Page 22 of Hidden Heir, Italian Wife

He couldn’t protect her completely. There would be press. There would be fallout.

He rubbed his jaw.

“I hear what you’re saying, but I can’t pretend she doesn’t exist, Bree. I’m not ashamed of her. I’m far more embarrassed that I’m coming into her life so late. We’ll have to ride out the attention. Frankly, being in Italy will help.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.” Her brow pulled into a pensive wrinkle. “I’d have to give up her spot at the good day care.”

“Are you joking?”

“No.” She scowled at his phone. It had continued to buzz with incoming messages the whole time they’d been talking. “Seriously, you don’t need Sofia. You already have a child in your life. That thing never stops demanding your attention, does it?”

He walked over to silence it.

“It’s Eve. I’ll let her know you’re still with me and will be tied up the rest…” He swore as he scanned the stack of bubbled messages.

“What?” she asked with dread.

He began reading aloud. “Dom asked if Bree’s daughter is yours.”

“What?” she gasped.“No.”

“Where are you?” he continued reading. “Is Bree with you? She went to Italy before she started at WBE. We talked about Como. When did you meet her? Call me.”

“Seriously?” Bree cried. “Dosomething.”

***

Bree pinched herself, which had never actually worked to wake her up from a bad dream, but anything was worth a try at this point.

She was still trying to reclaim herself from behaving like an oversexed floozy, still worried he would use it against her. Now his sister had figured out Jax was Sofia’s father?

She watched him bring his phone to his ear.

“Is Nico there?” he asked. “Did he hear this theory of Dom’s? Good. Keep it to yourself. I mean it, Eve. Tell Dom to keep his mouth shut, too.” He glanced at Bree.

Her heart lurched. His expression was severe, not the least bit reassuring.

“Because I only found out an hour ago,” he said flatly. “She needs some personal time. She’ll be in touch after we talk. Can I trust you to keep this under wraps or not?”

He closed his eyes as he listened again.

“Yes, I know, Eve. Stop wedding-splaining. I have to go.” He ended the call, then studied Bree with an unreadable expression.

“What did she say?” Bree had thought falling apart fully dressed was the most defenseless she could feel today. Her secret was out. A secret she’d been keeping from Eve all this time. Was she fired?

“They won’t tell anyone, but if Dom can guess, others can, too.”

Like Nico. Or anyone on the team who’d seen the way they had reacted to each other. The crackle in the air had been like the roar of a forest fire.

“We no longer have the luxury of time. I want to meet Sofia, then introduce her to my parents before they find out some other way.”

The ground seemed to shift under her feet. This was everything she’d been fearful of—the sense of exposure and lost control. She was still angry with Jax for toying with her, but she was just as angry with herself for abandoning control. For letting him see how easily he could manipulate her with her own response. It was humiliating.

His claim that he reacted just as strongly to her was a joke. He’d dropped her like a hot potato four years ago and again ten minutes ago. She didn’t know how far she could trust him or how this would play out, which was terrifying.

Her arms abruptly felt empty. She needed to hold her daughter. To ground herself in what mattered most to her.

“I’ll, um, call my mother to meet us at my apartment, so we’re not doing it in the cloakroom of the day care center.” She spoke to Melissa while Jax texted his driver.

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