Page 90 of Keeping Kaitlyn

FIFTY

KAITLYN

As soon as went handedme off to his sister, Silver led me further down the hallway to a small, windowless office that is big enough to house a desk, a small safe, and a couple of chairs. Depositing me into one of them, Silver disappears with abe right backand reappears a few minutes later with an icepack.

“It won’t stop the bruising but it might help with the swelling,” she tells me while she presses it into my hand.

“Thanks,” I mumble, embarrassed for some reason. Pressing the icepack to my face, I watch as she rounds the desk. Stooping to open one of its drawers, she comes back up with a bottle of expensive looking scotch and a glass.

Pouring a few fingers into the bottom of it, she offers it to me. “Astrid’s a bitch,” she says without preamble. “I wish you would’ve hit her back.”

“Unfortunately, I was raised to respect my elders,” I tell her, reaching for the glass. “Even the horrible ones.”

Silver gives me a commiserating smile. “If you want, I can have her waiter dump a plate of lobster risotto in her lap.”

Smiling back, I wince slightly and adjust my ice pack. “Only if it’s followed by a glass of red wine dumped over her head.”

“Consider it done.” Still smiling, Silver comes back around the desk to perch herself on the edge of the chair next to mine. “On the condition that you drink every last drop of that,” she says, tilting her chin at my glass.

Lifting it to my lips, I drain it before setting it on the desk, noting that Silver didn’t pour one for herself. “You don’t drink?”

“I do,” she says, giving me a brief smile. “But I’m breastfeeding, so?—”

“You have a kid?” For some reason, I feel put out that I didn’t know. That Went never told me before I remember we’re not together. Haven’t been together for years now and that it’s my fault.

Her smile widens into a grin. “We have two, actually. Noah turned six in April and Bethany is six weeks, as of yesterday.”

Offering her a head bob, I fight back tears for some stupid reason. Swallowing hard, I push a smile onto my face. “That’s amazing. Congratulations—I never knew that you…”

As soon as I say it, Silver leans into the space between us, her luminous gray gaze fixed on mine, the mind behind them working while she looks at me like I’m a puzzle she’s determined to solve. Finally, she sits back with a smirk. “You’re her, aren’t you?”

Shifting slightly in my seat, I shake my head like I don’t understand what she means. “Her?”

“The woman Went’s in love with,” Silver says with an expression that can only be categorized as hopeful. “We’ve never met her but we know she exists because he hasn’t stopped drawing her—you—since he came home from California after that nasty Lexi Chase business.”

“What?” Jerking back, away from her, I feel like I’m supposed to deny it. Guard the secret that Went and I have keptfor the last six years even though that particular bell has already been rung. “No, I’m?—”

Before I can finish lying, there’s a brief knock on the door before it’s opened and Went appears, his bottomless black gaze finding me in an instant.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Determined to get her answer, one way or another, Silver speaks before either of us get the chance. “The woman from your drawings—this is her.”

“Yeah.” Still looking at me, Went nods his head, his expression unreadable. “This is her.”

“I knew it,” Silver crows like she just solved the riddle of the century. “Lilah’s gonna be sopissedI figured it out before she did.” When neither of us answer her, Went’s sister stands with a quiet laugh. “Okay well… I’ll just leave you two alone,” she says with a giddy smile aimed in my direction. “It was nice to meet you Kait. I hope we see each other again.” Stopping just long enough to push herself onto her tip-toes, Silver leans into her brother to whisper something in his ear before easing herself past him and disappearing down the hall. As soon as she’s gone, Went holds his hand out to me.

“Come on, Sunshine,” he says quietly. “Let’s go home.”

“Areyou going to tell me what happened between you and my mother?”

I knew he was going to ask but before I can think of a plausible answer, Went shakes his head. “To be clear, I’m not asking about what happened in the bathroom—I caught the gist of that situation all on my own.” Looking at him across the dark interior of the car, I can see the muscle in his jaw flex. His mouth flatten like he’s having a hard time opening it to say what comesnext. “I want to know what happened between the two of you in Montana while I was gone.”

Looking away from him, I aim my gaze out the window. “I don’t?—”

“Your father is the one who told her. He reached out to the attorney who drew up the NDA I made him sign to get in contact with her,” he tells me, cutting off whatever lie I’m about to serve him before I can even figure out what it is.

My father.

I should’ve known.

---