"That's my fucking daughter?" he hisses at her, and it's done with such fury that Gracen shrinks back until the door stops her. "I have a fucking daughter and you never thought to fucking tell me?"
Marek takes a step toward her and I honestly don't know what he'll do, so I jump between them. I put my palms to his chest and give him a little shove back. "You need to dial it back, buddy. Before you do something stupid."
He's not dissuaded and he merely leans his head to the right to look past me. He points an accusing finger at her and I notice it's shaking. "There is no good reason that bitch should have kept that secret. I had a right to know."
Jesus, this is fucking whacked. I don't even know what to say, because Marek did have a right to know.
But his outrage apparently prompts Gracen to her own fury. She pushes her way right in between us and pushes Marek in the chest. My arms fall away and I stand poised ready to break up what could turn into a physical fight.
"You have no right to stand up there on a pedestal, Marek Fabritis, and act like you've been wronged," she yells at him furiously. Her face is beet red and her eyes are filled with tears. She blinks once and they fall, and she rubs at them with the backs of her hands as she continues. "You left me. You didn't want a relationship with me, and in case you have forgotten, your exact words, you asshole, were, 'I don't want the responsibility of a relationship. I don't want to have to take care of someone other than myself right now.' So I took what you said at face value, you smug, self-righteous prick, and I made a decision not to let my daughter's heart get broken by a daddy who didn't want the responsibility."
I cringe internally over those last words, and Marek seems to deflate, taking a step back from Gracen as he looks at her almost blankly.
Gracen on the other hand is still red with fury and her chest is heaving with indignation while tears continue to course down her face.
"What's her name?" Marek asks so softly I can barely hear him.
Now it's Gracen who deflates, and she looks like she could just melt into the floor with exhaustion. Still, her voice is stronger than Marek's when she answers, "Lilly."
"Lilly," he murmurs to himself, as if testing the weight of it on his tongue.
All three of us jolt when the door flies open, and this time there's a hulking bear of a guy standing there who I'm going to guess by the tuxedo is Gracen's fiance. He's as tall as Marek and me but twice as thick, especially in his belly area. Still, it looks like if a fight were to break out, he could get some good punches in before Marek could take him down.
And I've seen Marek on the ice. The fucker fights with uncontrolled fury.
"What the hell is going on, Gracen?" the guy asks as his eyes lock on to Marek with clear distaste. "Lilly said there were two men here in the room, and everyone in the church is waiting."
There is no mistaking the clear condescension in his voice as he talks "down" to Gracen, and I know in that instant Marek is right. This guy is a patronizing dickhead.
Gracen doesn't respond, but brings one hand up to her forehead where she rubs the bridge of her nose. I guarantee you she's sporting a massive stress headache right now.
"Get your shit, Gracen," Marek says with quiet command. "Get Lilly. You're both coming with me."
Gracen's hand falls away and her head snaps up to look at Marek in disbelief. Owen takes a step toward her and holds his hand out. "Gracen...come here to me. You and I are getting married, and it's happening right now."
"She's not fucking marrying you, and I'll be damned if you think you're going to raise my kid," Marek growls as he takes a step toward Owen.
I immediately place myself in his path, stiff arming him with a hand to his chest. Thankfully, he halts.
"Gracen," Owen says in a placating tone. "We love each other. This is our big day. Don't let him ruin it."
I watch Gracen's face closely. A sign that what Owen just said is true. That they love each other. I don't get a single bit of acknowledgment in her blank gaze back at him.
"Gracen," Marek says, and his tone is not placating. It's hard, ruthless, and not receptive to any argument. "You either come with me right now, or so help me God, I'll use every dime of the considerable fortune I have to take Lilly away from you and you'll never see her again."
I cringe again, this time visibly, and I can't control the groan of dismay that comes out of me. "Marek...dude. Not cool."
"Make your decision, Gracen," Marek says with so much ice in his voice that I have to suppress a shiver. He pushes past me and opens the door. "I'll be waiting in the car. You have five minutes to decide."
And with that, Marek walks out the door and slams it shut behind him.
I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose, trying to forestall a headache that's forming. I'm going to spank the shit out of Josie for even thinking this could be a good idea.
Chapter 24
Josie
I step into my house and immediately lock my eyes on Reed. I missed him today while he was off gallivanting in New York with Marek to stop a wedding.
"Hey, you," I say in a tone that comes out all sugary sweet because I'm happy to see him. "Thought you'd be waiting for me naked in bed."
I walk in and shut the door behind me. Reed sits up on the couch and scrubs his hands over his face, and damn...he looks really tired. He just flew in a few hours ago, and I had been finishing my shift at the hospital. He'd sent me a simple text saying he was back and he'd tell me all about the trip when I got home.
"Sorry," he says in a gruff voice that definitely sounds fatigued. "Guess I lost track of time."
I think I might hear a tiny bit of anger in his voice, but I can't be sure, and besides, I know he was only mildly annoyed at me for suggesting the trip with Marek. He even told me at dinner last night that it was definitely best that Marek confront this situation head on.
Reed leans back against the cushions and kicks his feet up on the coffee table as I walk toward him. His eyes follow me but he doesn't open up his arms to me like I would expect him to. It makes me feel off balance as he just quietly watches me.
I try to brush off the weird feeling and sit on the opposite end of the couch, folding my legs up under me. "So, tell me everything that happened. Did Marek stop the wedding?"
"Yeah, the wedding got stopped," Reed says as he rolls his head on the cushion to look at me. The disgust in his voice has me frowning at him.
"That doesn't sound good," I say hesitantly.
"Apparently Marek has a daughter he knew nothing about and discovered this little gem of information during the whole stopping-the-wedding process."
"What?" I exclaim in surprise as I sit up ramrod straight.
"He confronted Gracen privately, and then this little girl walked into the room, and you could tell at a glance she was Marek's. A big fight ensued. Then Gracen's fiance came in and another fight ensued over whether Gracen was going to get married. Marek basically ended the fight by telling her if she didn't get Lilly--that would be his daughter--and leave with him right then, that he would use all of his money to take Lilly away from her and she'd never see her again."
"Oh no," I say in dismay, feeling complete empathy for both Marek and Gracen in this situation. "Surely he didn't mean it."
"Oh, he meant it," Reed says as he sits up and turns to face me. "He gave her no choice. And she apparently wasn't willing to see if it was a bluff."
"So she came back with him?" I ask as my gaze swings around Reed's living room, as if I expect them all to pop out from behind a chair or something.
"No," he says tiredly. "Marek stayed back to get Gracen and Lilly packed up. He's going to drive them down in Gracen's car."
"So she's just up and leaving her life there? With only a day to do it in?" I'm completely bewildered over Marek's behavior. He's so carefree, funny, and kind. He seems like sort of a dick now, to be honest.
"Apparently," Reed says, and the disgust I hear in his voice is clearer. I don't think he agrees with the way Marek is handling it either. "No c
lue what he intends to do with them once he gets here."
"Does Lilly even know that Marek is her father?" I ask, and then think to ask something else. "How old is she?"
Reed shrugs. "I guess around three. Gracen had found out she was pregnant literally the day that Marek broke things off with her. She didn't tell him because he didn't want the responsibility of a relationship, or something like that. I don't know. It's all so convoluted and I don't think anything good is going to come of this."
There's no doubt Reed is really bothered with this and a flush of guilt sweeps through me because I set all of this in motion. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have meddled and pushed Marek to go there."
Reed's chin jerks inward and his eyebrows shoot up before he shakes his head at me. "This isn't your fault, Josie."
"If I would have stayed out of it, you probably could have talked him into ignoring it," I point out.
"And Marek would have never known he had a daughter," Reed counters, and I know he's right. His voice goes soft when he adds, "But this is going to be hard for him. He's not used to having that responsibility. He's going to have to build a relationship with his daughter, and he's missed out on three years of figuring out how to be a dad. Going right into the hockey season, and having a rocky relationship with Gracen, this could be disastrous."
"This is a big year for you guys," I murmur as I think about all they are facing as defending two-time Cup champions. The pressure is immense this year, especially since their team is still pretty much intact and expectations are they will do it again.
"The biggest," Reed says with a wan smile. "It's been almost thirty years since there's been a three-peat Cup champion."
"But they have you," I say with a bright smile as I tilt my head at him. "So it's practically damn guaranteed."
All of the stress that seemed to be emanating from Reed vanishes and he laughs. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me across the couch as he lies down and I come to rest on top of him. His hands go to my ass and he presses me into his pelvis and, well, hello there.
Reed is definitely excited to see me.
My eyes drop to his mouth because all I can think about is kissing him right now. But his words stop me short when he says, "It's going to be a really trying season, Josie. The pressure will be intense and travel is hard on relationships. You need to know that."
I frown at him as I push myself up, resting my forearms on his abdomen so I can look down at him. "That's an odd thing to say out of the blue like that."
"What? That the season is going to be stressful?"
I shake my head. "No. That it will be hard on relationships. It sounds like a dire warning. Or a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or even some type of setup for you to lead into a deeper conversation."
Because Reed has never gotten this serious on me before, I actually kind of expect him to laugh it off and tell me that's not really what he meant. But instead his expression turns somber and he stares at me intently. "I can't devote the same time to you during the season."
I push up on him further and now I'm getting angry. "And I never once expected you to or even asked you to."
My anger isn't returned. His voice is soft and sympathetic, as if he's apologizing in advance for something. "I know you didn't. I didn't say that. It's just that we've had a great summer and it's been very carefree."
"So by definition and the pessimistic sound of your voice, the fall is going to be awful. Is that what you're trying to say?"
He shakes his head, his eyes turning tender A hand comes up and strokes my hair. "No, Josie. I'm just saying it's going to be different. And I want both of us to acknowledge that and be prepared for it."
I stare at him a moment, my eyes searching his frantically for some hidden meaning. I feel like he's trying to say something but just won't say it. This goes nowhere fast, as Reed just holds my gaze, his expression so neutral I can't tell what he's really thinking.
Finally, he smiles while wrapping his hand around the back of my neck. "Are you hungry?"
I give a tiny shake of my head. "I ate something at the hospital."
"Well, let's get you to bed. I know you're exhausted, and so am I after all of this shit with Marek today."
"Actually," I say as I push all the way off his body and come to stand by the couch. "I'm a little wired from my shift and need to unwind. I'll just work on a puzzle for a bit until I get tired."
Reed rolls off the couch, straightens, and then pulls me into his arms. This feels good, yet I still feel unsettled. I feel marginally better when he frames my face with his hands and presses his lips to my forehead. He looks down at me and smiles. "All right. Don't stay up too late."
"Promise," I say, and then he kisses me on my mouth. Soft and brief, and it invites nothing further from me.
Reed turns toward my stairs and I move to my kitchen table. I'm just pulling out the chair to work on an awesome puzzle of the Manhattan skyline when Reed says, "You know what?"
I look over my shoulder at him. "What?"
"If you're going to stay up awhile, I think I'm just going to head over to my place. You've got to be up early tomorrow, and if you don't mind, I'm going to be a bit lazy tomorrow and sleep in."
Sounds legitimate on its face. In fact, just before I'd walked in the door tonight I wouldn't have thought twice about him wanting to stay at his place so he could sleep in and I wouldn't wake him up.
But something is off.
I know it.
By the look on Reed's face right now, I know he knows I know it.
Clearing my throat, I put on a forced smile that I hope is deceptive enough and say, "Yeah...sure. I totally get it. You don't have much of your summer left and you should take what opportunities you can to get some sleep."
"Okay," he says with obvious relief. "Cool. I'll see you tomorrow after you get off work. Maybe we can just stay in and chill out."
"Pizza and beer it is," I say with a brightness I don't feel.
"Awesome," Reed says and then shoots me a wink. "See you tomorrow."
It's a good five minutes after he leaves that I realize I'm still staring at the door, and I really have no clue what just happened.
Chapter 25
Reed
Yawning, I scratch my stomach as I head down the stairs toward Josie's kitchen. It's almost noon, but I just woke up and I need coffee pronto. When I get halfway down, I stop at the murmur of voices and I remember that Josie and Aiden were going to be working on their project here today. In this past week since I've been back from New York, Josie has had to pull some double shifts at the hospital and she and Aiden are trying to make up some time on their project.
I almost start backpedaling to the bedroom where I intend to hide out, but I also remember Josie told me they would be here all day. She and I have plans for dinner tonight, but for the day she's in work mode and I'm on my own.
This rankles me. Not because I'm losing out on time with Josie, or that she's spending it with her former boyfriend, but because it's another example of how little I have in common with her. She's working on an important medical comparison study on her day off. I'm waking up at noon on a Thursday and my biggest decision is what to eat for breakfast today.
Or rather, lunch.
My ears tune into their conversation filtering in from the kitchen. I can imagine them huddled at the table. Josie will be in front of the laptop typing with Aiden beside her, reading snippets from medical reports. Josie will pause, and then turn slightly to him to make a conclusion. He'll argue with her. They'll discuss it like reasoned adults. She'll go back to typing.
I know all this because I've seen it before. Josie and Aiden work here sometimes. Other times they work at his house. None of that bothers me, and I don't hang around too long when he's here. One thing I learned for sure that day golfing with Aiden is that he doesn't have Josie in his sights. He might have when he first returned, but I believed the dude when he told me he cares for her and wants her to be happy.
The only slight proble
m I see is if Josie will be truly happy with me for the long run. Can I provide for all her needs, which are complex and layered, because Josie is so complex and layered? Or is this perhaps only a fling that got her back on her feet after Aiden broke her heart?
So many doubts, not enough answers. For a man who has never cared for a woman like this before, I'm out of my depth.
Aiden's voice filters up the stairs to me. It's monotone and brisk. It's a doctor's voice. "This case...the patient was only sixteen years old. Pregnant thirty-two weeks, presented with some spotting and cramping. No prenatal care. Had been raped and was completely ostracized by her family. She'd been living in an abandoned hut and living off some scraps offered to her by some kind villagers. Severely underweight."
Josie makes a sound of dismay that I hear as clear as if she were standing next to me. "Protocol here would be to do an ultrasound, counseling," she says. "She'd be in the foster system, so direct contact with her case supervisor."
"My protocol was a lot simpler," Aiden says, and I can hear some emotion in his voice. "No ultrasound equipment. All I had to go by was the patient's report of some sporadic fetal movement. I took her basic vitals and gave her our last bottle of prenatal vitamins in stock. I also gave her some of our meal rations. Sent her on her way."
There's nothing for a moment, and then Josie murmurs, "I don't know how you did it. I would never be cut out for that."
My stomach knots and I have no clue why.
It could be for a variety of reasons.
Possibly for the fact that Josie could indeed do that if she wanted, and yet she doesn't feel she could.
Or maybe it's because she and Aiden discuss really important things. Life and death. Humanity. Critical stuff that could impact people in a very good way. She's a brilliant doctor and highly educated. I didn't do all that great in high school and now chase a puck around the ice for a ridiculous amount of money and prestige.
My stomach cramps again, most likely in apprehension over a conclusion that seems to be hurtling at me faster than a high-speed train.
I've got nothing of true value to offer Josie outside a few good orgasms and lots of laughs. The real question then becomes, is that really enough for her to be fulfilled?
With resolution and knowing I can't hide upstairs, I make my way down and step into the living room. Josie's head immediately swivels and she looks at me with a sweet smile. "Hey, sleepyhead. Decided to finally get up?"
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