Page 81 of Off Limits Daddy

I started to open my mouth, but Duncan spoke first. "Now that we're all safe, I think Veronica is going to want to go her own way. It’s going to be you and me, Champ."

Once again, I opened my mouth to respond, but the door opened and the nurse we'd seen at the station walked in. "I'm sorry to ruin your reunion, but if we’re all going to stay out of trouble, you're going to have to leave."

No. No, no, no. I turned to Duncan, wanting to tell him so much.

"If he’s safe, you could probably take him over to Brett and Miranda's. I'm sure Aiden would have a good time playing with Grayson until I get out of this place."

If Duncan had ripped my heart out of my chest, thrown it on the floor, and stomped on it, I don't think it would hurt as much as his words hurt now. I reminded myself that he was operating on the belief that I didn’t want to be a family. So much had changed since our last conversation.

"I think it would be best if Aiden went home. I will take them there and stay with him?—"

"He needs someone to watch him while you work."

"I will watch him," I snapped. I took a calming breath. "You don't know this, Duncan, but I'm exactly what you and Aiden need." Before he could argue, I took Aiden's hand and led him out the door. I just had to hope that I could convince Duncan that what I said was the truth. That I was exactly what he and Aiden needed.

24

Duncan

Iwas in a park, pushing Aiden on the swing, his smile brighter than I'd ever seen, and it filled my chest with joy. On a park bench nearby, Veronica sat, her hand gently rubbing her round belly. A belly carrying our child. Life was perfect.

But the image began to fade. Aiden dissipated. I looked at Veronica. “I’m exactly what you and Aiden need.” But she, too, vanished until I was in the void. Sounds of machines and movement around me replaced them. I opened my eyes, discovering I wasn’t in a park, but the hospital. Memories flooded back. Veronica telling me she didn’t want to have me in her life. Me telling her she wouldn’t take my child from me. The gunshots. The hoping to hell that Aiden wouldn’t be taken from me.

"You must've been having a nice dream. You had a smile on your face,” the nurse said.

"That's all it was, though, a dream." I liked having dreams, but only if there was a chance to make them true. There wasn’tany way my dream would be true. Not with Veronica, anyway. She’d been clear about that.

"I was thinking that you were dreaming of your son and your wife. I would think that secret visit they made last night might've perked you up."

I frowned. "They were here?" And wife?

The nurse stopped what she was doing to look at me. "You don't remember? They were only here for a few minutes because it was after hours. You seemed very happy to see them. I have to ask that you don't mention their visit to anyone. I'm going off my shift and I would hate to get in trouble for breaking the rules. But it seemed like seeing them was something you needed. Maybe now that you’ve seen your son, you won’t worry and you can focus on resting and healing."

I scanned my brain and found images of Aiden standing on a chair next to my bed, whispering how he and Veronica were spies. How he'd assembled the longest sentence I'd ever heard come out of his mouth as he told me what happened after I'd been shot. The nurse was right, I was relieved to see him. Our ordeal was over. Aiden and I could now go on and live a normal life.

I'm exactly what you and Aiden need. Her words came back to me. But surely, I'd heard them wrong. Now that Aiden was safe, she could go back to focusing on her career. She didn't want a family. My brain might be foggy, but that was clear. I could still picture her in my office, telling me she was pregnant but didn’t want me in her life. So, I had to have misheard what she said last night. I was probably conflating her visit with my dream.

"There issomeone here who wants to see you."

I looked up at her. "Is it Veronica?"

"No. It's a man. He says he's your brother, but I'm not sure that's true. And once again, you can't tell anybody that I'm letting people visit you outside of normal visiting hours. But you strike me as a man who thrives on the energy of being around other people. So I'm going to let him in if you want to see him."

The only person I could think of who would introduce himself as my brother was Brett. I nodded. "I'd like to see him."

She exited my room and a few moments later, Brett entered. "You scared the shit out of me, Dunk. I think I've aged twenty years in the last couple of days."

I arched a brow, or at least it felt like I was arching a brow. My body didn’t feel like my own most of the time these days. It was either numb or aching. "Gee, I'm so sorry. Things have been so much easier for me."

He shook his head, but he reached out and took my hand, clasping it. "All kidding aside, you really had us all scared."

"I'm sorry."

"Staring at a gun, what was going through your head?"

"I don't know. The only thing that comes to mind was how surreal it was, but also wanting to make sure Aiden was safe."

"That kid, for as quiet and withdrawn as he is, he knew exactly what to do. Miranda and I stopped by this morning to check on Veronica and Aiden. We brought Grayson with us. Aiden gave us the whole scoop. I didn’t know he could talk that much."

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