Page 66 of Broken Empire
“Stop!” Robert cried out. “You can’t do this. You can’t!”
“Give me one good reason not to,” Killian gritted out.
Robert’s chin was trembling now, and his eyes were red and bulging. “I was having an affair with Allison. That’s why we met up that day.”
“No shit. I already worked that one out on my own.” Killian’s nostrils flared, and he released the safety on the pistol.
“Wait! I’m not done!”
“Hurry the fuck up, then.”
Robert took in a deep breath, and he squared his jaw and looked into Killian’s eyes. “You can’t kill me,” he said. “I’m your father.”
21
Killian
My jaw dropped,and I shuffled back a step. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“I’m your father.” Robert’s eyes were right on mine. “I swear, it’s the truth.”
“Bullshit.”
“I was having an affair with her, Killian. Just think about it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “My mother had a lot of affairs. My father could be any one of those guys.”
Robert took a deep breath, eyes lingering on the barrel of the gun. “I know about the other men,” he said. “Like I was saying before, Allison was… troubled. But that doesn’t change what happened. I’m the only man she was with at that particular time.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Cori shouted from the other side of the room, throwing her hands up. “He’s yourson?”
I looked at Shay. She stared back at me with wide eyes, head shaking to silently telegraph her opinion. Like me, she thought Robert was lying to buy time.
“You have no proof,” I said, turning my attention back to Robert. “And even if you did, it wouldn’t change anything.”
“I have all the proof I need from looking at you, Killian,” he replied. “I’m actually surprised no one else ever noticed.”
I took another step back, eyes skating over his face and hair. Suddenly it felt like I was seeing him for the first time.
He was right. We shared the same facial features, the same hair, the same physical build… even the same tiny dimple on the left cheek. The only major difference was our eyes. Robert’s were brown with hooded eyelids, while mine were my mother’s ocean blue.
“Holy shit,” I said under my breath.
Robert’s lips curved in a triumphant smile, as if he’d won something. “You see it now, don’t you?”
Cori moved closer, eyes alight with fury. “This can’t be real,” she said. “There’s no fucking way he’s your son!”
“He is, sweetheart. I’ve always known.” Robert kept his eyes on me, even as he spoke to Cori. “Please, just let me explain how it all happened. I need to get it off my chest before…”
He trailed off, and I dipped my chin in a brief nod. “You have two minutes, Robert.”
He cleared his throat and raised his chin. “You know how your mother left your father a year after Connor was born?”
“Yes. For eighteen months.”
“She was with me,” he said. “I’d just moved down to DC for my job, so she came with me.”
“Weren’t you friends with my dad?” I asked, raising a scornful brow. “Good friends?”
