Page 102 of Dr. Stone
“Why didn’t you tell me I had a son?” His voice was sharp, dragging up every memory of the fights we’d had.
My whole body tensed, emotions spiraling, unsure how to react, not only to seeing him again, but also to the anger I suddenly felt aimed at me. It gave me the old, nasty, familiarfeeling of beingin troublewith him, and it was a feeling I hated almost more than anything else.
I forced myself to stay steady and break free from the old, weak, apologetic Andie who used to crumble around him. I kept telling myself internally that I had nothing to apologize for.
“Your silence and the look on your face tell me everything.” He smirked, “Is it because you didn’t think I would care about the boy?”
“To be clear, I’m pretty sure any normal man would’ve followed up to find out whether or not the child they fathered was going to be born, but I suppose running away like you were on fire was more important to you,” I started, trying my hardest to keep my voice down when all I wanted to do was scream at this son of a bitch. “But let’s play your game and presume it was my responsibility to inform you beyond what I told you the night you bailed…how the hell was I supposed to find you after you vanished? You know what? Just get off my porch, and don’t ever show your face around me, my parents, or my son again. I mean it. Stay the fuck away.”
“You’ve turned into quite the lioness,” he chuckled, his expression and demeanor predatorial and nauseating. “Would that have anything to do with the playboy you’ve been fucking?”
“None of your business. Leave.” My voice was sharp and laced with adrenaline as this menacing bastard smiled like he owned my entire life again.
“I’ll leave, sweetheart,” he said darkly, “but first, I want you to know I’ve been digging into some things ever since I saw you with that boy toy.”
I closed my eyes, knowing where this was going.Of course,he’d slither back into my life like the snake he was, hell-bent on wrecking whatever happiness I dared to find without him. He wasn’t just jealous. He was a cruel asshole who fed on breaking my spirit. Seeing me with Jace, who’d made him feel inferior,and now finding out I kept a son from him? This fucker wasn’t just going to be a mere problem. He was going to make a lifestyle out of wrecking my new, happy life.
“Allow me to tell you this once,” he said, handing me an envelope. “Inside that envelope are all the scandals that would cost your lover boy his medical license. You know, scandals like fucking his interns, nurses, an occasional patient’s daughter or two…”
He paused, watching me no doubt go pale from the nausea twisting in my gut, not just from hearing that Jace’s past might risk his license to practice, but from knowing my goddamn ex was the one who dug up the dirt and now held the evidence that could destroy everything Jace had built.
I watched the smile of achievement cross his features.
“End the relationship. I don’t want my kid around that sick fuck, and I don’t want him to see his mother whoring herself out like a cheap trick.”
My anger flashed so brightly inside me that it nearly made me go blind with rage, but I knew an unhinged reaction was what he wanted from me, and I would never give him the satisfaction. “You don’t get to call the shots on me anymore, asshole. Get off my porch.”
“I might never have wanted it, but that kid ismine, and I’ll fight for custody just to make you miserable. A court won’t hesitate to call you negligent, parading my son around a man like Jace Stone. And let’s not pretend your reputation is spotless either.”
“Good luck proving that in court since you’re considered an abandoning parent. Your case is weak at best.”
I was trembling inside, but trying not to break apart.
“The case won’t be weak,” he sneered, “not when the court—and those elite circles you’ve been pretending to fit in with—see what kind of reckless mother you are. Jetting off to Mexico,Costa Rica, Catalina, clinging to Titus Hawk’s money, then coming home to screw the playboy doctor. Because once the tabloids get wind of it, or more importantly, once that hospital board sees the scandal he’s tied up in, they’ll toss his golden-boy ass out faster than he can lose his license. One headline is all it takes to ruin a man like him, and I’ve got plenty of them to write.”
I was frozen. I had no way of predicting that any of this would happen.
“What the hell do you want?” I growled, desperate for him to leave so I could think.
“Stay away from that predator,” he said, voice low and venomous. “And if you even think about running to him or any of his preppy little friends for help, I’ll use my contacts and leak every piece of it. While I destroy that man for thinking he could ever be a father to my son, I’ll be dragging your whore-ass through the courts.” Tears pooled in my eyes while he cocked his head to the side and smiled triumphantly, “You don’t want that, do you? Even your rich daddy and mommy’s lawyers couldn’t save the stress and trauma that would cause our precious son.” He stepped to leave. “Do the right thing,gorgeous,” he whispered, mocking the pet name Jace called me as he bent to kiss my cheek while I stood there paralyzed with fear. “I already have PIs watching you. You can understand, yes? I need my son—ourson—to be safe.”
You’re a monster,” I croaked, my voice breaking even as I tried to steady it.
Jonathan’s lips curved, slow and cold, like he’d been waiting for me to say it. He stepped closer, eyes glinting with sick satisfaction.
“Funny,” he murmured, tilting his head as though I were something fragile in his hands. “You’ve never looked morebeautiful than when you finally remember your place. Don’t make me teach you the lesson again.”
With what little strength I had left after he walked away, I barely managed to open my front door, step inside, and lock it behind me. I stumbled down the hallway and almost didn’t make it to the bathroom before everything in my stomach came up in violent waves.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t process. I couldn’t do anything but collapse onto the cold tile floor—a place I hadn’t been since the last time that man walked out of my life and left me shattered in this very house.
FORTY-SIX
Jace
I was steppingonto the boat after stopping by a coffee shop to get my lady a piping-hot cup of coffee when Andie called.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I said, smiling into the phone.
