9781618858368ForbiddenDeceptionlLeveyNC (12 page)

Chapter Eight

Shocked.
Furious.
No, enraged.
Crushed.
Betrayed.
The gamut of emotions threatened to break
him. Seth sat in his truck across the street from Ailyn’s house. At first, he
tried to come up with a reason for her whiplashing attitude. In the back of his
mind thinking the way she held a deep seated hatred wasn’t healthy. Never in
his wildest imagination did he think they’d created something
so
wonderful as Eva. He hadn’t begun to process having a ten–year-old
daughter. Not with the rage ripping him to shreds.

What
did he know about parenting? Running teams of men and women, being the first
responder on site, delving into chaos was what he was made for. The thought of
being responsible for something so precious and innocent terrified him, without
adding in being late to the game. Ailyn’s car swooped past him into the
driveway. He watched her zip into her garage, the door sealing her inside.

Ten
minutes passed, he figured he’d waited long enough for her to get semi-settled
in and exited his truck. He stood at her door, rang the bell and tucked his
hands into his front pockets while he waited. An eternity passed with no
answer. He reached forward and pounded on the door.

“Just
a minute.”

With
a swoosh
, Ailyn opened the door. “I’m sorry. I was on
the phone, didn’t hear the doorbell.” She hugged the wood barrier as if it were
a lifeline to her private life.

“It’s
okay.” His voice came off more clipped than he wanted. She looked fragile in
front of him as if she’d break and he’d done that to her.

“Come
in.” She stepped to the side to let him pass by her, and closed the door softly
behind him. “Let’s go to the living room.” She led the way. He watched from
behind as she pulled out her blouse from her pencil skirt and chucked the silk
scrap over her head.
“Strip.”
She cast the order from
over her shoulder.

Seth
swallowed the pull of lust slamming through him. His gaze traveled down her
legs, clad in thigh highs with pink bows dead center at the top, as she slipped
off her skirt. “You take the fight out of a man.” He pulled off his blue cotton
shirt, making sure she got a glimpse of his muscled physique, and then leaned
over to unlace and kick off his boots. She turned from him when he unbuttoned
his jeans and jerked them off. A solid shield of shit between them prevented
him from knowing what played across her mind. Curious to her game, he gave her
room to make the first move.

In
the comfort of her living room, she turned to face him. “I figured why break
tradition.” She sat on the couch and crossed her thigh high encased leg with
her strappy sexy stiletto.

For
a man used to being in control of everything, she ripped said control right out
of his hands, and she knew it. On her turf he struggled to find a modicum of the
rage coursing through him. Minutes ago, outside, he couldn’t escape the rage. Now,
here he sat in boxer briefs, staring at her. “I need you to take those off. I
can’t think with them on. The shoes have to go too.”

Ailyn’s
smile set his teeth on edge, telling him he’d played into her hands as she
eloquently reached over to slip her shoes off and stood. She slipped her
fingers inside the hem of her stockings before rolling them down over her long
legs one by one with excruciating slowness.

“Christ’s
blood, darlin’.”

His
dick jerked. Lust gripped him by the balls. Visions of her bent over the couch
clad in stockings and pumps danced through his mind. The absence of the silk
covering her didn’t diminish how sexy he found her.

“Can
we get it over with now?”

Seth
tore his attention from her body to the words coming from her mouth, struggling
to catch up. He paid attention to the change in her body language and posture.
Clearly having her remove the distractions put them on equal footing. She
appeared ill at ease, waiting for the ball to drop. She motioned for him to
take a seat. Instead of sitting on the couch, he walked into the kitchen and returned
with one of her dining room chairs, placed it directly in front of her and took
his seat.

“Ailyn.
In retrospect, even at sixteen, I should’ve known something was off with you to
disappear completely off the grid so fast. I want to know everything. What was
going through your head, why you didn’t contact me then, later—all of the ugly
truth.
I deserve honest answers.” He leaned back to give her
some personal space.

“I
was heartbroken, embarrassed and terrified. You were in no position to be a
parent, and I wasn’t willing to risk going to jail or losing my daughter for
something that wasn’t my fault.” Ailyn crossed her arms under her breasts.
 
“Everything, every choice I made boiled down
to, do I risk going to jail for the boy I fell for? Can I stay away from him knowing
it’s illegal to be together? Can I survive quitting loving him?”Ailyn broke eye
contact. “You have such a magnetic personality. This immense presence, you had it
before and still do, more prominent now. Your effect is nirvana, addictive
without trying. I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t have caved under pressure if we
lived in the same area code. To avoid succumbing to my conscience, the only
recourse I had left was to remove myself from temptation. ”

“What
made you feel like you had to do this alone? Did I ever give you any indication
other than my age that what we shared wasn’t love?
That I
wouldn’t do anything for you?”

She
shrugged, shifting her stance. “You lied about something basic. I refused to
risk the unknown or your parents’ reaction. This wasn’t something as simple as
underage drinking. Even now, this is a whole new ball park—one where to this
day I could still
go
to jail.”

Seth
scratched his jaw and let out a pent up sigh. “I highly doubt you’d end up in
the slammer. We’re both adults now.”

“The
state has a year to prosecute after a DNA sample is given, Seth.”

Seth
blew out an aggravated breath. “She is
ours,
no one in
my family would’ve endangered you or Eva if only you’d have told us. I was your
first lover. I wouldn’t have demanded a test then or now. We could’ve handled
things differently, Ailyn. Hell, I promised to take care of you. I understand
why you didn’t contact me. I do, but did you really think running from the
situation was the best way to handle it? That you could run forever and it
wouldn’t catch up with you in the end?”

“Gee,
I don’t know. I mean what else should I have done, aborted her?”

“God
no.”
He jumped from the chair and cringed as it crashed
to the ground. Taking a deep breath, he paced in front of her. “I have a
juvenile record, you know, for underage drinking, fraudulent identification. No
court would’ve put you away from something you had no control of.”

“But
you got that after we broke up. I didn’t know. Besides, you deserved to have a normal
childhood and go to college.”

Seth
snapped his gaze at her and encroached in her personal space. Jaw clenched, he loomed
over her seething in fury. “I wasn’t a goddamn child when we were together.
Stop alluding to that.” She recoiled from him, the fear in her eyes made him
take a step back. “There was nothing wrong or bad about us, okay. People date
each other all the time that are a few years apart.”

“The
laws—”

“Fuck
the damn law. I knew then you were it for me and if I’d waited six months or a
year my chance would be gone. I am sorry for the millionth time that I lied to
you about my age, but I don’t regret one single minute of being with you.”

“Okay.
What about your parents?”

“They
knew you were in college. Not at first, but after you left and I got busted.
They’re pretty astute. Hell, they knew I was drinking and involved in knowing
who was making and selling the IDs. I took responsibility for my youthful crimes
then, and paid the price both with my parent’s disappointment and the law.”

“So
now you know. I hope you don’t hate me but I can’t say—even now knowing what
you’ve told me, I’d have changed my actions ten years ago. I love my—our
daughter more than anything in this world.” Ailyn moved forward, putting her
hands on his chest, a beseeching expression written across her face.

“I
respect that. You have no idea how much I admire you for having the strength to
raise her alone. The only remaining issue I have right this minute is your
secrecy. We spent time together in bed and out. Not once did you mention Eva.”
Seth toned down the clipped tenor of his voice.

“I
was still afraid. You act like I immediately should’ve just forgotten the
panic, the fear and reprisal because we crashed into one another again.”

“So,
what you’re really saying is you’d have never looked me up to let me know about
Eva?” She squirmed underneath his curt appraisal. His gut clenched waiting for
her answer. “Don’t answer. I mean it’s fairly obvious since ten years has
passed. You had no inclination of notifying me by any means available.”

“Seth,
it’s a complicated situation. You can’t honestly think if you’d have known
,
your path wouldn’t have changed. Look at who you are now,
all you’ve accomplished. Do you think you’d have gotten this far with the added
responsibility of parenthood?”

“Yet,
you did. You have a great career, one you love, and have spent the last decade raising
our child while denying me the right to know or be a part of her life.” Knowing
that if not for the school catching fire, he might never know of Eva was a hard
pill to swallow, even though deep down he understood the reasoning, and didn’t
begrudge her. Still unspoken words and intent cut deep.

“I
chose to carry the burden on my own. I’m sorry you’re hurt.”

He
believed her. She wasn’t a mean spirited. Just stubborn, like a majority of
women he’d come to know and dated.

“What
does Eva know about me? I’m sure she has had questions.” He led them both to
the couch to sit. He leaned back, put his hands behind his head and stared
forward. Ailyn turned to him and tucked her leg under the other. “She has a
picture of us in a frame by her bed. She knows your name and that you were an
athlete. She knows who she’s named after. I told her we lost touch with one
another and I didn’t know where you were.”

“Shit,
I’m surprised she doesn’t hate the thought of me.”

“Don’t
do that. She can’t hate what she doesn’t know. Besides, it’s not like she
hasn’t had a male influence in her life. Cordero has been present for every
major moment of her life. Even when he’s traveling to fight or preparing, they have
this video chat schedule to spend time together. She’ll just have two men who
love her now. Of course there’ll be an adjustment period. If I’ve learned
anything from my career
it’s
how children are
resilient at adjusting. Adults are the ones who have a hard time.”

Hearing
how her brother had been there for his girls made him feel remotely better and
cheated all at the same time. “How long has he known about me being her
father?”

“When
he came after I first saw you again. He’s been pushing me to talk to you
instead of running. I think he’s pissed that he never put two and two together
or maybe we’d have collided earlier. My younger brother seems to know what I
need, not the other way around.”

“Where
does Mia come into play?”

“I
met her in town like I said, but she also introduced me to the dance school and
gymnastics academy Eva attends after school. Ashland babysits sometimes for me.”
Aylin checked her watch.

“Expecting
her home?”

“No.
Rianna is picking her up and keeping her overnight so we can sort out this mess
and figure out where to go from here.” Ailyn bit her lip and rubbed her brow, a
hint of exhaustion showing on her face.

“Dire
knows?”

“I
don’t think so. He would’ve told you. I told Mia, who also told me to trust you
and quit hiding. You have a lot of people who respect you and trust you
immensely.”

“And
can you?”

“I
want to. I want to so bad.
Ri
thinks the reason I’ve
never been able to move forward and connect with another man is because of the
secrecy. Can you ever trust me?”

“Come
here.”

Ailyn
uncurled from her seat and edged closer into his arms. She straddled his lap,
laying her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled her
sweet scent. Her body trembled against him as he held her, warm teardrops
trickled onto him.

“Don’t
cry. We will work this out. I promise you.” He kissed her nape, roaming his
hands over her back. She shifted in his arms to look at him. Seeing the doubt,
the fear and need in her gaze unmanned him. He wanted to make life perfect for
her, wanted to prove he was more worthy of her than when he was a teen. “I got
you, darlin’.”