I wasn’t sure how long it took me to get out to Dayton, but one second I was blazing down along the fucking highway and the next I was pulling down the exit and riding along the quiet suburban streets.
Dayton was like every other town in Indiana. The place was quiet, neat, and orderly, the last place you’d expect The Network to visit. There was nothing important in Dayton, nothing strategic or worthwhile, except for Tara. And, potentially, my baby.
As I pulled up outside her house, I couldn’t let myself think about that. I might be meeting my baby for the first time, or I might be meeting some random child. Either way, I had to keep my head on straight. I was a trained SEAL on a mission to keep this girl safe. I couldn’t let this child distract me from that.
I got out of the car and headed up the driveway. There was nobody around, though I was primed and ready. I stopped outside her door and knocked once, twice, three times before I finally heard her call out from inside.
That was the voice I knew. She pulled the door open and I grinned at her. “Remember me?” I asked.
She gaped at me like she was seeing a ghost.
She looked fucking incredible, just like I remembered. Those green eyes, that long brunette hair, that perfect fucking body. It made my cock stir just seeing her again in the flesh and remembering what our bodies could do together, even if it was for only one night.
“Yes,” she said, getting herself together. “Uh, yeah. Hi, Emory. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“I’ve been looking for you. Everywhere. For months.”
I frowned at that. “Why?”
“You should meet someone.”
Shit.
So it was true.
Fuck. I had a son.
She half turned and nodded at me. I followed her inside and shut the door behind us.
Her house was cute. She clearly lived with her parents, though, based on all the pictures. Plus, I couldn’t imagine a single mother could afford to live in a decent-sized house alone, even in Indiana. I followed her down the hall, through the kitchen, and into the living room.
And there, trapped into a little bouncy chair, was a baby. A five-month-old baby. Right around the correct age, if I had knocked the girl up.
“Emory, this is Mason,” she said. “Your son.”
I gaped at the kid.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
“I’m sure,” she said, laughing.
“We used a condom.”
“I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about that a million times.”
He looked just like me, the same nose, the same eyes. It was like staring at a tiny, blob-like version of myself.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said again, “but you’re not easy to find.”
“I know,” I said, distracted, staring at the kid.
I’d never wanted to be a father, never wanted to have a kid. But there I was, facing my baby, while The Network probably moved into position to kill us all.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
“Came to see you,” I said, not wanting to tell her the truth.
Not yet at least. She didn’t need to know that a deadly terrorist group might be watching her, ready to hurt her in order to get at me.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“I have my ways.”
“Emory,” she said, “I know this is a lot to take in.”
I turned toward her. “You look fucking good,” I said.
“Thanks.” She blushed a little.
“Fuck, I get why I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that sweet pussy since I left you.”
“Don’t say that. Not in front of Mason.”
“The kid can’t understand me,” I said, laughing. “Plus, he’d be happy to know a man like me would want his momma.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” I said, changing the subject.
She looked annoyed. “Look, I know this is weird, but you don’t need to come in here acting all cocky.”
“Not cocky,” I said. “Just honest.”
She made a face. “You know, I’ve been hoping for a long time that you’d show up. Now that you have, I’m not so sure I want you here.”
I laughed, shaking my head. I didn’t blame her, but she had no clue what she was saying.
“Don’t act like that pussy isn’t dripping wet,” I said. “The second you saw me, you remembered what I could do to that body of yours.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” she admitted, “but you’re also still as arrogant as I remembered.”
“I get it, princess,” I said. “You don’t know who I am or why I’m here.”