Then, as I approached him and placed a menu in front of him, I realized why he looked so familiar. His piercing blue eyes ripped through me. He was my dark prince from all those years ago.
My hands shook and my eyes widened. I watched as he held my gaze, just as steady as he’d done that night in the city. My palms were sweating as I reached down and grabbed him a coffee cup, looking for something to do while his eyes studied me intently.
Did he know? Was he here to hurt me? To take Ana away from me?
He’d have to fight through me to get to her. That much was certain.
I grabbed the coffee pot and poured him a cup and, all the while, he simply watched me. His menu was left untouched and his body didn’t budge.
My nervous lips broke the silence hanging between us. “What are you doing here?”
I knew it was him. Back then, he had been clean-shaven and he was wearing a mask, but I knew those eyes. I knew that stare. I felt that familiar thrill rush over my body while his eyes followed me. I would’ve known that feeling anywhere, even if he had spotted me from across the street.
I was blown away by how handsome he was without the mask. His strong hands were rough, boasting thick callouses, and his beard suggested he’d been in the area for a little while. He looked like one of the locals. The full beard suited him in a way I would’ve never thought possible and, as I poured him a cup of coffee, all he did was shrug.
That was when fear rushed through me. Did he not remember me?
He stayed silent, not ordering any food, but he didn’t touch his coffee, either. I went about my business, trying to clean up around me so that when he did finally leave, I could get home to my daughter.
Our daughter.
“We’ll be closing in a few minutes,” I said. “Is there anything you’d like, to go?”
“I don’t want to order anything,” he said in that same slight accent. “But I would like to talk to you.”
I felt my body freeze as I slowly panned my gaze over toward him. It was him and he did remember me. That voice was unmistakable and I felt myself growing weak at the knees. Sensations from that night echoed through my system and I had to brace myself against the counter just to keep my balance.
And all the while, he kept staring.
I never once considered telling him about Ana after she was born. Trying to track down a man I knew was dangerous and telling him I was pregnant with his child seemed like a bad idea. I wondered how he found me. After I informed Crystal that I was pregnant, she immediately launched into the rumors she’d heard about him. Rumors of him being tied to the mob, being the head of a ruthless family, having so much blood on his hands he could drown the entire city in the carnage he left behind. The stories shook me to my core and kept me up crying at night, even as I curled up and kept my arms braced around my stomach.
My stomach that carried a child I vowed to protect with all my might.
Plus, he owned a sex club. He wasn’t exactly the stereotype of the perfect “baby daddy.” Sure, he was rich, but that didn’t mean anything if his history put us in danger. Suddenly, a chilling idea crossed my mind. What if he was here to fight me for custody? What if he was here to take her from me? I wasn’t about to let him take my daughter and introduce her to a world filled with blood and criminals. I would have to keep my secret from him. I would have to safeguard Ana with my life, no matter what he wanted to talk about.
I continued to clean the counter while his coffee was left untouched.
I felt a thread of fear winding through my stomach. Why was he here, acting all mysterious? Did he already know about Ana? Surely, if he had me tracked, he knew about her, but I couldn’t be sure. All he was doing was staring at me like he had that night and I had no idea what was going on in his mind. I assumed he would want nothing more to do with me, especially after leaving me the lines of that Yeats poem like he did.
I still had that note, even after all these years. I used it as a bookmark for the books I allowed myself to dive into whenever I did have a little bit of free time on my hands, which wasn’t often.
“I assumed you didn’t want anything to do with me,” I said as I walked back toward him. “You were gone when I woke up.”