Page 89 of Accidental Doctor Daddy

Instead, the moment I’d seen her—disheveled hair, worry etched on her face—all my plans collapsed under the weight of longing. I’d pounced on her like an animal, desperate to banish my own misery.

She’d let me, too, matching my hunger. I should feel guilty, but the truth is, the guilt had been eating at me for so long, one more piece hardly registered. Besides, I was too busy savoring the feeling of her body pressed against mine, the quiet moans that told me she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her.

God, I’m selfish,I thought, brushing a strand of hair off her cheek.It’s time.I can’t leave her in the dark anymore.

She offered a small, uncertain smile. “You said you couldn’t talk before.” Her tone was gentle, but I felt the underlying demand. She deserved the truth.

“I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d break.” My throat felt thick, recalling how I’d stormed into her place, physically starving for contact. “I’m sorry I jumped you like that. I planned on sitting you down, explaining everything about Leonardo…”

She squeezed my hand. “And yet here we are. Naked in my bed.” Her attempt at levity didn’t hide the concern in her eyes.

I managed a wry smile, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I know. I’m an idiot. You deserve better than me mauling you every time I feel cornered.”

A gentle laugh escaped her, tension easing a bit. “Dom, I would’ve kicked you out if I didn't want you. But…I need to know what’s going on.” With that, she settled against the pillows, gaze fixed on me.No more stalling, her face seemed to say.

I raked a hand through my hair, silently cursing the tightness in my chest. “Right. Well, I guess I should start with Jodie, my wife. She died years ago—breast cancer.”

Ella’s breath caught. “You never told me that part before.”

I nodded, jaw tense. “I hate thinking about it. But you deserve to know. She had it, and she hid it from me for a long time. I was so focused on work, surgeries, building my reputation…I barely noticed she was losing weight, or was exhausted all the time. She didn’t come to me when she found the lump. She scheduled her own appointments, started chemo without a word.”

“But that…how could she hide chemo? She’d need a port for chemo, right?”

I was relieved she knew some things about the process. Explaining things would slow the conversation. “Not everyone tolerates a port. Moreover, I probably wouldn’t have seen it.” I swallowed hard. “Jodie and I had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for a while, due to my schedule and being on-call. She was a light sleeper, so it made sense for us to have our own bedrooms…which meant our sex life was sporadic, at the best of times. It was winter when she was in treatment, and her long sleeves hid the bruising from the IVs.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“So am I.”

She stroked my arm. “Go on. If you want to.”

My hand curled into a fist on the sheet, old rage and guilt rising. “When it finally came out, she said she didn’t want to bother me. That my work was obviously more important to me, as I’d been ignoring our family for my work. By the time I realized what was happening, her body was so ravaged by everything that there was nothing my colleagues could do.”

Ella’s eyes glistened with sympathy. “Dom…that’s terrible.”

“Leonardo was just a kid. He was old enough to see me as the big-shot doctor who didn’t save his mom. And I guess part of him needed someone to blame—cancer doesn’t have a face you can yell at. So, he picked my face. He kept saying, ‘You’re a doctor, how could you not know she was dying?’ Honestly…I ask myself that every day.”

My voice cracked on the last word, shame flickering through me. Ella sat up, sliding a soothing hand over my arm. I glanced away, focusing on the swirl of the bedsheets. “After that, everything unraveled,” I murmured. “Leonardo grew up angry. Gina tried to keep the peace, but he just…he needed an enemy, and I was there.”

Ella exhaled, eyes shadowed. “So this is why he hates you so much. On top of the absentee father thing, he blames you for her, too.”

I scoffed, running a hand over my stubbled chin. “Finding out I knocked up his ex-girlfriend didn’t help. But that’s a separate problem. His resentment runs deep, from way back.”

She gave a tiny nod, fingers lacing with mine. “You said you told him about us at brunch. How bad was it?”

My jaw tensed. “He walked out. He’s barely responding to Gina, and not at all to me. I’ve tried everything—calls, texts, showing up at his place. He’s stonewalling me. Blames me for everything bad in his life, I suppose.”

Ella closed her eyes momentarily. “God, I feel like this is my fault for hooking up with him in the first place.”

I shook my head vehemently. “No. His meltdown isn’t about you. If it wasn’t you, he’d find another reason to lash out at me. This is old wounds.”

“Still, it can’t be helping that I’m, well…me.”

A reluctant chuckle rumbled in my chest. “Probably not. But Leonardo has to get past it. I’m not leaving you or our girls just because he’s throwing another tantrum.”

Ella’s expression softened at that, and a faint blush colored her cheeks. She fiddled with a loose thread on the pillow. “You sure? Because he might never accept this.”

I grunted, shifting to face her fully. My fingers toyed with a strand of her hair, heart pounding with the gravity of what I was about to say. “I’m sure,” I said simply, letting the truth resonate. “Look, I love him—he’s my son. But I won’t let him dictate my life. I spent too many years chasing after everything—my career, my kids’ future—only to realize I had never actually lived.”

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