“Already?” He pursed his lip, studying me. “Is everything okay? You look pale. Are you sick?” He was by my side, feeling my skin for a rise in temperature. I couldn’t breathe. It was all overwhelming. He would hate me. Or worse, take Jason away from me.
Olivia’s words kept ringing in my head. ‘Jason deserves to know his father. He shouldn’t have to pay for your mistake.’
“Hey. Breathe.”
He pulled me to the nearest couch and sat me on it. He then hurried out of the room, only to return shortly after with a glass of water. “Here, drink this.” When I didn’t immediately obey the command, he held the cup up to my lips while I took little sips of the cold water.
“Better?”
“A little. Thanks.”
“Do you have a savior kink? It’s been twice now that I’ve had to jump to your rescue,” he joked.
That was it. He’d been nothing short of kind to me. A great father, an even more amazing and selfless doctor, as stated by most of his patients. It was the reason Vitality was fast approaching the number one slot of best hospitals in the country.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Fuck! You caught me staring, didn’t you? I know we agreed to take sex out, but I am a man, and you have on this damn sexy outfit and—”
Just rip the band-aid.
“Adrian, Jason is your son.”
The flirty look on his face disappeared and was immediately replaced by an unreadable expression. “I know he’ll be my son when we get married. We already established that.”
I blew out a frustrated breath and turned to him, pinning his eyes with mine. I needed him to get the message once and for all. It was already difficult enough doing that one time. I wasn’t keen on repetition.
“No. Jason is your biological son.”
“That’s impossible. How old is he again?”
“Seven.” I could see all the wheels in his head turning at an alarming speed.
“See? My wife died five years ago. I haven’t been with anyone ever since. Besides, if I had something with you, I would remember.”
I was gradually losing my cool. “Would you now?” I arched my brow.
“Who put you up to this? Is it because of our deal? Money? Is that what this is about?”
The annoying, arrogant skunk. I was livid. I was wrong, but that reaction was kind of the exact reason I hadn’t been ecstatic to inform him.
“Remember your twenty-second birthday? Eight years ago?”
I saw it when realization dawned on him. He paled and stiffened visibly. “I knew you looked familiar. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t find you.”
“Lies. Were you fucking happy? Getting off on my ignorance? Were you happy watching me treat my own son like a stranger?”
Tears flowed out of my eyes in unstoppable torrents. “I’m sorry. That’s not what happened. I tried to tell you—”
“To think that I was starting to feel something for you. You are fucking wicked and evil. I will conduct a DNA test, and if it comes out positive, I’ll do right by my son. The deal, that’s all that’s left between us. I do not want to see your ugly face if not absolutely unavoidable. Got it? Now get the fuck out of my space!”
His gaze was cold and unflinching. The anger in his eyes was chilling, so much so that it struck me and froze my tongue. There was nothing to say in my defense. I couldn't bear his silence, but I deserved it.
He was hurt. I had hurt him, and it broke my heart.
13