Lily turned and followed him into the living room, refusing to accept his evasive tactics. “I know you grew up around horses and that you are close with your mother. That’s all.”
Across the room, Nash rested his hands on the mantel, his head dropped as tension crackled in the silence between them. Something weighed heavily on those wide shoulders of his, something he didn’t want her to know.
Was he worried she’d think less of him? Did he wonder how much he should share just because they had different pasts?
Dread settled deep in the pit of her stomach. Was he hiding something worse? Endless possibilities flooded her mind.
“Nash, I know you’re keeping something from me.” She eased farther into the room, skirting around the sofa and coming to stand just behind him. “You’re scaring me with the silence. It can’t be that bad, can it?”
She hoped not. Had her judgment been so off again? Please, no. Please let it be something that is in actuality very, very minor.
“You deserve the truth,” he muttered, still gripping onto the mantel so tightly his knuckles were white. “This is harder than I thought.”
Lily slid a hand over her stomach. What had she done? She stepped back until her hip hit the edge of the sofa arm. She gripped the back of the cushion for support.
What bomb was he about to drop and how would this affect the life of her and her child?
Nash turned, his eyes full of vulnerability and fear. Raking a hand through his hair, he met her gaze across the room.
“Damon Barrington is my father.”
Seven
She’d been played for a fool...again.
Her shaky legs threatened to give out. How could she be so foolish? Was she so blinded by men with pretty words and charming attitudes that she couldn’t pick out the liars?
Damon Barrington, billionaire horse racing icon, was Nash’s father? Her eyes sought his across the room. He hadn’t moved, had hardly blinked as he watched her to gauge her reaction. So many thoughts swirled around in her mind she didn’t know how she was supposed to react.
“You lied to me.”
That was the bottom line.
Oh, no. Nash’s father was a wealthy mogul and famous in his own right in the horse racing industry. How would the media spin this story once word got out who her baby’s father was?
The muscle in his jaw ticked as he crossed those muscular arms over his chest. “Yes, I lied.”
No defense? Was he just going to reveal that jaw-dropping fact and not elaborate?
Lily rubbed her forehead, hoping to chase away the impending headache. She wouldn’t beg him to let her in. He either wanted to tell her or he didn’t, but he better have a damn good reason for lying to her face.
“I honestly didn’t want to lie to you,” he defended, as if her silence had triggered him to speak up for himself.
A laugh escaped her. “And yet you did it anyway.”
“Damon doesn’t know who I am.” In two long strides, Nash closed the gap to stand directly in front of her. Those bright blue eyes held hers as if pleading for her to hear him out. “To my knowledge he never even knew my mother was pregnant. I only found out he was my birth father several months ago and that’s when I came to work for him. I needed to see what kind of man he was, needed to know if I even wanted to pursue a relationship with him.”
A bit of her heart melted, but he’d still withheld information from her, pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
“You’re the son of the most prominent man in this industry and you didn’t even think to tell me?”
Nash reached for her hands, held them tight against his chest as he took another step toward her. “When we first started our connection was just physical. You know that. But then I started getting more involved with you and I worried about disclosing the truth, but I also knew you’d be leaving at the end of the shoot. I wasn’t going to say anything to Damon until you were gone and it never would’ve affected you. But now...”
Realization dawned on her. He’d had to tell her. But the fact of the matter was he only did so when forced to, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit.
“The baby.”
Nash nodded, squeezing her hands as if he was afraid she would turn and run. “I truly never wanted you involved in my mess, in this lie, but things were out of my control.”
Lily raised her brows. “Out of your control?”
“Fine.” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, showcasing that devastating smile. “I couldn’t control myself around you, but I could control how much of my life I let you in on. I wasn’t able to tell you before.”