Page 35 of In The Game

“I mean, I’d have thought, but I also thought she would have left her number that night. I dunno, I can’t shake it. Something is telling me he’s mine.”

Sully takes a sip of his beer, and I palm the back of my neck as a thought crosses my mind:is he mine or do Iwanthim to be?

He pulls the drink from his lips. “Holy shit. You’re serious. What if he’s not yours?”

Ignoring that.

“Where’s Carlos?” I ask, scrubbing a hand down my face.

He looks around the room and points to the corner of the bar.

“Conway…” That’s a big question I’m not prepared to answer. Thankfully, he doesn’t force me to. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

I nod and beeline it for the event coordinator.

When I get to him, he rolls his eyes at me. “Seriously? It’s barely been five minutes, you promised—”

“I need the guest list from tonight.”

“What? Why?”

The veins in my neck are popping out, I want to shake him.

“Carlos. I will spend the next hour here if you don’t ask any questions and get me that fucking list.”

“Done. I’ll email it to you when I get back to my office.”

“No.Now.”

He furrows his brows and pulls his phone from his back pocket. “Okay…I’ll do it now.”

I pull out my phone and wait for it to come through. As soon as it does, I walk away with eyes on the screen. I scan Carlos’s email. There she is.

“Thanks.”

Raleigh Dunham, Executive Assistant. (Chicken, +1 child meal)

Did I meet my son tonight? I break into a sweat. I might actually throw up. If that’s my child…

The thought makes me livid. It seems she’s done a great job raising him, but if he’s mine, then I should have known.I should be in his life.

He’s a cute kid. He’s smart. Of course he’s smart, Raleigh’s smart.Even her slimy boss knows that.Why did she fly out of here so fast? She looked disgusted with me. If anything, I should be pissed at her! She’s the one that snuck out in the middle of night with no way to contact her. And may even be holding secrets from me. Big ones. If Arthur is mine and she tries to cover it up, I’ll have no choice but to fight for partial custody.

She can’t keep him from me, and I refuse to be a deadbeat dad. I’ve seen enough of that through Camp Conway, I won’t be one of them. I search the email and find her work email address and tap out a message.

I have a thousand questions, and she owes me serious fucking answers.

FIFTEEN

When I log into my work computer Monday morning, wedged between a million other work emails, is one with a sender that catches my eye.

Barrett Conway.

I skim through the message. This ballsy motherfucker…Nowhe wants to talk? Well, fuck that. And fuck him too. His last words to me were “Congratulations on your bastard.” He’s ruthless and cruel. And I’ll never let someone like that near my son.

I hope he doesn’t see the resemblance to Arthur I do. When they’re side by side, it’s clear as day.

To:[email protected]

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