Page 52 of Small-Town Secrets
Besides, Bailey was resting her head on my lap and looking up at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes.
How could I disturb her home?
"You gonna tell me what happened?" Jake asked, setting a mug of coffee in front of me and taking the seat opposite me. "Who are you so angry at?"
"Laurence's ex."
"What did he do? Aside from the obvious, anyway."
"He hurt my children." I didn't haveprooffor that statement, but I remembered the way Tyler had looked at me that first day at the gym when he caught a whiff of my alpha pheromones.
"Hold on. Your children?" Jake looked at me as if I was off my meds and he was wondering how quickly he could grab his emergency supply kit in case I was about to go lunatic on him.
"Laurence's children," I explained. "They're mine." The words felt strange coming out of my mouth, claiming the twins as mine. At the same time, though, I knew it was absolutely true. Chris and Tyler weremine, and I wouldn't let any more harm come to them.
"When... How...?" Jake gaped at me. "How can they be yours?"
"I told you I slept with him back before he left Oceanport. You forgot?"
"No, I didn't. But shit. That's quite a leap from there to this. Wait, is that what you talked about with Raph? He knew? Am I the only one who didn't know?"
"I only found out today myself." At least, I only gotconfirmationtoday.
"So that's why you're looking like that. Give me a minute to wrap my head around this.
A minute? I snorted. It was going to take me far longer than a minute. "You can have all night if you want to," I said, resting my head in my hands.
"You said you're mad at the ex, but you're not mad at Laurence?" Jake asked as he tried to make sense of the situation. "I think my dad was a little mad at my daddy when he found out about me."
I tilted my head at Jake. He'd never told me that story before. "Your dad didn't know about you?"
"Not for the first seven years of my life. He married someone else shortly after my omega father got pregnant with me." Jake shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Things worked out in the end, I guess. They forgave each other for their mistakes and all that." A small smile appeared on Jake's lips. "My parents have taught me that you can overcome any relationship crisis if you're meant to be together."
So that was what made him stay optimistic about his future with Conner. "You never told me that."
"It really doesn't matter too much. We're a pretty normal family these days."
A normal family. That was what I wanted too. I wanted my children to be happy. I wanted them to know who I was, that there was an alpha in their lives who wouldn't let them down. I wanted Laurence to know that too. "I just can't get over the fact that Laurence believes I'm capable of the same shit as his ex."
"Do you truly think he believes that?"
"He pleaded with me not to take my anger out on the children."
"You know... I don't think that's got anything to do with you or what he thinks about you." Jake stirred some sugar into his coffee with a thoughtful expression. "It's what he's been conditioned to think, you know? We see it in trauma survivors all the time."
When Jake said it like that it was pretty obvious. I should have thought of that myself instead of losing my shit. Sighing, I rubbed my face.
"Hey, go easy on yourself," Jake said. "It's a messed up situation."
It really was. "I need to go home and apologize for storming off like that."
Jake pointed at my mug. "Finish your coffee first. Cool down a bit."
That was probably not a bad idea. I needed to be calm when I saw Laurence again.
I needed to show him that I wasn't the kind of alpha he'd left behind.
24
