Truth Be Told (Blackbridge Security 4)

“My son,” he hisses.

“Y-your son?”

“Alex!” he roars, making me jump and take another step back.

“Is not your son,” I lie again.

“The fuck he isn’t.” His words come out on a low growl. “You named him Alejandro.”

“And?” How the hell did he find out so much damn information that he knows his full name? “I like that name.”

“It’s my fucking middle name.”

“How would I even know that?” I’m grasping at straws but lying seems to be the only thing I can manage right now.

As a teen with hearts in her foolish eyes, how many times did I write Mrs. Ignacio Alejandro Torres on my notebooks for school after seeing his driver’s license photo at the movie theater? A million or more at least.

“You always were a shit liar, Tinley. I want a paternity test.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I’ll get attorneys involved if I have to.”

I swallow the lump threatening to shut off my air supply and glare at him. By this point, I’m shaking nearly uncontrollably, and he must notice because he takes a step back. The distance doesn’t help because I’m not afraid of him physically. It’s the havoc he can cause in my life right now, all the other lies I’ve told coming to light that have the power to ruin my life.

“Please, Ig. Don’t do this.”

He blinks at me, his eyes drifting closed for a second too long before he opens them again, the fire there increasing.

“It’s been nearly thirteen years,” I continue. “Can’t you just leave it alone?”

“Leave it alone?” he spits. “Are you serious right now? You’ve robbed me of more than half of his childhood.”

“And you told me you didn’t want anything to do with me. Why would I think for a second that you’d want to be involved in a child’s life?”

“So, you’re admitting he’s mine?”

I look away, unable to speak the truth.

“I still want a paternity test.”

“You weren’t here,” I sob, the threatening tears making themselves known. “When I came back to tell you, you were already gone. Your grandfather wouldn’t tell me where you were. He said any kid you had a part in conceiving was already at the shit end of the gene pool and would be better off without you.”

He doesn’t cringe with the news, but there’s never been any love lost between those two.

“How hard did you look for me, Tin? How many times did you search my name online or ask around about me, hmm?”

I clamp my mouth closed because the answer is not once. I was so bitter back then, an angry, pregnant teen who had the ability to hold on to a grudge despite the news being every part his business.

After being turned away at his old house, I went right back to Dallas, relieved that Ignacio wasn’t around to relay the news to. I did what I thought at the time was my due diligence and never had the urge again. I had my parents there to help. I didn’t need a man that didn’t want me trying to tell me how to raise my son. If he could walk away from me so easily, I wouldn’t give him a chance to do the same thing to Alex.

“You knew that night,” he whispers, his eyes searching mine for the truth. “You said you had something else to tell me, but when I asked, you just walked away.”

I force my eyes to stay on his even though every cell in my body is telling me to look at the floor in shame. Adding thirteen years of struggle, of maturity, of experience makes what I did that night shameful, but the woman I am now doesn’t resemble that scared, bitter girl, and it’s not fair to compare the two.

“A paternity test, Tin. I’m at my grandfather’s old house. Let me know when it’s arranged.”

He forces a business card in my hand before turning and walking away.

Chapter 5

Ignacio

“You’re saying she did the right thing?”

“I’m saying you broke a teenage girl’s heart—”

“To keep her from staying in this fucking town,” I remind him. “If she stayed—”

“It looks like she ended up there anyway.”

“And that’s my fault?”

Deacon Black, my boss and the owner of Blackbridge Security, sighs on the other end of the line.

“I’m not saying it’s your fault.”

“But if I didn’t do what I thought was right back then, I wouldn’t have missed out on nearly thirteen years of my child’s life.”

“You made a decision as a young man. I can’t say that it was a mistake or not.”

I know it was a mistake. I knew it back then, but I was looking at things from my point of view. I would suffer the fiery pits of hell a million times over if it meant ensuring Tinley wouldn’t be stuck in this town with nothing to her name, but even breaking both our hearts didn’t stop it from happening.