Page 37 of Broken Boss Daddy

“Good, thanks for asking. A couple friends and I went on to this cute…”

Again, I drowned the poor girl out, but there was just too much going on in my head to comprehend anything else.

A kid.

I had a kid.

The struggle of that realization has been difficult, and I’d admit that I wasn’t sure if Jessica was telling me the truth or not.

Then all the little occurrences I’d noted suddenly made sense.

Jessica’s behavior when my family asked about hers. Why she always had to leave me after our time together, and why she wouldn’t allow me to go over to her place.

The phone call!A sudden thought came to me, and I wanted to hit myself with a damn brick.

When I phoned her and joked about her “TV daughter,” I had no clue that it actually wasn’t a joke at all. Jessica really had a daughter.

It wasmydaughter.

A small smile played at the corner of my mouth, and I rested an arm against the counter. Out of all the things in the world, I never expected I would ever say that.

Hannah caught the reaction and blushed, still going on and on about whatever it was she was talking about. Clearly, she thought I was smiling at her. I felt bad, but not enough to stop her. In some twisted way, letting her think she had my attention was payback for Jessica betraying me.

Because that was what it felt like—betrayal.

It was hard to comprehend the woman I thought I knew was the same one that kept our child from me. Even harder to understand that the night we crashed into each other’s lives, was the night we created a brand new life.

A life I had no damn idea about.

Feeling the anger rise, I tried to keep my face neutral. Last thing I needed was Hannah to think I was angry with her and start a big thing about it.

Jessica was the center of my frustration—and my affection.

It was bad enough that she didn’t tell me about their daughter when we ran into each other again, but the fact that she waited months to tell me grated my nerves. Hell, we’d been sleeping together and still not a damn word from her.

She consciously decided not to tell me about Abby, when she had every possibility to do so. Years ago and recently.

But there was a part of me that couldn’t stay mad at her despite every fiber of my being wanted me to. Yes, I was upset and angry at the situation, but if I really allowed myself to think about it, I could understand where she was coming from.

Like she said, Jess was 21, and I was just some stranger to her. Her question about what I would’ve done if the roles were reversed haunted me.

Truth was, I didn’t know. And that was enough to help me calm down about everything, if only slightly.

“I should get going,” Hannah spoke, interrupting my thought spiral.

“What?” I said stupidly.

“There are some patients I need to check on. But I’ll see you later?” Hannah asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah. Sure.” Scrunching my brows, I followed her retreat until I zoned out again.

I knew I wasn’t entirely with the program that day. Instead, the idea of the possibilities that the curveball could mean for me was too compelling to ignore.

I was hurt. I missed out on the first years of my daughter’s life. Knowing that there was no way to change the past, all I could think about was the future.

Questions ran in a constant loop in my head.

Does Abby know about me?

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