But here’s the thing: I would put myself through emotional hell if I knew he was serious about me. I would find a way to get through the stabbing pain in my heart to be with him and Fia. They’d be worth it. I’m just not going to put myself through that if Dean only wants a fling.
I probably need to tell him all this. He probably thinks I’m walking away because I can’t handle being around Fia. He doesn’t know I’m willing to try to figure this out.
I’m about to go back out into shark-infested waters and return to Dean’s apartment when I spot him shimmying down his balcony’s railing.
“What the…?”
I observe him swing like a large monkey and land feetfirst in his downstairs neighbor’s balcony.
What is he doing? He’s a huge guy, and those railings do not look—
Dean swings one leg over the next railing and then gets his second leg over.
“Oh God.” I cover my mouth, watching him maneuver down the wobbly barrier. “Dean, that’s not going to hold your—”
An entire section of the old iron railing comes loose, and Dean hurtles to the ground, landing on a hedge. He bounces and tumbles face-first onto the sidewalk that skirts around the building.
“Oh shit!” I’m about to get out of my car and run to him, but he hops to his feet like a cat and sprints off to his truck.
Where is he going? Somewhere he doesn’t want the press to follow.
I crank my engine, wait a few seconds, and tail him.
DEAN
Child Services is supposed to call and then drop off Fia at my place soon, so I don’t have much time, but I have to do this. Marli says she’s just down the road at a motel.
“Don’t let anyone follow you, Dean. I mean it,” she said. “This is life or death.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you when you get here. I’m in room one-twenty.”
I want answers, so I didn’t argue. Especially not now. People think Fia is stolen, and Marli is the only person who can set the record straight.
I make a few laps around the neighborhood to ensure no one’s following. I think I’m good, so I continue to the Ultra Mega Love Motel. Let’s just say it’s the sort of place that rents rooms by the hour.
I park in back, so my truck isn’t visible from the road, and find the room around the front. My heart is pounding in my chest. I’m angry. I’m worried. I’m praying that Marli is going to confirm Fia is mine.
What if she’s here to take Fia? I think.
Crap. It didn’t cross my mind until now. If she is mine, I’ll need to do that paternity test tomorrow morning as planned. It’s my only chance of being part of Fia’s life.
I knock, and the door opens. Marli is standing there looking very different from the last and only time I saw her. Her blonde hair is a stringy mess. She has dark circles under her green eyes. Her clothes are wrinkled and dirty.
“Hurry. Come in.” She steps aside, and I enter, closing the door behind me. I’m on pins and needles.
“What’s going on?”
Marli hugs her stomach with shaky arms. “I lied to you.”
“So it’s true. Fia isn’t mine.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, Dean. I’m sorry, but I just don’t know.” She walks over to sit on the bed, which is covered in a dark, ugly floral bedspread. Probably to hide the stains. “I slept with my husband a few days after I met you.”
I’m furious. “So why lie to me? Do you have any fucking idea what I’m going through? The world thinks I stole her. My career is probably over. You have to come with me to the police station and set the record—”
“My husband is Tony ‘the rolling pin’ Rigatoni.”
“What the shit?” I know exactly who he is. For starters, it’s a ridiculous name. Also, it’s kind of hard to forget a guy who murders someone by beating him to death with a rolling pin. I think Tony got off on some technicality. Either way, the internet is full of conspiracy theories about him having ties to powerful government officials, and he has a pretty large meme following. Kind of an Angry Cat meets Bernie Sanders mittens situation.
Marli goes on, “When you and I met, I couldn’t tell you the truth about who I really am. I definitely couldn’t say I was on the run from Tony.”
“It was a much better decision to hide the fact your husband is a murderous criminal,” I say sarcastically.
“You have no idea how murderous.” She shakes her head.
“Then why go back to him?” I ask.
“I didn’t. Some friend of his spotted me at a gas station. Completely random.” She whooshes out a breath. “The guy tailed me, and when Tony caught up, I had to pretend I was just trying to punish him because I saw him with another woman a few weeks earlier. I told him I planned to come back after he suffered for a while, but in truth, I’d been planning my escape for months.”