Page 55 of Grumpy Ex's Secret Baby

We walked back to the clinic as the memories of my mother tossed and turned in my mind. Trinity wouldn’t have the same life I did. I would make sure of it.

***

As much as I said it wasn’t going to happen, all I wanted was for Tyson to come back home the moment I arrived home and saw the letter sitting on my porch. I picked up the letter and read it, my stomach turning as the stalker threatened Tyson if he returned.

I read the letter again before stuffing it into my pocket. In the morning, I would take it to the police, but right now, I needed a hug from my daughter. I needed to hold her in my arms and know she was alright.

“Call him,” Bret said the moment I walked through the door. Trinity came racing down the hall and wrapped herself around my legs. “Call him and fix this because I’m tired of watching you and Trinity hurting.”

I smiled as I scooped Trinity up and hugged her tight. It was getting harder to cuddle her now that she was older and wanted to run away and play with her toys. When she was younger, her chubby little legs would carry her down the hall as fast as possible to wrap herself around me.

The second her feet were back on the ground. She took off down the hall.

“I don’t want to call him,” I said as I walked into the kitchen, and Bret trailed behind me. “I really want to call him, and that’s worse.”

“I don’t see how it’s worse. You miss him, and he misses you. Trinity misses him. Call him back here and get back to the life you were meant to live.”

“You know, you always have been the smarter member of this friendship,” I said as I leaned on the counter and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

“I’ve got to get to work. Just give him a call and see what he says.”

I nodded and stared down at the phone. “I will.”

Bret left after saying goodbye to Trinity. I stared at the phone for a few more minutes, still torn between calling and not calling him. Forcing him from my life had been a move made out of fear, and I knew that.

However, with the newest letter, my fears were confirmed. Having Tyson here was dangerous but not having him here was as well. He was gone, and I had still gotten a letter.

After taking a deep breath, I called him.

“Hales.”

It was my name, barely more than a whisper, that had me coming apart. I sniffled and looked at Trinity playing in the living room before heading back into the hall. Hot tears tracked down my cheeks, and my hands were shaking. The letter was burning a hole in my pocket, and the memory of the cameras pointed in my direction continued to cause chaos in my mind.

I needed him here. I needed to know that we were alright and everything else would be okay.

I needed the missing piece of my family.

“Please come home.”

22

TYSON

IhadtoldHaleythat I would be on my way back to her as soon as Crestwood Capital’s event for the children’s hospital was over, and I meant it. I only needed to make an appearance, give a short speech, and hand it over to Drew and Clarke before I could take off.

Getting to her would take several hours, but it would be worth it.

“I still don’t know why I had to wear a damn tux,” Drew said, tugging at the black bow tie around his neck that Camille had nearly wrestled him into.

“You’re trying to look like we didn’t just scrape you off the street and give you multi-million-dollar companies to handle,” I said before Camille could rip his head off. If the look she was giving him was anything to go by, she was feeling rather murderous tonight.

“Can we just get this over with?” I asked as I looked around the room.

Various people were gathered in the ballroom of a luxury hotel. Ballgowns swept across the floor as men in suits tried to make business deals over glasses of amber alcohol. A band was playing in the corner, the soft sound of violins filling the air.

I hated going to these events. For a long time, they had been fun, but now all I wanted was to be back home.

“Hey there,” a woman said, appearing at my side, her fingers trailing down my arm.

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