Page 91 of My Grumpy Fire Chief Next Door
Ours. She makes it sound so intimate, as though everything was real.
Blaze whimpers, torn between us, but I ignore him.
“My arms are hurting, I’m just going to set this down, if that’s okay.” She rounds the desk to set it down, and I watch as her eyes dart to the computer still open, the business card gleaming under the fluorescent lights.
I remain silent and simply watch the color drain from her face, and she swallows hard before raising her eyes to meet mine. Her eyes are filled with remorse, and I can see her lips parting then closing again, as though she’s holding back the words.
Good. I don’t want to hear them.
But then her chin lifts, and her eyes meet mine. Hazel, gold-flecked, always so damn warm but now they’re shimmering withsomething that makes my chest tighten. Remorse. Fear. A plea I don’t want to acknowledge.
It suddenly feels like I’m the one who is holding back.
My jaw locks. I can’t stand that look from there, there’s a quiet expectation that I’m supposed to understand, that I shouldn’t be mad at her, that I should just nod and forgive because she’s standing here, because she showed up.
I turn away before she can see how much it’s getting to me.
"You should go." My voice is rough, scraped raw from the last hour of sitting in silence, staring at pictures of a life I didn’t know existed.
She doesn’t move, but I hear her breath hitch, just barely, before she speaks.
"Five minutes," she says. "Just… let me explain, and you can tell me to go afterward."
If she stays for a second longer, I will never be able to tell her to leave. "No." The word comes out sharp and almost harsh.
But I know Kate’s never been good at following orders; instead, the steps forward, the sole of her mules tapping against the concrete floor.
"My name isn’t Kate Montgomery," she says, quiet but firm. "It’s Katherine Sinclair.
There it is. She said it. I’d been waiting—half-hoping, half-dreading. But hearing it from her lips twists something deep inside me. I want it to mean something, that she's done hiding, that the truth is finally on the table. But part of me is still braced, waiting for the next blow. Waiting to see how much more I don't know.
She presses on, like if she stops now, she won’t start again.
"Montgomery is actually my mother’s maiden name. I didn't choose it to lie, I chose it to protect my son."
She says it like it’s obvious. Like protecting Parker is reason enough for all the secrets—and maybe it is. Hell, if I were her, maybe I’d have done the same.
I don’t turn around to face her, but I can’t walk away either. So, I remain rooted to the spot while Blaze whines, his tail thumping reassuringly against my leg.
"I didn’t lie about who I am," she continues. "Everything we shared was real. I’m still me, I just left behind the name, the money, and the life I had."
Her voice wavers, just for a second. I hear her take a shaky breath before pushing on.
"I won’t bore you with sympathy stories, but I was raised in a gilded cage. Every part of my life was controlled. What I wore, who I spoke to, what I was allowed to want." A bitter laugh escapes her.
"The only time I rebelled was when I went to college. I met Parker’s father there, he’s name was Ethan, and then I got pregnant with Parker. They told me to get rid of him and stop seeing Ethan, but I refused, and so I left."
My fingers curl into fists at my sides.
"I moved in with Ethan. We were happy, barely managing, but happy. Then, when Parker was eighteen months old, the accident happened…" Her voice cracks. "I spent everything trying to save him. But he died anyway. And I had nothing. No money. No support. Just Parker."
My gut twists. I didn’t know about Parker’s dad. I didn’t know any of this. God, she’s been carrying all that alone.
A muscle in my jaw jumps.
"I called my parents for help because I had no choice, and somehow I thought they would change their mind after bonding the Parker. But they wanted control. A few months back, they tried to force me to marry some business associate’s son. And when I refused…"
My jaw clenches. Of course they did. I don’t even know these people and I already hate them.
