Chapter 3 - Seven Years of Lies
Ethan looked from me to Adrian.
“What?”
I sat beside his bed.
Adrian stayed standing.
“Remember when you asked about your dad?”
Ethan’s face changed immediately.
“You said he wasn’t around.”
“I did.”
“So?”
I forced myself to continue.
“I didn’t tell you everything.”
Ethan looked toward Adrian again.
Then back at me.
He was smart.
Far too smart.
“That’s my dad?”
The room went silent.
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan stared at Adrian.
Adrian did not move.
Finally Ethan asked, “Did you know?”
Adrian answered immediately.
“No.”
“Mom didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“That’s something your mom and I are still discussing.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because I thought I was protecting you.”
“From him?”
My chest tightened.
“From things around him.”
Adrian turned away slightly.
Ethan noticed.
“What things?”
“You don’t need to worry about that today.”
“That means it’s bad.”
“Ethan.”
“What does he do?”
Adrian answered before I could.
“Business.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“That sounds fake.”
A guard outside turned his face away to hide a smile.
Adrian glanced at him.
The smile vanished.
Ethan pointed weakly.
“See? He’s scared of you.”
“Apparently.”
Ethan looked at Adrian for another long moment.
Then asked something I wasn’t ready for.
“Did you want kids?”
Adrian’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
“Then Mom took one.”
“Ethan.”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“I want to know.”
I reached for him.
He pulled his hand away.
“Seven years.”
I felt the words like a slap.
“You always tell me lying makes things worse.”
“I know.”
“You lied every birthday.”
“I know.”
“Every Father’s Day.”
My eyes filled.
“I know.”
Ethan turned his face toward the window.
“I’m tired.”
Dr. Mercer stepped closer.
“That’s enough for now.”
I stood.
“Sweetheart—”
“I want to sleep.”
Adrian moved toward the door.
Then Ethan said, “Wait.”
He stopped.
“Are you leaving?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Do you want me to?”
Ethan thought about it.
“No.”
Adrian pulled a chair toward the wall.
“Then I’m staying.”
I left the room because I could no longer breathe.
In the hallway, I found Adrian’s oldest friend and security chief, Marcus Vale.
He had known me years ago.
His hair was grayer now.
His expression was not.
“Claire.”
“Marcus.”
“I used to think you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You broke him.”
“I know that too.”
Marcus looked through the glass at Adrian sitting beside Ethan’s bed.
“That’s nothing compared to what this will do.”
“I was trying to keep Ethan alive.”
“You should tell Adrian the whole story.”
“I will.”
“Today.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t get to order me around.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“But somebody threatened you before you disappeared.”
My stomach dropped.
Marcus watched my face.
“I knew it.”
“You knew nothing.”
“I knew you weren’t afraid of Adrian.”
“I became afraid of what came with him.”
“Who?”
I looked away.
Seven years earlier, I had found an envelope beneath my windshield wiper.
Inside was a photograph of me leaving my obstetrician’s office.
On the back, one sentence:
Tell Blackwood about the baby and he’ll bury two coffins.
I had been eight weeks pregnant.
I never told Adrian.
I changed my name, left Los Angeles, and disappeared.
“Claire.”
I looked at Marcus.
“Someone knew I was pregnant before Adrian did.”
His expression hardened.
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
“Show me what they sent.”
“I burned it.”
Marcus swore.
Adrian appeared behind us.
“What did you burn?”
Neither of us answered.
He looked at Marcus.
“Leave.”
“Adrian—”
“Now.”
Marcus walked away.
Adrian faced me.
“What did you burn?”
I closed my eyes.
“The reason I disappeared.”
His expression became unreadable.
I told him.
Everything.
The photograph.
The message.
The second envelope that arrived at my workplace containing Adrian’s schedule.
The car that followed me twice.
The stranger who approached me outside a grocery store and whispered, “Blackwood men don’t get families. They get funerals.”
Adrian said nothing for almost a minute.
Then he asked, “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because whoever was threatening me knew your security rotations.”
He went still.
“They knew where I was before you did.”
“Yes.”
“Which meant—”
“Someone close to you.”
His eyes turned cold.
I remembered those eyes.
They were the reason powerful men whispered his name.
Adrian pulled out his phone.
“Marcus.”
He listened.
“Lock down access to Ethan’s chart.”
Another pause.
“No one outside this floor.”
He ended the call.
“You think whoever threatened me seven years ago is still around?”
“I don’t know.”
I glanced toward Ethan.
“But the moment his genetic profile hit your restricted system, someone might know he exists.”
Adrian’s face changed.
He looked toward the security doors.
Then at the cameras overhead.
“You were right about one thing.”
“What?”
“My world was dangerous.”
I swallowed.
“And I was wrong about another.”
“What?”
He stepped closer.
May you like
“You were never safer without me.”
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