Page 5 of Daddy's Accidental Babies

Thea gave me a look that could burn holes through concrete. “You really think he’s not going to figure it out?”

“He hasn’t seen them. He doesn’t know their names. As far as he’s concerned, I’m just the new PR strategist who happened to be hired right when he was attempting a merger.” The rationalization doesn’t even sound good to me.

“Except it’s not really a coincidence, babe. He’s in town. He’s investing in your company. That means meetings. Events. Photoshoots. Media pushes.” I heard her stool squeak but didn’t see it because I refused to look up at her.

“I know.”

“Do you? Because this won’t stay quiet forever.” Her hand touched my arm. I was sure this wasn’t the juicy drama she was hoping for. She probably wanted me to come home with a story of some secretary’s fake boobs and lipstick stains on the boss’s mug or something.

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter as I massaged the bridge of my nose. “He can’t know. Not yet.” This wasn’t in my plans. Moving back to Seattle was a conscious choice I’d spent months preparing for. I planned it meticulously with my father and Thea’s help. Found this job, took support where I needed it. But this was a whole other world of life-altering, and I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know how to plan for something like this.

“You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“It’s not a game. It’s survival.” My glass was empty again, and I heard another crash coming from the boys’ bedroom.

Thea leaned across the counter, her voice gentler now. “You can’t keep him in the dark forever. He’s not stupid, Sav. One look at those boys and?—”

“I’ll keep my distance,” I said, cutting her off.

“You said he already called you in for a meeting.” Her eyes narrowed on me as she cocked her head. “Distance means separation, and you will be under the same roof. How do you intend to do that? And what about days I need to bring the boys to you at work for my evening classes?”

I winced and shook my head at her. “I don’t know.”

She let the silence stretch, studying me like she was weighing every word I wasn’t saying. “You okay?”

I looked at her. Really looked at her. And I wanted to say yes. I wanted to lie. But I couldn’t. “I saw his eyes and they were so full of something, Thea. He was so hungry for some response from me…”

Thea said nothing, and I felt the need to fill up the silence.

“He looked at me like I never left. And I swear, for one second, I forgot I was supposed to hate him.” We both went quiet. I wasn’t really supposed to hate him. He did nothing wrong at all. He was only doing his job flying to Zurich. I pulled back and hid this from him because of my own fear of what my dad would say. But telling myself to hate Dominic was the only thing that kept my heart from feeling what it really wanted to feel.

After a while, Thea stood. “I’ll run bath time. You look like you need a minute.”

I mouthed a thank you and watched her walk down the hall toward the boys to herd them to the bath, their laughter trailing behind.

I refilled my glass, sank into the couch, and pressed my fingers to my temples. My head throbbed. My chest ached. I knew I was balancing on a wire that was already fraying. Butwhat was the alternative? Tell him? Let him back in? Risk everything?

After the bath, I got the boys dried and into pajamas—Leo in his faded dinosaur set, Cal in the too-small rocket ship ones he refused to give up. They each picked out a book, and we curled onto the rug in their room, a pile of pillows under my back as they sprawled across my lap.

We read. Then reread. Then argued over whether Leo got to do the monster voice or if it was Cal’s turn.

Eventually, they yawned their way into sleep, and I lingered. Leo’s lashes were a dark fringe against his cheeks, fluttering with dreams. Cal’s tiny fists clutched the edge of his blanket like he was holding on to something he refused to let go of. My chest pulled tight.

Would Dominic even care?

If he knew—if he saw them, like this, here in this quiet moment where the world finally stopped spinning—would it matter to him? Would it have mattered then?

I kissed them each on the forehead, turned off the light, and left the door cracked an inch.

In the kitchen, I opened my laptop to handle a few small tasks before bed, just the usual prep for tomorrow. But the moment the screen loaded, I froze. There on my calendar, blinking like a warning light, was a new event I hadn’t added myself:Strategic PR Planning Session. Scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Listed attendees? Dominic Knight and three others.

I reread it twice, then a third time, as if repetition would somehow rewrite reality. But the words stayed the same—stark and unavoidable.

They expected me to walk into a closed-door meeting with him. A small group. No safety in numbers, no background noise to disappear into. Just a long table and forced conversation, and me trying to act like I wasn’t falling apart inside.

He would be there. He would look at me, speak to me, maybe even sit directly across from me. And I would have to sit there and nod, maybe smile, definitely lie. Talk deliverables and timelines while pretending I hadn’t once melted under his hands in a hotel suite four years ago.

And the worst part—he wouldn’t know the truth about the twins asleep just across town, the truth curled up in Cal’s tiny fists and Leo’s fluttering lashes. The truth I’d kept from him to protect a life I built from scratch, one I wasn’t ready to jeopardize.

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