Page 7 of The Cold Ride

Except I had found her a decade ago, but fate intervened and drove us apart.

My fury knew no bounds. I wanted to thrash Rory for keeping my child a secret. How dare she do this? From this point forward, she’d be sharing custody. I didn’t care if I had to take her to court and demand a paternity test.

Because Amelia was my daughter. She looked like the spitting image of my mother at that age. I knew because I had a stack of photos I carried with me in my knapsack when I was deployed and there was one of my mom when she was about Amelia’s age.

“We’ll be here,” Wyatt replied with a nod, assuming command because it was what he did. Corral us into order when we couldn’t or were unwilling to do it ourselves.

Rory gave us a tight smile and followed our daughter down the hall. I wanted to race after her and demand answers. I wanted to follow her and see if I had imagined it all.

The moment we were alone. My buddies lost their minds and fielded me questions left and right.

“When the fuck did you sleep with Evan’s wife?” Lucas asked with a scowl. “And why the fuck did we not know about it? How did you two not come to blows over this while we were deployed?”

Because Evan didn’t know about Rory and me. No one had except the two of us. That was why we never fought over it. A tidal wave of grief and guilt slammed into me. Not only had I slept with Evan’s wife, I knocked her up in the process.

“You’re a daddy, dude.” Aiden smirked with a shake of his head and a dark chuckle. The guy was a sadistic motherfucker and always found humor in the unlikeliest of places. There was this one time in New Orleans when we accidentally wound up at a mass in the St. Louis Cathedral with the Archbishop of New Orleans presiding. Fucker had laughed so hard, I had to drag his ass out of the church.

But then I glanced at Wyatt. His stoicism was still on display to the untrained observer. But I knew him and all his moods after serving with him this past decade. He was pissed at me because I broke the unspoken code of honor between us and had betrayed Evan. He glared like he wouldn’t mind going ten rounds with me. “She’s a vivacious little girl. And you’re lucky, even if you don’t realize it.”

I caught the hint of jealousy. Out of all of us, Wyatt was the most ready to settle down to life outside the military. And I didn’t fault him for it. His twenty was up in a few short months.

“I know. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I tried dodging their comments without an explanation. I’d discuss it with them later. But for now, my entire focus had shifted in a heartbeat. When I walked into this inn with dread churning in my belly at the prospect of seeing Rory again, I never expected my entire world was about to be thoroughly upended.

“Are you going to tell us when you fucked Evan’s wife?” Lucas huffed with a stern glare.

Dude was like a dog with a fucking bone. All eyes were on me, waiting for me to admit when I betrayed Evan. When I’d spat on every vow of loyalty we swore as a unit and as SEALs.

I couldn’t outrun the truth any longer. Not when she had waltzed in and changed everything.

“Rory and I hooked up at that beach party ten years ago. The one right after we returned from deployment. It was my first deployment with our unit after my transfer. I didn’t know she was his wife. That came later. He’d said her name was Lorelei in passing, not Rory. I didn’t connect the two at the time. And that night she wasn’t wearing her ring.”

And I’d fallen for her. It was the most intimate, honest night of my life. And when I thought of Rory, of the sadness I’d first spied in her and how it had echoed inside of me. I had believed to my fucking core that I’d met the woman for me. One look at her and I’d been a fucking goner. And the moment we kissed, well, it just didn’t bear remembering. Because it was proof of how much of a fool I’d been, believing in her and her lies.

But I mentioned none of that because it would make me sound pathetic.

She’d played me. Made me believe she was a free agent. Only to rip that notion to shreds once the ardor had cooled.

“Damn. The blows, dude. I’m sorry. Did Evan know?” Lucas asked with a pained expression.

The sympathy in their eyes was enough to make me crumble. I didn’t want their fucking pity.

Shoving my hands in my pockets, I glanced down at the floor, avoiding their pity and my remorse. “I never told him. It was one night. And then when I found out and discovered she was his wife, I wanted to say something to him. I wanted to confess, but then they got divorced shortly afterward, and I didn’t see the point.”

“And she didn’t contact you about the kid?” Aiden asked.

I shook my head, and my hands flexed in my pockets, aching for an outlet for the rage blaring inside me. “No. I had no idea until ten minutes ago that she existed.”

“I understand you’re angry,” Wyatt gripped my shoulder, attempting to steady me.

I shrugged him off and jerked away. “You don’t know the first thing about what I’m feeling right now. Unless you discover that a woman you hooked up with one night had your kid and kept it from you, then you’ll get it. But until that time, you don’t understand a fucking thing.”

“Your fury is warranted. All I’m asking is you let us deal with why we’re here in the first place before you turn this into a battleground.” Wyatt’s calm demeanor enraged me further. It took everything in me not to take it out on him.

“Noted,” I seethed, inhaling a steadying breath. But I couldn’t let something this massive go as if it were no big deal. There was a reckoning coming the moment that letter was delivered.

Because I wouldn’t let Rory off the hook for this. She kept Amelia’s existence from me this past decade.

And I needed to know why.

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