Page 108 of Beautiful Desire

“Dom—” she starts to speak, but I cut her off right away.

Holding up my hand, I bark at her, “Don’t.”

I see the troubled look in her watery eyes.

“I need a minute to process this fucking bomb you just dropped on me,” I elaborate.

She visibly flinches at my harsh words, and I chastise myself for snapping at her, but what does she expect me to do? Hold her in my arms and act like everything’s okay when it isn’t?

My eyelids blink rapidly with each new thought entering my brain.

How did this happen?

How could she have kept this from me?

Anger takes over as I clench down hard, grinding my teeth together, and before I know it, I’m asking her all these questions. Turning around, I try to keep my breathing under control as I speak to her.

“What do you mean, our daughter?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“W-what?” she stammers.

I’m trying my hardest to stay calm right now, but my anger and hurt can’t be contained any longer.

“I said, what do you mean,ourdaughter? How do you know she’s mine and not some other guy’s you slept with? We used protection, Elle, so how could I be the father?” Venom spews from my mouth with every word.

Elle’s face hardens and turns thunderous. “Are you kidding me right now? I just told you our daughter was kidnapped and you’re questioning whether or not she’s yours? Fine, if you want to do this right now, I will. But once we’re done, I’m walking out that door to get my daughter, with or without you. Got it?”

Not giving me a chance to answer, she continues.

“Even though we used protection in Italy, the condom broke. I figured that out after I missed my period and got a positive pregnancy test. And to answer your other question, you were the only person I slept with before, during,andafter Italy, so no one else could be her dad,” she counters icily.

The air turns cold as we stand there, assessing one another’s fury. Although I’m pissed at her for not telling me I had a daughter, a small part of me is elated to know she didn’t sleep with anyone else.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Were youevergoing to tell me about Lily?”

Tears well in her eyes at the mention of her –our –daughter’s name, and I have to briefly look away. Even though I’m pissed at her, I still can’t stand to see her cry.

“Of course I was going to tell you, but you went off and disappeared for a whole year. I didn’t have any way to get a hold of you.” She says each word coldly.

I deflate a little at that because she’s right. To her, it looked like I up and left and came back out of the blue when, in reality, I didn’t have any control over it and would much rather have been here with her and Lily.

“Elle—”

I’m cut off when my phone chimes with a text.

The first line of the message makes my heart drop down into my stomach as I’m reminded my daughter has been kidnapped. I swallow thickly, trying to hold back my emotions. My jaw tics and my hands ball into fists, as there’s no doubt in my mind who’s responsible for this.

When I click on it, an image of a sleeping baby appears. Time stands still as my heart swells in my chest. Looking at the screen, I take in the picture of the baby girl.

My baby girl.

An overwhelming amount of love runs through me. It’s the same baby Elle was holding in the picture frame on her desk, the one I copied and kept for myself.Our baby.My hands tremble as I read the text message.

Private Number

If you ever want to see your daughter, you know what you have to do.

“I’m going to get her back.We’regoing to get her back,” I tell her, staring at the portrait on my phone.

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