King heard him say something to Larkin and then a minute of silence.
“Okay, talk.”
“Did you know Cat had a baby?”
“What? No. Where did you see her?”
King told him about the meeting outside of a daycare. “Jesus, Darian. He’s mine.”
“How do you know that?”
“He’s the spitting image of me.”
“Fuck. Why didn’t she tell you?” Darian asked.
“I’m not so sure she didn’t. I know she called me several times, and I received at least one letter from her, but I sent it back. I even had her barred from the building when she tried to see me.”
“God, what are you going to do?”
King wiped a hand down his face and took a long drink of his scotch. “I’ve got Peter finding out everything he can about her before I make a move.”
“So, you’re going to confront her?” Darian asked.
“Fuck yes.”
“Because he’s your son?”
“That and her.”
“You’d take her back after what she did?”
“I’ve gotten the feeling so many times that I fucked up. I listened to one person. Yes, I trusted him. I still do, but maybe I should have asked questions before I flew off the handle.”
“I understood why you did it. Carolyn majorly fucked you up.”
He’d dated the woman for three years and had planned to marry her when he found out about all the affairs she’d had since they started dating. The pain had been horrendous, and it had taken a long time to get over her.
“Yeah, she did. The problem was I loved Cat ten times more than I ever did Carolyn, and I was so happy I couldn’t believe it could last, so I looked for things. When Jerry saw her with another man, I jumped on it.”
“Sometimes, we’re our own worst enemies.”
“But what if I really fucked this up to the point she’ll ever forgive me? Fuck, I wouldn’t forgive me.”
“Remember, our littles have huge hearts, and what I knew of Cat, she had one of the biggest. I would bet she’d never stopped loving you. Just don’t give up. You’re one of the stubbornest people I know. Use that to your advantage.”
King laughed, but it stopped abruptly.
“What?” Darian asked when King grunted.
King pinched the bridge of his nose to hold back the tears that stung his eyes. “It’s just the first time I’ve laughed since…”
“That tells you something right there,” Darian said.
“Thank you. I needed this.”
“You know I’m here for you, my friend. We’ve known each other our whole lives. Hell, remember when we cut our palms and shook our hands, making us blood brothers? I still have the scar, and I still believe that.”
“I do, too. Go back to your sweet little.”
“I want to know how everything goes.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
“Night.”