Page 28 of Enemies with Benefits
"Been there, done that. That's what brought us to this in the first place."
I ground my teeth. “Your sense of humor isn't needed here. You know I hate when you joke about serious shit."
"You hate when I make jokes like that because it reminds you of my brother, someone you tried to forget existed while we were together," she said dryly.
She had me there, though that didn't exactly do wonders to improve my attitude. What a bizarre and fucked up twist of fate that I ended up having a son I didn't know about, but Mason fucking Beckett had known him and had been there throughout his life. Meanwhile, I had been free to live the life my ex-girlfriend had apparently thought was better for me without once considering whether she should consult me on the matter.
An alarming thought occurred to me then, and I stared at her with wide eyes. “Does Mason know?"
"Pretty sure he does now," she said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "And get that pissed off look off your face. I never toldanyonewho Micah's father was until today. What I mean is, I'm pretty certain he figured it out at about the same time Kayden was putting two and two together."
I frowned. “So...he didn't know?"
"Not until today."
"So he didn't figure it out on his own before this?"
"Pretty much."
"Wow, for someone who always thinks he's so smart, he's been as slow about this as me. Didn't even recognize the genetics of the guy he spent years hating standing right there in front of him."
Moira stared at me. “I...would you have preferred he did notice and...hate Micah because of it?"
"No," I said quickly and firmly. "But that makes me feel better about being so slow on the uptake."
Moira stared at me for a few heartbeats, a dry expression on her face. “Seriously? That's the...I don't know, message? Lesson? Comfort, you're going to take from this? Your high school nemesis didn't figure out his sister's secret, and that makes you feel better?"
I narrowed my eyes. “Right now, I don't think you get to be too picky about what does or doesn't make me feel better."
Her nostrils flared, and she looked away. “Well, now you know. If you want to ask any questions, now's the time, or you can sit and think, or...I don't know. I'm not here to tell you what to do about this information. That's on you to decide."
"How gracious of you," I grunted, pushing out of the chair. "Letting me have a choiceeight years later."
For anyone else, I might have said it was to her credit that she didn't flinch, either at my words or the venom in my voice. But I was dealing with Moira Beckett here. Even in high school, the Beckett twins were known for their toughness and daring. The difference between them was how it showed itself to the world. Mason was...well, obvious, but everything about him was obvious as far as most people were concerned. Accepting dares and taking risks, nothing seemed to put him off if it let him have fun, especially if there was danger involved. Moira was just...sturdy, unafraid to back down when there was something worth fighting over, and I'd yet to meet a single person or circumstance that truly made her back down.
So yeah, I wasn't all that impressed that a woman who had once stared down a mugger was willing to meet my eyes without hesitation right now.
"Leaving?" she asked.
"This office," I said, turning toward the door. "I'm going to talk to Micah."
"Jace," she began, alarm in her voice.
"Relax," I told her. "I don't plan on telling him I'm his father. But I want to talk to him."
She sighed. “Okay."
I let myself out of the office and closed the door behind me before I found myself saying something else, something one or both of us would end up regretting. I knew she was well aware that I was furious with her, but she accepted it. Her acceptance almost made the whole thing worse, like it somehow put her into a better light while I just looked like a raging asshole for being mad at her. At the same time, at least she hadn't insisted on coming with me when I went down to speak to Micah, so her trust in my word was a small comfort.
Really small.
Once I descended the stairs and caught sight of Micah and Mason still at the table talking, I felt my determination to speak to the kid suddenly wither and die. Just what was I supposed to say to him? I mean. “Hey, guess what? I'm your dad, and didn't know it until about twenty minutes ago, was out, and not just because I’d told Moira I wouldn't. I was pretty sure you shouldn't start your first real conversation with someone like that, especially an eight-year-old. Plus, the kid was doing well without me suddenly barging into his life and throwing things into disarray.
And wasn't that just the worst part of it all? Moira's decision to keep me out of the loop in the beginning pretty much kept me out of the loop moving forward. I didn't need to see or even speak to Micah to know he was happy, well taken care of, and loved. The Beckett family had been well known for its tight bond and how well the family got along. Sure, there had been fights and squabbles, but neither blood nor time spent had done athing to alter how close the family was. A lot of the kids came from different walks of life, and I had no doubt Moira's son had been welcomed with open arms despite not knowing who the father was.
So, where exactly did I have the right to come in and shake things up?
No, I just wanted to talk to the kid because...because why? Because he was my son, and some part of me ached to know him? Sure, but could that part of me really be trusted to make decisions? Wasn't it just the selfish part of me that wanted to reach out to someone who was family, but without all the curses that went with my family? Someone who looked a lot like me, and had probably gotten some of my traits by an accident of genetics, but was completely unburdened by all the shit that lived in my head?
