Page 150 of Invisible String
“Oh, we will have our happily ever after soon.”
“You’ve been stringing me along for so many years.”
Chairs scrape the floor, and kissing sounds come from the room.
“I’m sorry, honey. She passed a year ago. We couldn’t come out when she was sick or when she passed. Let’s give it time. How about we have a nice dinner tonight? Then I’ll make love to my?—”
I can’t hear this shit.
I rap on the door loud enough to make it shake.
The door swings open, and Rowan stands before me. Shirt untucked like they screwed before the argument. A petite woman stands behind him. Lipstick smeared.
“Well, hello, Mr. Collins, or should I say, the cheat and the home wrecker?”
The woman runs off without a word.
A malicious laugh booms from my chest. I shut the door behind me.
Rowan saunters over to his tray of golden-hued liquor, the glasses gleaming like liquid sunshine under the warm glow of the room. He pours the liquid gold whiskey into his glass.
“What do you want, Cano?”
“You destroyed a beautiful family. For what? A piece of cheap ass.” I lift a horse statue from his desk and then set it down. “Does she really expect you to take her home to your kids and be a happy family, and they will welcome her with open arms? You’re toying with her,” I say, folding my arms to my chest, leaning against the desk.
“Women are mindless creatures.” He laughs, swishing his amber glass. “I love my wife. The other woman I use. My job is stressful. Give them a gift and a good fuck, and they’re good.”
A disapproval rumbles from deep within me. Rage surges up, urging me to slam my fists into his arrogant expression.
“You never deserved a family.”
He sets his empty glass on the cart. “Oh, I did. My job became stressful. My wife became occupied with her business and the kids. My secretary was there, offering me her body to release stress. I told myself only once, but I became too attached.”
“You’re fucking disgusting.”
“Don’t act like you don’t sleep around. Rainey is busy with her own business.”
My jaw clenches. “I’m not an idiot. I know what I have. I value Rainey for the woman she is. No other woman compares to Rainey. I love her.”
He laughs. “Fate has a way of fucking things up, Cano. I’ve told you to leave her. Why do you keep coming back? I thought you’d get bored with her by now.”
“Fate brought her to me. Not once, but four times.” My voice rises. “I’ve given you time to tell her.”
“It’s not happening. Rainey hates my guts. If I tell her now, she will never speak to me. I love my daughter.” His voice softens, pouring liquor into the glass.
“You have yourself to blame. You’ve had plenty of time to talk to her. Over the years, you’ve manipulated me, insisting that I stay silent, warning that revealing the truth would devastate her. You said it was better if I stayed away, that my being around would trigger memories and hurt her. I believed you and followed your instructions because I thought it was in her best interest.”
My heart shatters as I grapple with the decision before me. I know revealing the truth will break her, perhaps even destroy her, yet she deserves to know. No, she needs to know—has to know for us to continue our relationship. I’m the only one capable of piecing her shattered fragments back together. This is why I needed her to fall completely in love with me.
“I was trying to protect her.”
“I get it, but she’s not a child. She needs to know who I am. She needs to know who she is.”
“No, it’s best she doesn’t. It’s best you let her go. Let her live a life without this mess.”
In a flash of speed, I get in his face. “I didn’t come to ask for permission. I came because I love Rainey. I had been giving you the courtesy as her parent to tell her first. If you truly love her, you would have told her when she was of age to understand.” Seizing him, I take a step back. I’m so close to pounding my fist in his face. My temper is rising. “I came here to let you know I’m telling her the truth. The whole truth. Consider this a courtesy of letting you know, so you can tell Bethany and Justin. Actually, Justin has been calling me, saying Rainey needs to know. You forced him to hide the truth, and Bethany has no idea Rainey was adopted.”
The door to the office bursts open with a forceful swing. Our conversation halts abruptly, words hanging in the air. My heart pounds so fiercely against my ribs that its rhythm echoes in my ears. Rainey stands framed in the doorway, her complexion drained of color, resembling the pallor of a ghost. Her eyes are wide, and her breath comes in shallow gasps, as she has just witnessed something unimaginable. How long has she been standing behind the door?
