Page 71 of Throne of Sin

“Nope. Just get into the car.”

We pull up to the house and Sienna steps out, followed by Oakleigh. I stay behind for a second, not knowing what the hell I’m doing. Oakleigh bends back into the car, giving me a smile. “The proper thing to do is walk me to the door,” she directs.

I think I may have already lost my heart to this girl, daughter or not.

Oakleigh stands there, licking her ice cream as she waits for me. Not a single drop has landed on the side of the cone or her hand.

I stretch my legs out the door, cramped from riding in the back seat, and stand, unable to face Demi yet. “I’ll watch you from here, but you’ll see me tomorrow when I come by.” I try to give her what I think is an encouraging smile.

She skips off but only makes it a few yards before skipping back. “Thanks for the ride!”

I watch until Demi opens her door, then slip back into the car. My phone buzzes, it’s the lab results. Opening it up, I glance away. Maybe it’s better to never know. My eyes glance down, skimming through. My hand shakes the entire time, making it really fucking hard to keep my place in this jumble of medical jargon. In the middle, I see the ninety-nine point nine percent chance that Oakleigh is mine. It’s big and bold, staring back at me. My muscles forget how to work and I fall back into the seat, my phone falling, forgotten, to the floor.

I have a kid.My hand runs down my face, pulling at my skin.Fuck me. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck and it keeps reversing and going forward over my chest. I wipe at my itchy eyes, and they feel so much better being closed. I don’t know the first damn thing to do, and I pride myself with always feeling in control.Oakleigh is my daughter. The thought consumes me.

I’ve heard men joke about having children out there, but I’ve rolled my eyes, knowing this was never a possibility for me. Here I am now, and this is no joke. My body jolts and I punch the seat in front of me.

I’m a father. The reality slams into my chest, taking my breath away. I could have been giving that little girl everything I had to help make her life happy, safe, and healthy. Instead, my daughter had to endure poverty and illness.

My neck burns and it creeps into my cheeks as my anger builds from deep within. “Take me to a children’s store,” I demand, with the partition down a crack.

I reach over to the side of the sedan and pull out the bottle of whiskey. I take a swig of the liquid, not caring about a glass. Growing up, we used to talk about how getting a girl pregnant was a death sentence, but I’m not nineteen years old anymore. I’m a man, who takes care of his own. I have to be. My fist jets out once again to punch the seat in front of me.

I take another swig of whiskey but it doesn’t even burn going down. Instead, it’s smooth and full-bodied. What I need is the cheap stuff I used to drink as a teen. That stuff would put hair on anyone’s chest.

“Change of plans, liquor store first.”

I wake with my head pounding. Everything hurts, starting at my temple down to my legs. I sit up, using my hand to push on the hard floor. It takes a few tries to open my eyes enough to realize I don’t know where the fuck I am.

Beside me is an Advil and a glass of water. I pick up the small pill, looking at the black lettering. The pounding refuses to stop. Each muscle protests as I pop the pill and take a gulp of the room temperature water.

I look back down and realize my head was resting on a medium-sized tie-dyed bunny. I grab it, its soft fur melting into my strong grasp.

My knees crack as I drag myself into a standing position.

“Good morning!” Oakleigh is staring at me, bright eyed and happy.

I clear my throat. “Morning.” I look around at the room but nothing indicates this is a nine-year-old’s room. It smells like an old person.

“Thank you for the rabbit.” She tilts her head toward my hands.

“Ah, yes. Here you go.” My voice is gruff and cracks as I wake up.

She giggles. I have no idea what I said that was funny. “So, you’re my dad, huh?” she questions.

I’m way too tired and hungover to be having this conversation.

“Mom told me last night. It’s okay, I just found out too. The only thing to do from here is get to know each other. Mom said you two grew up together and lived across the street from each other.”

She’s looking at me expectantly.

“Where is Demi?” I ask, rubbing at the side of my head.

“Oak, why don’t you go outside while Dante and I have a chat.”

I stare at Demi and what keeps running through my mind is that Oakleigh looks exactly like her.

“I want to get to know my daughter,” I say stiffly.

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