A movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention, the object of said thought creeping out of the front door.
“Sure,” he murmured. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get going.”
Grant looked taken aback, but didn’t say anything as Ransom turned on his heel and walked away. He picked up his pace, worried that he wouldn’t catch her on time. Just his luck, she was still standing in the hallway, pacing in front of the elevator.
“Come on, come on, come on,” she muttered. “Why are you so slow—Ransom!” The blood drained from her face.
He stalked toward her, hands fisted at his sides. She resembled a scared rabbit, cornered by a predator.
“He’s your son,” he stated, his eyes never leaving Evan. The boy turned his head to look up at him curiously.
She nodded, but didn’t say a word.
“How old is he?”
She expelled a breath. “Evan isn’t any of your concern,” she began. “I’m grateful for—”
“How. Old?” he growled.
Her bottom lip trembled. “Ten months.”
The moment she took the child from his arms, he’d already started the calculations. He swallowed hard. “He’s mine, isn’t he?”
Her silence told him the answer.
“Goddammit!” He punched the wall with his fist. The pain felt good because then he could concentrate on it and not the emotions inside him. “Why … why, Isabelle? Why have you been hiding him from me all this time?” His son. He had a son. Evan. And he’d held the boy just moments ago. Held his son in his arms. God, if he had known, he’d have ripped those men who took him into shreds! “Answer me. You owe me an explanation.”
“I owe you?” she asked incredulously as fury crossed her face. “You walked out on me!”
Pain slashed in his chest as his wolf slashed its claws at him. “I didn’t know you were—”
“You were the one who left,” she spat. “You said it was just for fun. Even offered me one last fuck before you hightailed it out of town. Called me a bitch in—”
“I didn’t mean it!” he roared and slammed his fist into the wall again, making her cringe. Evan wailed in distress, and she stepped back, turning his head away to soothe him while shooting him a dirty look.
His eyes widened. “I swear, Isabelle, I’m sorry.” He swallowed audibly, feeling the blood drain from his face. “Don’t look at me like that. I would never hurt you. Or Evan.” He would rather die. And he nearly did, that night. But he couldn’t tell her. Now he felt like a trapped animal, but it wasn’t a cage that trapped him, but his lies. “I have rights,” he said. “He’s mine too.”
“I was the one who carried him for nine months, who gave birth to him, clothed, fed, and changed him for the past ten months, all by myself,” she pointed out.
“Your family doesn’t know about me.”
“Ha!” She rolled her eyes. “And what? You’re going to tell them? Go ahead. Tell my father, tell my brother, and let’s see what they have to say about you leaving me pregnant and alone.”
Her words sliced through him like a sharp knife. “You should have told me about him.”
“And how was I supposed to do that?” she asked. “And for your information, I did think you should know, so tried calling your number, but it said it was disconnected. I figured that was your way of telling me you didn’t want to hear from me again.”
“I …” He remembered smashing the burner phone against the wall of his hotel room because he didn’t want that man to contact him anymore. I’m the biggest piece of shit in the world.
“Ransom!”
Whirling around, he saw Cross and Sabrina walking toward them. The hybrid looked at Isabelle and Evan, then back at Ransom, his ocean-colored eyes stormy.
“You knew,” he stated.
“I … we,” he looked down at Sabrina, who shot Ransom a sympathetic look, “suspected.”
“What?”
The elevator dinged and Isabelle scrambled inside. “Don’t!” she warned.
His feet were frozen to the ground. While his wolf urged him to run after her and their pup, the rational part of him told him to stay. We’ve hurt her enough.
“Did she confirm it?” Sabrina asked.
He swallowed and nodded. “How did you guess?”
“I wasn’t sure, but I saw the resemblance,” she began. “But now, looking at you and Evan side by side, I don’t know how anyone didn’t notice.”
“I thought Sabrina was just seeing things.” Cross scratched his chin. “But I saw it, when you were carrying him.” He stepped forward. “You were with her, weren’t you? Right before I fished you out of the Hudson.”
Confessing everything now seemed like the right choice to allay his own guilt. But with everything that was happening, if anyone found out the truth, he’d never see Isabelle or Evan again. “Yes. I was with her.”
“What happened?” Blue-green eyes looked at him suspiciously. “Who tried to kill you? Is that why you didn’t come back to New York?”
“It’s … complicated. Look,” he ran his hands through his hair, “I can’t tell you what happened that night. Not yet. But things between me and Isabelle … they were left unfinished.”
“Just talk to her,” Sabrina said. “And explain that you were hurt that night, which was why you couldn’t come back.”
He huffed. “I don’t think that’s going to help.”
“She’s your True Mate, isn’t she?” Sabrina asked. “She’ll want to take you back.”
“My … what?” Did he hear her right? “True Mate? Did she say anything?”
Sabrina frowned. “I just guessed it too. I mean, I assumed …”
He looked at Cross, who shrugged. “We all just assumed the father of her baby was dead,” the hybrid said. “But what does your wolf tell you?”
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. His wolf let out a longing yowl. Mine. “I need her back.” And hopefully, solve this mess before it bit him in the ass. She could never find out the reason he came to New
