Chapter 242
I looked down at her solemn little face, her gray eyes – Alexander’s eyes – serious and searching. “Of course, baby. Anything.”
“Was that lady talking about my daddy? About Alpha Alexander?”
My heart stuttered in my chest. I’d underestimated how much she’d heard, how much she’d understood.
Aria had always been perceptive beyond her years – another trait she’d inherited from her father.
I sank onto the edge of the bed and patted the space beside me. Aria climbed up, her eyes never leaving my face. It was time for some version of the truth.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I admitted softly. “Alpha Alexander is your father.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Her voice wasn’t accusatory, just confused and a little hurt.
I wrapped an arm around her small shoulders.
“I was trying to protect you, baby. Sometimes… sometimes grown–ups have complicated problems, and I didn’t want those problems to touch you.”
“Does he know about me?” Aria asked, her fingers twisting in her lap. “Does my daddy know I exist?”
The innocent question pierced my heart like a silver blade. “No, honey. He doesn’t.”
“Why not? Doesn’t he want me?” The tremor in her voice nearly broke me.
“Oh, Aria, no.” I pulled her into a tight hug, blinking back tears.
“Your daddy would have loved you so much. The problem isn’t that he doesn’t want you. The problem is that he… he had an accident. His mind got hurt, and he forgot about me. About us.”
“He forgot?” Aria’s brow furrowed. “Like when I couldn’t remember where I put my blue crayon?”
A watery laugh escaped me. “Something like that, but bigger. He forgot a whole part of his life – me in it.”
the
part with
“Can’t we help him remember? Like how you helped me find my crayon under the bed?”
The simplicity of her question made my chest ache.
“It’s not that simple, sweetheart. And right now, there are some… not–nice people who might try to hurt us if they found out you’re his daughter.”
Aria’s eyes widened. “Like the mean lady from the store?”
“Yes, like her.” I smoothed her dark hair back from her forehead. “That’s why, for now, we need to keep this our special secret, okay?
You can’t tell anyone that Alexander is your daddy, and when we see him at Elena’s wedding, you need to pretend you don’t know who he is.”
C
“But that’s lying,” Aria said with the brutal honesty of a child. “You said lying is wrong.‘
“Sometimes,” I said carefully, “keeping a secret isn’t the same as lying. Sometimes secrets protect the people we love. This secret is protecting both you and your daddy until the time is right to tell him the truth.”
Aria considered this, her expression thoughtful beyond her years.
“Okay, Mommy. I’ll keep our secret.” She paused, then asked hopefully, “But someday, can I meet him as my daddy? For real?”
“Someday,” I promised, hoping it wasn’t a lie. “When it’s safe.”
She nodded, seemingly satisfied for now, and snuggled closer to me. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, baby. More than anything in this world.”
That night, after Aria had fallen asleep, I stood by the hotel window looking out at the lights of the city.
Tomorrow, Nate would arrive–it would also complicate things further.
Morning came too quickly. After dropping Aria off with the hotel’s childcare service for a few hours, I headed to the airport to meet Nate’s flight.
My stomach was in knots as I navigated the busy terminal, scanning the arrival boards for updates.
I spotted him before he saw me – tall and imposing even in casual clothes, his alert eyes scanning the crowd.
Relief flooded through me at the sight of him, a familiar face in a sea of strangers.
“Nate!” I called, raising my hand in a wave.
His face broke into a warm smile as he caught sight of me. In three long strides, he closed the distance between us, wrapping me in a tight embrace that lifted me off my feet.
“Sarah,” he murmured against my hair, his familiar scent – pine and earth and safety – enveloping me. “God, I’ve missed you.”
I returned the hug lightly, deep down, I hadn’t wanted him to come–but I couldn’t deny the comfort of seeing a familiar friend.
“You… didn’t have to come,” I said quietly, keeping my tone neutral.
“I know,” he replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. “But I wanted to.”
What neither of us realized in that moment of reunion was that across the terminal, partially obscured by a pillar, stood Alexander Blackwood, his stormy gray eyes fixed on our embrace, his expression darkening with each passing second.
