I nod. “Yes. That was my plan.”
His nostrils flare as he glares at me. “Liar!”
“I’m telling the truth! You can ask Audrey.”
He rubs his thumb along my mouth, and I jolt as a rush of sensations skates over my skin. I have been trying to deny the hum of electricity crackling in the air, because I’m trying to deny the existence of our connection, but one little touch from him ignites a flame inside me I can’t extinguish. “That’s why you cut Ash off.”
“I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to lie to her either. I knew if she found out I was pregnant she’d ask me if it was yours. If I told her, she would tell you.” I hang my head, unable to look at the disgust on his face. “I’m ashamed I did that to Ash. I love her like a sister, but I didn’t see I had any other option. I contacted her after Easton was born, after the paternity test confirmed Reeve was the father”—I whisper that last part because we both know that is no longer proven—“but she didn’t take my calls, and then they started bouncing back, and I knew she’d blocked me.”
“I’m pretty sure that was the day we discovered you’d gotten married and had a baby without telling her or me,” he grits out. “Look at me,” he snaps, and I swing my eyes back around to his. “I couldn’t give two shits about your lying ass, but I do care to know if that little boy is mine.”
“Why?”
“Because he could be my son!” he yells.
“Keep your fucking voice down!” I hiss. “He could still be Reeve’s.”
“Or he could bemine. That test you got proves nothing because our DNA is the same. We need a specialized test with samples from both of us to prove paternity conclusively, and I want that test taken ASAP.”
My chest heaves. “How do I explain this to Reeve?” I cry.
“Not my fucking problem,” he snaps.
“This isn’t just my problem. It’s yours too! He’s yourbrother!”
“He’s not my brother,” he growls. “Shane, Ciarán, and Ronan are my brothers. Reeve is just the selfish prick I shared a womb with.”
I gasp at the venom in his tone and the hatred on his face. Tears leak out of my eyes, and my heart hurts for my husband. Obviously, everything Dillon said back there was bullshit. “How can you say that?” I thump his chest. “It’s not Reeve’s fault Simon Lancaster was a twisted fuck who blamedbothhis sons for what happened to their mother! Reeve didn’t know about you until two weeks ago! He grew up with a father who couldn’t give a shit about him, and if it wasn’t for my family, he’d have been all alone.”
“Save your bleeding-heart crap for someone who gives a shit. FYI. That’s not me.” He grips my chin, and I flinch at the look of loathing in his eyes. “That prick has taken everything from me, and I think I’m owed a little payback, don’t you?”
Certain things slot into place in my head. “You knew! You’ve known the truth for years.” My stomach lurches wildly, and I dry heave as the reality of the situation dawns on me in full technicolor horror.
“I was seventeen when Simon Lancaster found me and told me the truth.” Dillon releases me, stepping back, dragging a hand through his hair. “He said I murdered my mother and I was lucky he’d given me up for adoption because he couldn’t bear to look at me and he’d most likely have killed me if he’d taken me home.”
I raise a shaky hand to my mouth. How could any man say that to his son? Simon Lancaster was a monster, and I’m fucking glad he’s dead. I know this must have gone down around the same time Ash tried to kill herself, and I can only imagine the pain Dillon was in. Irrespective of our present situation, I would never wish that on him. My heart aches for him, and my body longs to comfort him, like I would have done in the past.
But this isn’t the past.
And it’s obvious Dillon isn’t the same Dillon.
He’s twisted with anger and rage, his judgment is clouded by the things he mistakenly believes, and that makes him wildly unpredictable. Especially when he seems to be channeling most of that rage unfairly in Reeve’s direction.
I can’t let him destroy my husband. Whatever agenda he has, I know he’s focused on hurting Reeve and I’m not letting him do that. Right now, my priorities lie with my husband and my son. Protecting them from pain is my focus. “Why did Simon contact you?” I ask.
Dillon rubs the back of his neck as pain flares in his eyes. “He offered me one million dollars to sign an NDA so the world would never find out I was Reeve Lancaster’s secret twin.”
I stare numbly at him, sure my ears must be deceiving me. “Why?”
“He was protecting the son he loved!” he spits, and I’m dumbfounded again. “He said Reeve was going to be a massive star and he couldn’t have skeletons in his closet. He wanted to make sure I would never come forward. That I would never seek out Reeve. That I would slink away in the shadows and pretend like I was invisible.”
“Jesus, Dillon. That is heartbreaking. But I’m telling you now, Simon wasn’t protecting Reeve. He was protecting himself. He knew he would’ve been outed as a monster if the truth was revealed. I hated Simon when he was alive for what he did to Reeve, but I absolutely despise him in death.”
“For what he did toReeve?!” Dillon shoves his angry face in mine, and I protectively cradle my stomach, reeling from the poison spewing from Dillon’s mouth.
It’s as if I never knew him at all.
What happened to the troubled broken boy who opened his heart and showed me the sexy sweet soul hidden underneath? I see none of that boy in the man who stands before me now, radiating anger like it’s an entitlement. “Reeve had everything! He grew up wealthy in L.A. with every opportunity handed to him on a silver platter.”