But the way she looked at me said I was the last person she would even think of going out with. Had I misread all the looks between us? The way she smiled at me or how her cheeks turned pink when I talked to her? I had it all wrong. In that moment I felt the walls go up around my heart.
The sound of Ryan’s old pickup came up the gravel drive. I shook my head and took a step back.
“Sorry to bother you, Saryn.” I turned and walked toward the truck. I never looked back at her; I was too afraid to see the look in her eyes or, worse yet, for her to see the pain in mine.
I rubbed the back of my neck as the memory faded away. “That explains why she treated me so coldly that night when I went to ask her out.”
“Is that why you were there?” Ryan asked.
I simply nodded. Ryan glared at Tim and looked ready to pounce on him.
“Listen, Tim, so you liked Saryn, fine. Why did you have to play a game, why not just let her pick who she wanted to be with?” I asked.
“Are you listening to anything I’m saying, Carter? Are you that stupid? Do you really not get it?”
I stood, pushed the chair out of my way, and grabbed Tim so fast he didn’t even have time to react. I pushed him against the wall, all the while ignoring the throbbing in my knee.
“I’m sick of playing this fucking game with you. You took her away from me once, you’re not doing it again. And Liliana is not some sort of toy you get to toss around and tell stories about. You signed your parental rights away, and you know damn well there’s no way I could be her father.”
An evil look passed over his face. “You don’t know. Holy shit. I hate to break this to you, Truitt, but you are indeed related to Liliana.”
I frowned and then pushed him harder against the wall. “Stop talking bullshit. Have you lost your damn mind?”
He laughed, and the pure coldness of it made my skin crawl.
“You are related to her. You’re her uncle.”
My grip on him eased up.
“What?” Ryan and I both said at the same time.
“God, this gives me such great pleasure to tell you this. Your father is also my daddy. Turns out he wasn’t so happy in his marriage with your momma and he slept with my mother. My father didn’t find out until a few years later. When he found out, he beat my mother and me. Told me I would never be his son. I was five at the time.”
I let him go and took a few steps back. Nothing would come out of my mouth.
“Before you ask, your daddy knew. So did your momma. They knew, and they let me stay in that toxic fucking house all those years. Beaten by a man who couldn’t even stand to look at me because I wasn’t his flesh and blood.”
“And you never thought to ask Roger and me if we knew? If we had known we would have—”
“You wouldn’t have done a damn thing. The two of you acted like the princes of Boerne. The sons of the great Nick Carter. The man everyone in town loved, and still fucking does. If people found out he had a bastard son, his whole life would have changed. He couldn’t have people thinking ill about him or his homecoming queen wife.”
I grabbed him by the shirt again. “That’s enough.”
“Fuck you, Truitt.”
Before I could stop myself, I punched him. He dropped down to the floor and grabbed his jaw.
“I’m telling you right now, take your fucking money you got from your little inheritance and crawl back to Dallas. Saryn and Liliana are no longer your concern, and no one wants you here.”
“You gonna take care of them now?” he asked.
“Yes. Because I happen to love them both.”
He let out a roar of laughter. “You love them both? How sweet is that. The forbidden lovers have finally found their way to each other. The two of you deserve one another. As far as Liliana goes, I plan on getting a lawyer to recant my…”
I stepped closer to him, causing his words to fade away.
“You gave up your daughter, Tim. Listen to that closely. You. Gave. Her. Up. I will stop at nothing to make sure she never sees you again. And that little bit of money you came into, I can promise you this, I’ve got a lot more of it and can afford better lawyers.”
His eyes flared.
“If you spread one more rumor or even attempt to go near either one of my girls, you will regret it until the day you die.”
“Your girls?” he repeated, venom dripping from each word.