wasting time!”

“Fuck that.Tell me, then, instead of wasting time.”

Her chin quivered, eyes searching my face.What was she so afraid of?“My daughter,” she announced, resigned.“I have a daughter.”

Not what I was expecting to hear.It changed things slightly, knowing she had a child, but who was I kidding?This was never going to go beyond tonight.It couldn’t.I had a life to get back to, and so did she.Tonight was about sealing the deal, getting closure, and all that.

“So you have a daughter.And now you should definitely have your sister call the cops,” I concluded, reaching for the phone in my pocket.“I’ll fucking do it myself.What’s the address?”

Before I could dial 911, though, something stopped me.Now that my erection had gone down, there was more blood flow to my brain, which was probably why it took so long for me to get what Rowan was determined not to tell me.Why would she not mention having a kid in the hours we’d spent talking over dinner?To be fair, it was none of my business.

My mind worked overtime.Unless there was a reason to keep her a secret?And where was the daughter’s father?“How old is she?”I whispered while the traffic noise faded to silence, thanks to the blood now rushing in my ears.

Her flushed face went pale.“What difference does it make?”She wanted to fight.Her mouth worked, her features pinching together in something between anger and pain.

Her phone rang again, and she fumbled her way through getting it out of her purse.“Hello?”she breathed out, closing her eyes and pressing her fist to her mouth before speaking again.“Hey, baby.I’m on my way, okay?Everything’s going to be fine.”

The voice on the other side of that call was clear, loud, and raised in fear.This was not a baby, not a toddler.I didn’t know much about kids, but I wasn’t completely clueless.

By the time she ended the call and her shoulders sagged, I knew the truth.The rushing turned into a roar as the truth settled into my bones and vibrated through me, stealing my breath and clenching my stomach.I was a father.All this time.“If it didn’t make a difference, you would tell me.Dammit, Rowan.How old is she?She’s mine, isn’t she?”I asked though I didn’t need to.I only needed her to say it.I needed her to admit what she’d been hiding.

Something caught her attention further down the street.She darted toward the curb, waving an arm overhead to flag down an approaching cab, making me follow her.“Tell me!”I shouted, ignoring curious people passing on foot in favor of standing between her and the cab, which slowed to pick her up.

Tears shone in her eyes, on her cheeks, yet her voice shook with anger.“We don't need you.Understand?I’m handling this without you.The way I always have.”

The truth in her words was a slap to the face, taking some of the wind out of me as she marched past and opened the cab’s rear passenger door.I had two choices.Either hold her back with witnesses all around us or let her go.There really wasn’t one to be made.There was nothing to do but stand there, watching as she jumped in and slammed the door.

But not fast enough.Not before she barked out the address of her apartment building to the driver.I made a note of it in my phone, then marched back into the lobby, this time walking straight through to the garage where my Bentley waited.

If she thought she could keep what was mine away from me, she never knew me at all.

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