“But you weren’t.”
“No. I never suspected once that she and Marc were together. I was too grief-stricken and dealing with the company to consider what was going on with her when I was away.”
“You were dealing with all of that, and she was banging someone else on the side,” I said, furious. “What a bitch.”
Jensen looked off in the distance, the memory hitting him fresh once more. “As I told you, I moved back to New York. As far as I know, their relationship stopped after that. I don’t know if I believe it for sure, but I think Marc was worried Colton was his kid and cleared out. His dad wasn’t doing that well, so he moved back to Austin around the same time that I got to New York.” He took a long sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair.
“What a creep,” I grumbled. “So, how did you find out?”
“I was there when Colton was born. I took him home from the hospital. I changed diapers. I fed him when Vanessa was sleeping. I was there every single second that I wasn’t working. Colton is my son in every way that matters.”
I smiled at that statement. I loved the thought that Jensen had never treated his son any differently.
“Marc was in town on business for Colt’s second birthday. We all went out to dinner together.”
“And you had no idea?”
“None.”
“How could Vanessa go out to dinner with him?” I gasped.
“I think she thought it would be fine. I really don’t know. The next day, I found her sitting in Colt’s bedroom, crying. I asked her why she was crying, and she said she couldn’t keep lying to me. Then, she told me about her affair with Marc. It must have been weighing on her for a long time for her to actually break down and tell me.” He set his cup down and sighed heavily. “We probably could have survived that. It would have taken a long time, but we could have made it. But then she told me that Colt was Marc’s, and I lost it.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“No, I mean, I actually lost it, Emery. I rampaged throughout the apartment. I broke furniture. I found Marc and beat him to a bloody pulp.” Jensen clenched and unclenched his fist, remembering the bloodlust. “I never told him it was because of Colt though. He thought it was because of Vanessa, which is probably why he didn’t press charges.”
“Still…I don’t blame you, Jensen.”
And I meant every word. How could I possibly blame him for what happened? Vanessa and Marc were to blame. They had taken everything from him. Even his son. A son he had raised for two years, thinking Colt was his. No wonder he never told anyone. How could he ear the shame? The sense of loss?
I reached out and took his hand. He glanced up at me with surprise in his dark eyes. He must have thought that I would turn on him, like everyone else had in his life.
He deflated before my eyes. As if he had been so pent-up over the whole thing that finally telling someone else the truth had drained him. He tightened his fingers around my hand, and we stayed like that for a few minutes in silence.
“So, that’s the whole story,” he finally said, drawing back. “I know that you’re upset with me, and you have every right to be, but I do trust you. Or I want to. I want you in my life, but I know that we have a ways to go. But, now, you know the whole story. I feel like our train got off the rails somewhere or took a wrong turn, but I want this to work. I wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t have given you my mother’s necklace if I didn’t want that.”
He pulled the diamond necklace out of his pocket and let it dangle between us.
“This belongs to you.”
“Jensen,” I whispered.
He took my hand and gently laid the necklace into my palm. “It’s a promise. I’m going to make this right. One way or another.”
This was a lot to absorb.
He wanted to prove to me that he trusted me. That he could trust.
It didn’t make up for what we had gone through, but it was a start.
I closed my hand around the necklace. He smiled brilliantly, the hours of anxiety from the past day falling off of his shoulder. He leaned forward and brushed his lips to my forehead. Slowly, I let a smile stretch across my face as I put the necklace back around my neck and tucked it under my shirt.
I’d given him hope…and now, I had some, too.
He stood up to leave and give me space when his phone started ringing. He gave me a sheepish look and then glanced at the screen. His face paled.
“Who is it?” I asked. I did not like that look on his face.
“Marc.”
“Why would he be calling?”
Jensen shook his head as if he didn’t know, but I could see on his face that he did. And it was bad.
He sank back into his chair and answered. “Hello?”
Marc’s response was so loud that I could hear it through the other line. “You son of a bitch!”
“What do you want, Marc?”
Marc responded, but I couldn’t hear what he said, then Jensen said, “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“I have a right to know!” Marc shouted back.
“It’s been almost seven years, Marc. This is fucked.”
“What’s fucked up is you lying to me for that long! I’m getting on a plane right the fuck now. I’ll be in Lubbock tonight, you motherfucker.”
“Marc, you cannot get near my son.”
“He’s not even yours!” Marc screamed.
“I am his father!” Jensen said, raising his voice in fury.
“We’ll fucking see about that.”
“Colton is my son, and I’ll be damned if I let you fuck with his head by walking into his life. What you’re going to do is irresponsible and reckless. And there’s no way I will let you near him.”
“Well, you don’t get to decide that!”
“Like hell I don’t.”
Jensen slammed his phone down on the table and fumed. “Fuck,” he muttered. He put both of his hands into his hair and pulled. His teeth were gritted. His body tense. He looked as if he were ready to erupt.
“What’s just happened?” I asked softly, though I feared I already knew the answer from that conversation.
“Vanessa told Marc.”