Page 82 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

“Then I’m happy for you both.”

“Finally!” She hugged me again. With a laugh, I said my goodbye and returned home.

The moment I stepped through the door, Knightly was waiting for me. “You missed Ms. Layton.” He took my coat.

“What do you mean? She’s at work, isn’t she?”

“Apparently, her case against her father is resolved. She’s moved back to her mother's home."

Panic burned in my gut. She was gone?

“It seems her father was arrested. Along with her lawyer, or at least that’s what we’ve been able to glean from the Internet news.”

“Arrested?” I asked.

“Fraud of some sort.”

"Is that so? Well, it doesn't concern us, does it?" I started to go to my office, not wanting to care so much that Samantha was out of my house.

"No, sir. I just thought you might like to know."

“It will be nice to have the house quiet,” I said, feeling like an asshole for saying it.

I stood in my office, my heart pounding in my chest. If Samantha had left in such a hurry, how could I be sure she wouldn't try to keep Pax from me? Had she planned to leave today and it was her good luck that her father was arrested? The idea of that grew my feelings of anger and betrayal until they threatened to consume me.

“Yes, sir. Are you okay?”

I realized my staff didn’t know the situation. "Did she say anything else?"

"No.Only that she'll be staying at her mother's place with Marie and Pax." Knightly furrowed his brows, clearly taken aback by my clipped tone.

"Thank you, Knightly." My gratitude was genuine, despite my irritation. He nodded, concern etched on his face, before returning to his duties.

I closed my office door, determining I’d tell them later about Pax. Or maybe they’d find out online. I let out a growl. They deserved to hear it from me, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk with anyone right now.

Even so, the news about Pax was going to get out. Fucking hell. If only Samantha hadn't lied, we could’ve been together, and the relationship wouldn't seem so sordid. Now, I was going to come out looking like a dirty old man who knocked up his intern and abandoned her. It gave me one more thing to resent Samantha for.

27

Samantha

Iwas surprised that the news of my past affair with Henry and having his son wasn’t sweeping the Internet by the end of that first day. Granted, Henry owned a big bulk of media, but not all of it. Certainly not the gossip sites.

But the next day, Henry had released a statement, and that was when social media lit up like the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Once the news was out, my life grew smaller than it already was. I couldn't escape the judgmental whispers that seemed to follow me everywhere I went. The weight of those stares and murmurs bore down on me, making it difficult to breathe.

When the news first broke, I called Victoria. I’d so desperately wanted to talk to her but had put it off knowing that Henry was the one who needed to talk with her first.

“I can’t believe you did that,” was how she answered the phone.

Did what? Slept with her father or not tell him about Pax? Both, maybe. “I’m sorry—”

“You know what, Samantha? It’s cringy that you slept with my father, but I could deal with that. I mean, I can’t talk can I? I’m married to his friend. But what I can’t get past, what I find it hard to forgive, is your keeping Pax from him. Keeping him from me. He’s my brother! How could you?”

“At the time—”

“My father is a wonderful man. He’s a great father—”

“I know.”

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