Page 41 of The Forbidden Secret

My trembling fingers lifted it to my ear, and Maggie’s voice filled the line. It was the last nail in the coffin. The world pressed down on me as I listened to her voice. “Hi… I don’t even know if you’re going to get this message, Evelina. But I don’t know where else to reach you, so I thought I would try. I know I said that I would give you another week, but I’m going tomorrow morning to get induced. I don’t have anyone who can stay with Beatrice, and there’s only one option. I’m so sorry. I’ll wait as long aspossible. I don’t want your sweet girl to be separated from you because of all of this.God,I’m so sorry.” She paused as if realizing she was rambling. “I hope you get this soon. Anyways, you know my number.”

The words ended, and I raised my eyes to meet Zeke’s gaze.

“I wasn’t the only one hiding things.”

His words sounded harsh and distant. He had no idea that I planned on telling him about this today. I planned on telling him everything, but this voicemail had revealed so much. Too much.

“I—I…” What could I even say?

“How does this woman have my number?”

“I called her.”

His eyes blazed. “Youcalledsomebody? Did you do it from here?” I shook my head, and his shoulders tensed. “Was that how they put a trace on my number? Is that how they found us the first time?”

“I didn’t know her phone was being watched. I had no idea they could find us that way.”

I expected him to explode. To combust. But he only stared at me. He just waited.

“Beatrice?” he asked.

I could lie. It would be so easy to backtrack and tell him that Beatrice was my dog or cat. There was nothing incriminating in the message that would have indicated otherwise, but I wanted to tell him the truth. I needed him to know the truth for Beatrice’s sake, even if it had the potential to ruin what we had together, especially now. Especially since I didn’t have the chance to broach the topic myself.

“My daughter,” I whispered.

His eyes widened slightly as he considered my words. “Daughter?”

I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest and standing in front of him. I couldn’t push out the words that would damn me… not yet.

“My best friend and manager has been keeping her for the past few months to keep her hidden from my father. I had planned on leaving with Beatrice before this happened.”

“Daughter,” he said, turning the word over in his mouth. “How old is she?”

“Almost four months,” I told him.

I watched closely as his eyes softened. He didn’t seem to make the connection. Not yet. “Who knows about her?”

“Nobody. I only told my manager because I needed someone to keep her hidden.”

How would I break the news to him? “You didn’t think to tell me this? If Clide Newton learned of this, your daughter could be used as leverage. She could be hurt or killed because of this fucking situation, and I can’t keep her safe if I don’t know she exists.”

“That’s the point. Nobody knows about her, Zeke.”

His scowl deepened. “I told you everything about myself.”

That was what this was all about? He was pissed that he had opened up to me, and I had kept something integral—something life-changing—from him. It was only going to get worse. I knew it would get worse when I admitted the truth, and it had mequestioning whether or not I should lie. Maybe it was the best option…

But when he inevitably saw her, there would be no question of her parentage.

I hadn’t lied to him up until this point, and I knew that lying about this would be unforgivable. Withholding a truth was entirely different.

“Zeke…”

“You have three sisters. Do you have any idea what strings your oldest sister pulled to keep you safe? She was ready to give her life for you, and you wouldn’t even tell her that she has a niece?”

Aria.

Aria may not have been the best option. She was married to the heir of a mafia empire, and if she miraculously had a four-month-old, the odds of Clide Newton drawing connections was possible, but it wasn’tlikely.

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