I could feel Henry tense and reached out to gently squeeze his shoulder. His eyes flew immediately to me, and I tried to smile reassuringly at him.
“Why don’t you sit down with Ian, and I’ll bring you some hot chocolate and coffee for your friend. Then you can talk, and I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Henry leaned into me for a second. Then he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. That was a good sign, and I turned to leave, but not without looking at Ian again. He gave me a sharp nod of appreciation, and then he followed Henry into the apartment.
For a moment, I just stood there and watched them. Something was wrong. Henry was secretive about a few things. Like not telling me Ian’s last name and the fact he was a cop. They both sat down on the sofa, and I went into the kitchen. Grabbing two cups, I filled one with coffee and made a hot chocolate for Henry.
Was it a mistake to keep it a secret about what Sam found? What if…
“Why are you here?”
Henry's voice rang out in the open space. He couldn’t find the right volume when he was emotional. He either spoke too loud or too quiet. And if he was speaking, that meant that Ian couldn’t sign. As far as I knew, Henry only spoke with me and people who couldn’t sign. I couldn’t hear Ian’s answer, but I could hear Henry’s response.
“Nooo.”
I whirled around and looked at my Boy. Henry had paled, and his eyes were as big as saucers.
“I’m sorry, Henry, but we need to talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk about it!” Henry all but screamed, and the cop sighed.
I took a step in their direction but stopped when Ian continued, “Henry, I know that you don’t want to talk about it, but we have to. Your brother’s parole hearing is next week, and there is the possibility that he will walk.”
“They can’t. They can’t let him go.”
“I understand that, and I’ll try my best to convince the board to deny him the parole. But there’s only so much I can do without revealing that you’re still alive.”
“So, he’s going to go free?”
Ian sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Henry. But that is a possibility, yes.”
I swallowed hard and just stared at my Boy, who was devastated and shaken up. His brother. A parole hearing. The possibility that his brother was going to get out of prison. What that must mean for Henry, I could only imagine. The man who’d almost killed him was going to be walking the streets.
Henry must have caught movement out of the corner of his eye because his head whirled around. For a second, he just stared at me. Then he made a gagging noise, jumped up, and fled into the bathroom.
Oh no.
“I’ll go,” I said when Ian got up to follow him. Henry was my Boy, and it was my job to take care of him.
He was in the bathroom, huddled over the toilet, where he got rid of his breakfast—poor Baby. I rushed over to the sink and wet a towel, while Henry retched. Carefully, so I didn’t spook him, I knelt behind him and gently rubbed the cold cloth over his forehead. As soon as I touched him, Henry flinched away from me.
“N-No. You need to go.”
As if I would leave my Boy alone now. To make my point clear, I sat down and gently pulled him onto my lap. Henry held onto the toilet and hurled a few more times, but then he sat back and leaned against me and sobbed. He was leaning up against me, and I didn’t want to disturb his tummy, so I signed, “I won’t leave you, Henry. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t understand. You can’t hear any of this. You can’t…You’re going to hate me.” He sobbed into my chest.
Taking a deep breath, I gently stroked his cheek and kissed his nose—time to confess. “I could never hate you, Cupcake. You are a sweet, caring, wonderful man. You are nothing like your family.”
“My fam…Wait? You know?”
“Yes. I know.” He looked at my eyes, and then he looked at my lips. “Sam was curious about why you were so frightened, so he did a little digging. Please, don’t be mad at him. He meant well and wasn’t spying on you. He just wanted to know if there is a way he could help you. I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you. I wanted to wait until you’re ready to tell me on your own.”
“You know.”
“Yes, Baby. But it doesn’t change a thing. I’m still your Daddy, and I’m staying right here with you.” Proving my point, I gently cupped his cheeks and gently kissed him. He tensed up as he realized what I said.
Chapter 13
Henry
Why was breathing so hard? Oh yeah, right, because Caden knew. He knew who I was and where I came from. I pulled my head back, closed my eyes, and tried to breathe. Maybe it would be better if I just stopped breathing. They knew. They all knew, and now they would hate me. But Caden was still holding me, gently rubbing my back.
I’m still your Daddy.
How could he still want to be my Daddy? If he knew…Swallowing hard, I opened my eyes and looked at Caden.
“What…how much do you know?”
“I know most of it. I know that your name was Michael Altmann. I know that you grew up on some sort of compound. I know…” Caden took a deep breath. “I know what your brother did to you, and I know that the FBI faked your death.”
Oh, no. No, I shook my head. They promised me that no one would ever know. Only then would I be safe. If Sam found out…God, what if my family had found out I was still alive? What if that was the reason why my brother had this parole
