Torn (The Fosters of New York 3)

I shoot him a look. "It felt like a lot. I think that was because of that call I got from that woman and then we didn't have a chance to

talk before your concert."

"I wanted to explain things to you." He's so close to me now. He doesn't touch me. "I wanted to talk about Karen and about other things."

"Who is she?" I reach up to touch him, but I don't. My hands fall to my side. "Is she someone important to you?"

"No. Not anymore. Karen was my wife."

CHAPTER 40

Asher

There's no reason to hide the truth at this point. I would have told her the same thing, just as bluntly, in Philadelphia but there wasn't time before I took the stage. I knew her expression would look exactly like this when she heard the news. It's a mixture of confusion and sadness. I'm not proud that I was married. I hate that it happened.

"I met her in rehab," I begin even though she doesn't ask for more of an explanation. "She was recovering too. It bonded us together in some fucked up way and then she got pregnant."

Her hand jumps to her chest. She's shielding her heart. "There's a baby?"

"A boy, not mine. I insisted on a DNA test, the results came back but by then I'd already had the marriage annulled."

Her brows perch as she tilts her head. "You had the marriage annulled before you knew if the baby was yours?"

"I had it annulled before I knew there was a baby," I correct her. "We got married right after I got out of rehab. We slept together once. We mostly just fought so I had the marriage annulled a few weeks later."

"When did you find out about the baby?"

My jaw tightens. "It was months later. I stepped up to the plate right away. I wanted to work out support and custody but my lawyer thought a DNA test was a good idea."

She rubs her palms on the front of the white shorts she's wearing. "If it wasn't your baby, the DNA was a good idea."

"Maybe," I admit. "Maybe not. I would have loved that boy as if he was my own."

Her eyes search mine. "It was a loss for you, wasn't it?"

I nod. "I want kids. I wanted that boy. I was devastated when I found out he wasn't mine."

"Don't you think that it's better that you found out before he was born?" she begins before she takes a metered step closer to me. "It would have been harder to accept if you found out later that he wasn't your son."

I just stare at her. There's so much compassion in her eyes.

"Think about him," she continues. "I can't imagine what it would be like to find out at some point in your life that your dad isn't your dad."

I cover my mouth with my hand, tears welling in my eyes. "I know what that feels like, Falon. I know exactly what it feels like."

***

Tears stream down her face as she listens to the voicemail. Her hand holds mine just as tightly as it has since we left her studio to come to my apartment. We didn't speak after I told her that I wanted her to come home with me. She'd called a client to reschedule a shoot and then locked her studio door before we hopped into a taxi.

I brought her straight into my bedroom before I opened the safe and pulled the flash drive from the envelope. When I plugged it into my computer, her eyes locked with mine. She tilted her head towards the speaker once she heard my dad's voice.

Her brows had risen and then she pressed play again, closing her eyes as my dad's voice filled the room a second time.

"This is what you found out that day in my studio, isn't it?" She pauses. "I felt it. I didn't know you, yet I could feel your pain."

"I got the call about it then." I tap my foot against the floor as I sit on the bed next to her. "I didn't hear it myself until later that day."

"Then we kissed the next day." Her fingers trail over her lips. "You were dealing with this then. You had just heard this?"