Page 43 of Secrets

Cannon

Standing outside Grace's hospital room, Cannon questions whether he's stable enough to go inside or not. If he doesn’t go inside, he can deny what Sutton said is true. As much as he wants to do that, he's going crazy without knowing for sure. He needs to hear Grace say the words, but he prays she tells him it's all an elaborate plan to hurt him. That she's lying, and it's a karmic joke.

"Grace, how are you feeling?" he asks, his voice steadier than he feels as he steps into the room and locks eyes with his ex.

She looks terrible, and as much as he wants to tell her how bad she looks, he knows it'll ensure he gets the runaround. The woman makes him crazier than anyone else he's ever met, butthey did fit very well together in bed. It was the only place they seemed to really enjoy each other.

Sighing, Grace tilts her head. "Sutton talked to you, didn't she?"

"Yes."

"What do you want to know?"

Fuck, it's true. "How long have you known?"

"Since the first ultrasound."

The world around him stops, and he stares at her, feeling like he's about to throw up. Like he just stepped off one of the spinning rides at the county fair Sutton loved so much when she was little. "What?"

"When I told you I was pregnant, I planned to tell you that she wasn't yours. Well, it. We didn't know Sutton was a girl yet. But you were so damn excited, and I couldn't break your heart."

"I was excited because you made it sound like she was mine!" he shouts.

"Honestly, you were the best choice out of the two of you. Ryan wasn't going to be a father, and when you got so excited, I decided, why not?"

Why not? She's lucky she's already in the hospital. If this was her house, he'd be destroying everything before considering putting her here himself. No, he'd never hit a woman, but he'd make sure there was nothing salvageable left in her home by the time he was done. Maybe he should go to her house after he leaves here to let out some steam anyway.

"I paid you for over eighteen years. I paid child support I never needed to pay because I'm not her biological father."

"Not biologically, but you're still her dad."

"No, I'm not!" he shouts again as security walks up to the room. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer. You owe me a lot of fucking money."

Grace laughs. "Yeah, okay."

"You don't get it. We patched over, and with it came a partner at a firm in Griffin's Beach. A daughter and wife of the Drifters."

Paling, Grace looks scared for the first time in her life as security grabs his arm. "Sir, you're going to have to leave."

"Yeah, that's the best idea so far today. Be on the lookout for the legal docs I'm serving your ass. You fucked up, Grace, and I intend to make you pay for it all."

“Cannon, I didn’t… Please don’t do this.”

The security guards lead him out of her room, and he just smirks at the fear in her voice. She knows as well as he does that if he takes her to court, there’s nothing she can do to stop it. And she doesn’t have the money to pay him back.

“Fucking bitch.”

At the clubhouse, Cannon walks inside and stares at the group of men already there waiting for him. How does he tell them?

"Cannon?" Dax asks, walking towards him, stopping just before reaching him. "What happened?"

The tears surprise him, and he leans on one of the tall tables for balance. "She's not mine."

"What?" Rocky asks.

"She told me I was thebetter choice, but she's known this other asshole was Sutton's real father since the first ultrasound. I was excited, so she picked me. My daughter… isn't my daughter," he says, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. "Sutton's not mine."

Finnegan walks up to him and shakes him by the shoulders. "DNA don't mean shit, Marvin Cannon. That little girl is yourdaughter, no matter what. She'sourdaughter. You raised that little girl, and she will always be yours. All of ours. She's a daughter of the club forever."

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