“I’m sure.”
“Lauren, really. Don’t—”
The girl—Lauren—didn’t seem to care what Niklaus was saying, not with the way she just grabbed hold of his good arm and matched him into the living room, shoving, albeit gently, him onto a bar stool and told him to stay there.
“Where the hell is Mish? I thought he was supposed to be meeting you.” Lauren called out, having disappeared into a guest bathroom, walking back out with a small first-aid kit.
“Yeah, this happened before he got there,” Luka answered. “Where’s the little one?”
“In his room—but don’t wake him, Luka. I know you. I’m trying to keep him on his schedule, but if you keep disrupting it whenever you come around, that’s only going to make it worse on both of us.”
“Yeah, yeah. I hear you.”
But from the way Lauren rolled her eyes, she didn’t believe him—but neither did Reagan.
“Right, sorry. Reagan, this is Lauren Volkov.”
Volkov?
She shared his last name? While she knew genetics were an iffy thing, Reagan couldn’t see the similarities between them, if there were any. Maybe one or the other was adopted?
“Reagan, you said?” Lauren’s tone had changed, even the way her gaze shifted to Niklaus was curious, but whatever silent message passed between them, Reagan didn’t understand it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Reagan. I don’t know if Niklaus has mentioned me, or us, but I’m glad you’re here.”
Reagan was too distracted by Niklaus carefully pulling his shirt off to properly hear what Lauren was saying, but she was sure there was something she was not getting…
And no, she didn’t think Niklaus had mentioned her, or their relationship, but she didn’t want to mention that in case it hurt her feelings. It was obvious she cared a great deal about Niklaus from the way she was carefully examining his wound and cleaning it.
As Reagan turned away from them, looking around the space, she wondered why Niklaus had never bothered to mention her, or really, any of the people he was supposed to be meeting with today.
It was only a reminder that he was still hiding things despite how honest he had been.
But she could have moved past that if she hadn’t looked up and her gaze seized on the painting that was proudly hung.
If it had been of anyone else, she would have loved it. The detail was immaculate, and had probably cost thousands of dollars to have produced, but as Reagan stared at the woman and man in the portrait—particularly the man—one that she had pined for years, one that had made her feel like no one else ever had...
She was fucking pissed.
“You’re married?”
Niklaus’ gaze swung to her, a look of shock crossing his features before his eyes shifted to the painting that had held her attention for so long.
“Reagan, it’s not what—”
She was on her feet in a second. “It’s not what I think? Is that what you were about to say because it sure a fuck looks like it’s exactly what I think, Niklaus!”
“No, wait—”
“What’s all the yelling about?” Luka asked, reappearing with a sleepy toddler at his side.
And if anything, the sight of him only made it worse.
He looked just like Niklaus.
Just. Like. Him.
It didn’t matter that the adorable little boy couldn’t be any old than a year—give or take a few months—the similarities between them, a perfect blend of both Niklaus and Lauren though the boy did favor his mother a little more, were too obvious to ignore.
“A child?” Reagan asked, turning watery eyes to Niklaus, feeling like her chest was cracking open. “How could you do this?”
She couldn’t even face Lauren—how could she when she didn’t know what Niklaus had told her?
“I haven’t done shit!”
“Language,” Luka said, covering the baby’s ear with his giant hand.
Niklaus glared at him. “Don’t start with me, Luka.”
“Hey, now. Don’t blame me for this. You should have warned her about who Lauren was before you brought her here.”
Even Luka had known…
She was an idiot. A fucking idiot.
“Luka, stop before I tell Alex you’re causing problems,” Lauren snapped at him, but it didn’t look like it fazed him in the slightest.
This was a joke to them.
“I’m leaving,” Reagan told Niklaus. “Just leave me alone and don’t ever come near me again.”
She had every intention of walking away, to get away from him and the lies he’d made her believe, but as she spun around, readying to do just that, he grabbed her hand before she could.
And the moment he did, when she felt his touch on her, she swung without warning, cracking her hand across his face.
“Ouch.”
The new voice came from behind her, the words colored with an accent that Reagan wasn’t very familiar with. She was expecting another of his friends, one that would be too amused by it all as Luka had been, but when she got a good look at the new person, all the anger that had taken her over fled just as quickly.