She sighed, and he saw that knowledge in her gaze. At least she wasn’t going to sit there and lie to him or put him down. He wondered if that would hurt him.
“You always did work so much harder to prove yourself so people wouldn’t say you were spoiled,” she admitted.
Kian hadn’t wanted to say he’d been given a silver spoon because of the way he’d been born. He’d studied hard, and now he was a doctor in extreme demand. He was often called to other places where only he could help. There was a lot of pride in knowing he was worthy of his family name.
It was almost odd to him that he’d been coasting through life without a lot of care in the world until he’d met Roxie. And then he’d been in love, willing to drop to his knees for her. Then she’d left, and he’d become a different man—harder. And now he was a father. This woman was responsible for all the major shifts in his life.
He was about to speak when she slapped him again with her words. “You didn’t have to sleep with my sister for revenge, though.”
“It wasn’t revenge. I was doing what I had to do,” he said with a shrug. “And that’s all on my shoulders. But I wouldn’t have been on the prowl for anyone else had you been at my side, where I thought you’d always be.”
Roxie’s eyes filled with tears before she looked down. He glanced at his daughter again, letting the knowledge of his fatherhood truly seep in.
“I missed her first word, first steps. I missed too much,” Kian said.
Roxie looked afraid as she clung tighter to Lily’s hand. His eyes narrowed. If she truly thought she’d keep him away from this child, she was sorely mistaken. Kian knew nothing about Roxie anymore. He didn’t know if she had a husband, a boyfriend, a life outside of Lily. The thought of another man in her life sent a whole new burst of fire racing through him.
He had no claim on Roxie. But he certainly had a hell of a claim on Lily. He was sure Roxie had no other immediate family left. No one else would be trying to make a claim on his child. He also knew, with his power and influence, he could take his child from Roxie within days. She was his, after all. As soon as the blood tests came in, the courts would hand her over, no matter how much Roxie might try to fight it and no matter what it was that Pamela wanted. He didn’t owe Pamela anything, either. She’d deceived him for more than four years. She would have known within two months she was pregnant, and not once had she come to him to do the right thing. Why he should consider her feelings now, he didn’t know.
But Kian didn’t want to go that route. He didn’t understand why he would hesitate to do what had to be done, but he wanted to give Roxie more respect than that—certainly more respect than she’d given him.
Too much emotion and far too many thoughts were clouding up Kian’s thinking. He wanted answers right now, but he wasn’t sure he could remain calm enough to listen. This was a mess, and they would get to the bottom of it, but maybe he would give her a day or two to come to terms with the loss of her sister.
“Maybe my sister didn’t know,” Roxie finally said. It took a moment for Kian to hear her words. He was so stuck in his own head, it was difficult to come back out.
“She knew,” he said with a sigh. “She confessed to me. That’s how I know.” This sentence was uttered with respect. He wouldn’t continue to speak cruelly about her, not when she wasn’t around to defend herself.
“Don’t you think she would have come and asked for help if she’d known?” Roxie pointed out.
“No, because she would have known I could take my child,” he said. He forced himself to calm. “But in the end, she did the right thing. That’s what I want to remember and think about.”
A shudder racked Roxie’s body as she leaned away from him as if trying to protect herself. That enraged him all over again. She in no way needed protection from him. He’d never done anything to harm Roxie—not ever.
“Look, Kian, I know this is a lot to take in, and you’re probably upset right now,” Roxie said, her voice calm as he realized she was trying to placate him. He hated when people tried doing that. It only made his blood boil all that much more.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement,” he told her. What he needed to do was find a punching bag and destroy it, or maybe find some asshole in a bar and start a fight. What he wanted to do was take out his aggression in any form possible. But, instead, he was forcing himself to stand there calmly and look at the woman who’d betrayed him while she clutched his daughter’s hand in hers.
“Were you going to even tell me you were here if you hadn’t seen me?” he asked after several moments of silence. Maybe that shouldn’t have been the question he asked, but he wanted to know if she was planning on hiding from him while here.
“I’m sorry about the way I left, but that was a long time ago, and I don’t think it does either of us any good to dwell on the past,” she said, not answering his question. If she thought he was that easily dissuaded, she hadn’t really known him at all. Maybe she hadn’t.
“You clearly think you have all the answers and know exactly how I might have felt or how I’m feeling right now,” he said. This wasn’t a question; it was a harsh assessment that, in his honest opinion, hit the nail on the head.
“I’m not saying that,” she defended. Then they were both silent for several moments as the two of them tried to find their footing in this traumatic situation.
“I’m going to take a walk,” he finally told her.
The relief on her face as he stood up was another shot to his ego, but he pushed it aside. This wasn’t the time to keep thinking of himself—not with his daughter lying there so helplessly.
He left the room. This night was nowhere close to being over, and the best thing for both of them in this moment was to have a break. And he needed to call his parents. Though they’d be just as disappointed in missing out on the past three years of Lily’s life as he was, he had zero doubt they’d embrace her with all the love they had to offer.
His family was so much more than the money in their accounts. Even if others didn’t realize that, he was sure in that knowledge. It was the first thought all night that put the slightest of smiles on his lips.
Chapter Four
The circles beneath Roxie’s eyes were growing deeper by the day, but she didn’t care in the least. What she cared about was that her niece was finally getting released from the hospital. Two weeks of sleeping on an uncomfortable couch so she could be by her niece’s side had been well worth the aches and pains in her body.
Two weeks of seeing Kian every single day was playing havoc with her nerves, but even that she could deal with. They hadn’t discussed the two of them any further, and he hadn’t threatened her with taking Lily away, but his very presence was letting her know he wasn’t going anywhere.
She didn’t want to even think about that at the moment. It was too much for her to process, and she wanted to feel a bit of joy that her niece would survive. But now it was time to tell Lily her mother wasn’t coming back to her. How was Roxie going to do that?
Kian walked into the room and grinned as he sat down next to Roxie, far too close for her comfort. He easily reached out and clasped Lily’s hand, and she looked at him with a bit of hero worship that had Roxie wanting to grind her teeth.