I don’t miss the visible shudder that runs through Ryker’s body. He has a spider phobia, a fact I learned early on in his relationship with Gray. While he saved her from a psychopathic ex–Cold Fury player and thus earned my devotion for life, he once admitted to me that if it was a spider attacking her, he’s not sure he could have done it.
“I’ll come up in a bit to look,” I tell as I ruffle her curly hair. “But I actually need to talk to Gray and your dad about something important.”
I glance at Gray and see concern in her eyes, as I never show up at her house unannounced with “something important” to discuss.
“Why don’t you girls go upstairs and play, then Pop-Pop will come up in a bit,” Ryker says as he walks over to both girls, and with a firm hand to each of their backs starts pushing them toward the staircase that goes from the kitchen to the second floor.
There’s no grumbling from Violet and Ruby because they’re good girls. They both shoot me parting grins and then run up the stairs.
“Want some coffee?” Gray asks, and I shake my head. I had too much damn coffee today with Lexi at The Grind and probably won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight.
“Mind if we sit at the table?” I ask, but I don’t wait for a response, moving around the kitchen island to the breakfast nook.
Gray and Ryker take chairs around the square table, both of them looking at me curiously with no alarm or misgiving.
I’m getting ready to change that.
I take a chair opposite them, scooting it in so I can rest my forearms on the table. I glance at Ryker briefly, then at Gray. “I’ve got something to tell you and there’s no real way to prepare you for the shock of what I’m going to say—”
“Are you sick?” Gray interjects bluntly, her eyes now swimming with fear.
“God, no,” I quickly exclaim, and give her a reassuring but sheepish smile. “Sorry…it’s not bad news.”
My daughter quickly exhales, her entire posture relaxing once again. “You scared the crap out of me with your whole ‘I have something to talk to you about.’?”
I nod in understanding as I take in the fact her guard is completely down now. That makes me feel utterly terrible for pushing forward and ripping off the Band-Aid, because my job is to protect my daughter, not cause her distress.
Still, it can’t be helped.
I cough slightly to clear my throat. “A woman came to see me today at the office. Her name’s Lexi Robertson. I’d never met her before. Didn’t know she existed. But she claims she’s my daughter, and I believe her.”
Gray draws in a sharp gasp of disbelief, her eyes rounding with stunned surprise. Ryker sits up straight and his hand immediately comes to the middle of Gray’s back, where it slides up over her shoulder for support.
“What?” Gray rasps. “How can that be?”
“About a year after your mother died, I dated a woman named Sybil Robertson,” I say softly. “It was a blind date set up by some mutual friends. We only saw each other for a few months, and we were intimate, but eventually I ended things with her. She apparently found out she was pregnant after I ended things and never told me.”
Gray gives a stubborn shake to her head. “And you just believe this woman that shows up, claiming to be your daughter, what, twenty-something years later?”
“She’s twenty-six,” I say. “And she didn’t know I was her father until about ten months ago. Her mother told her the truth just before she died.”
A quick flash of sympathy crosses Gray’s face for Lexi’s mother, but then just as quickly settles into a mask of stony silence, sparks of anger brewing in her eyes.
“And you believe her?” Ryker asks calmly.
Turning my gaze to my son-in-law, I say, “I do. I spent a good chunk of today talking to her, getting to know her. She looks a lot like her mother, but her chin and nose are mine—”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Gray murmurs, and there’s no doubt she’s rattled by this.
I look back to my daughter, reach my hand across the table, and hold it palm up. She refuses to move but I pin her with a hard, fatherly look and then nod down to my hand. Reluctantly, she slides her against mine, and my fingers wrap gently around her. “Gray…honey…I can tell. And besides that, she came prepared with a paternity test for me to take. We’ll have solid proof within a few weeks, but I know it’s true.”
“And what does she want?” Gray asks, some of the heat in her eyes dying down but still no denying the suspicion in her question.
“To get to know me,” I tell her frankly. “To get to know you too. She has no other family…not close family anyway.”
“And you’re not the least little bit curious as to what her ulterior motives are?” Gray asks me with a focused look. “You are, after all, a very rich man.”
I squeeze Gray’s hand and try to reassure her. “She doesn’t want my money—”
“How do you know?” Gray presses.
“I just do,” I tell her patiently. “And you’re going to have to trust me on that.”
She gives me a grunt of denial and pulls her hand from mine. “I trust you with my life, Dad, but I’ll have to form my own opinions about her.”
“Fair enough.” What else can I say?
What else can I expect?