Page 108 of Fierce-Jax

“Your parents never met him?” he asked. He found that hard to believe knowing how protective Dylan was of his daughter.

Or maybe that played a big part in it now.

“My parents knew Alec and I had been dating, but we kept it light. I didn’t tell my parents I was pregnant for months. That is right about the time I told Alec who they were. My parents didn’t have any interest in meeting him prior because I said it wasn’t anything serious just yet. I was focusing on my career, but we did have a mutually caring relationship.”

“Until you got pregnant?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “We never talked about getting married. I’m not saying that I didn’t love him, but it’s not like what I thought love would be. Nothing like what we’ve got.”

He was looking into her eyes, searching for the truth.

He saw nothing that would tell him she wasn’t being honest.

He nodded. “I’m assuming your father didn’t care for Alec?” he asked.

She sighed. “No. Not because he had to work hard to get where he was. Nothing like that. My father never looked at someone’s financial background to see if they measured up. He was more about character and ambition. Something didn’t sit right with him. He didn’t like the family history. He didn’t like that when my father and I disagreed or argued like we did often, Alec not only stayed out of it but almost pretended it didn’t exist. He didn’t pick a side, he didn’t stand up for me. Nothing. He wanted to be invisible.”

Which Dylan Patrick would hate. That the man with his daughter had no backbone.

“Did he not believe what Alec told you?” he asked. “It sounded as if you only had his word.”

“I did only have his word, but I’d like to think I was a good judge of character and I told you the things I saw. There was more too, but we don’t need to go into those details. I’m just saying I saw no reason to not believe what he said about his parents. Did I think it was weird he’d had no relationship at all? I did. Why not go back at least to prove his father wrong he made something of himself? But then I thought that might be petty too.”

“It would be, but I think I’d do that if I were in his shoes. He was an adult, not some kid that was cringing from being hit. Why not try to convince his mother to leave too? Or was his mother handing out the abuse also?”

“I thought the same thing,” she said, “and then told myself not to do that. I didn’t live his life. I didn’t have his demons.”

“I feel like there is more going on,” he said. “Did he not help you with Gianna?”

“He was alive for five weeks of her life. Not much help he could have done.”

“Come on now, Dillion. Don’t play that game with me.”

She shrugged. “He was working a lot,” she said. “He was taking extra shifts. I thought it was for money, but it was to avoid what was going on at home. He didn’t feel comfortable handling a newborn. Happy?”

“Not to speak ill of the dead, but he sounds a little on the weak side, which contradicts being an ER doctor.”

“He was,” she said. “Not in his career, but in being a man. He didn’t help me much. I think he didn’t know how. I’d sat him down more than once and told him my expectations. What he could do if he didn’t help with Gianna. He was getting better. He was doing things in the house so I didn’t have to. Things he was comfortable with. Cooking and cleaning.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not a lot.”

“It was better than nothing,” she said. “I accepted it. Aren’t you the one that said if you can’t change it, stop bitching and accept it?”

“I did,” he said. “But you could have changed that.”

“How?” she asked, throwing her hands up. “He wanted to see his child, although he wasn’t quite ready to be a father. I would not keep Gianna from him. When he was with her, he was good as long as I was there to navigate crying and what she might want or need. Any help he gave me was better than nothing. At the time we were making it work.Iwas making it work.”

“Youwere making it work,” he said. He caught that inflection in her voice.

She pursed her lips. “Yes. My first week back I was exhausted. He was working a lot and there was nothing new there. It’s part of the job. I had a daycare for Gianna. I had a game plan.”

Sounded like she was always the one holding it together.

“Until it all changed,” he said.

He stopped himself short of saying her life was probably easier once Alec was out of the picture and her parents were helping her.

“Yes,” she said. “I’d come home from work, Gianna is crying, she’s hungry, I’m hungry. I’m tired. I fed her and sent a picture to Alec about dinner but didn’t hear back. Nothing. If he wasn’t home by the time I was ready to eat, I’d just make it, but it was his turn. I fell asleep in the chair feeding Gianna and then woke up and took care of her. I was getting ready to make dinner when there was a knock at the door and the police were standing there. They’d told me Alec had been shot and died on the street, then everything went black. It was the first time in my life I’ve passed out.”

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