Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I get the feeling she’s ready to play that hand she’s been holding. It’s as if she knows I’m getting ready to make a major change in my life. I have wondered repeatedly if this sudden change is a coincidence or if she has plotted for such a time as this. I shake that thought off.
I’ve kept Chloe’s existence to myself. I never have pillow talk of the woman I love with my lovers—not that there were many. I haven’t even shared with my brothers what this woman at my side means to me. I doubt—even as resourceful as Addison is—that she has figured anything out about Chloe.
“Hello.” I sigh tiredly into the phone.
“Excuse me, is this Mr. Hennessy?” A woman with a shaky voice sniffles over the line.
It’s not Addison’s voice, but the caller ID says it’s her number. I knit my brows, feeling them pinch in the middle of my forehead. Sitting up, I slip my arm from beneath Chloe and swing my legs over the side of the bed.
“Yes, this is he,” I reply cautiously.
“You don’t know me. I’m a friend of Addison’s, Em… Emma. I found her… I need you to come to the hospital. I can’t make any decisions on her behalf, and I don’t know what to do… I… I have Chloe,” she rambles shakily.
“I’m on my way,” I reply, needing to hear nothing further.
The bed shifts behind me and I turn to find hazel eyes watching me with concern. I reach for her hand, squeezing it. It’s a gesture more for me than it is for her.
“I’ll text the information,” Emma whispers.
“Is my daughter okay?” I ask, needing the reassurance before I hang up the line.
There’s a gasp the moment the words are out of my mouth. I watch as all the blood drains from Chloe’s face. Tears spill over like a dam has broken. I reach to pull her to me, but she backs away as if I’m a flame moving to burn her.
“She’s fine, but you need to get here,” Emma replies.
“I’ll be there,” I say and hang up.
“Cee, I will explain everything. I need to get to the hospital,” I rush out as I put my shoes back on.
“Is… is your daughter, okay?” Chloe chokes out.
The sound of her words is like a knife being twisted in my chest. It’s closer to a sob than actual words. I close my eyes and nod. I didn’t want her to find out like this.
“It’s her mother. She’s in the hospital. I need to get there,” I reply when I open my eyes.
“They’re here?” she asks with a scowl on her face.
“Yes.” I nod.
“Wait, you brought me here, to another country, where you have a family? Have you lost your fu—”
“Don’t,” I say firmly. “It’s not like that and I don’t have time to explain right now. My little girl is in a foreign country with a woman I don’t know, and her mother was found ill or injured. I don’t have details and I’m not about to stand here and fight with you when I need to find out what’s going on.”
Chloe whips her head back and I feel like shit for talking to her so harshly, but I’m about to lose my mind. So many things could have happened. I need to get to my little girl.
I close my eyes again, my jaw working under my skin. I pinch the bridge of my nose, reining in my control. This is all going to hell in a handbasket.
“Come with me. I’ll explain as much as I can on the ride there.” I open my eyes and see a broken woman standing before me.
She has her arms wrapped around her waist, hugging herself tightly. Her head is bent as she sways from side to side. I open my mouth to soothe this situation as much as I can, but her next words take my knees out from under me.
“Our child would have been six by now… this year. I often wonder if we would’ve had a boy or a girl. You left and I did what I thought was best. I couldn’t force Sid to help me with a baby and Ally was just a freshman in high school. I was already struggling to care for her.
“There isn’t a day I don’t ache for my child. You go take care of your daughter. When you have your situation straight, I’m going to need you to arrange for me to return home. I’ll take my chances with what’s coming for me back there,” she says in the most detached voice I’ve ever heard.
I’m literally on my knees as a roar rips from my chest. “Oh, God. I didn’t know.” I sob like a broken man. I tear at my hair as the weight of her words slams into me. “I never knew. I wouldn’t have left if I knew.”