He left it alone for now, hoping she’d saymy boyfriendif that’s what he was. “I’m sorry about my family. They had no right to ask you for a DNA test.”
Why the hell did Hunt have to butt into everything Chase did these days? Why did his father go after Shelby and make it infinitely harder on Chase to earn back her trust? And how dare they treat Shelby like a liar and a thief.
Anger roiled in his gut, and all he wanted to do was thump Hunt’s head off a wall.
She stared out at the land beyond the side porch. “It doesn’t matter.” He hated the resignation in her voice.
“It matters to me. That’s not the first time it’s come up, is it?”
Shelby sighed. “Hunt stopped by the hospital the day after I gave birth. I thought you sent him to check on me.” The last she whispered, her words filled with hurt and disappointment.
Chase hung his head. “You thoughtIwanted the DNA test?”
“No.”
Relief rushed through him.
“Hunt made it very clear why he was there and howhe wanted to protect you. I’m not surprised he hasn’t dropped it. For all their anger toward you, Chase, they still care about you.”
Chase thought about all the times in the months leading up to him going to rehab that Hunt would show up at the bar or Shelby’s house and drag his ass back to his lonely apartment instead of dumping him in a cell. He’d threatened it enough, but never did it.
Then he OD’d trying to save Juliana and woke up to Hunt and Max at his hospital bedside. Yes, they’d been pissed before they knew the OD was an accident, but they showed up.
He had to make amends to Shelby, but he also hoped to make amends with his brothers and father one day.
“I meant what I said. I don’t need the DNA test, because I know she’s mine.”
“Hunt’s a cop. He wants proof.” Shelby shrugged it off, but it bothered her. She didn’t deserve nor had she ever done anything to warrant being called a liar.
“You should have told me he asked for it. I would have told him to go fuck himself.” He loved the little smirk that earned him. “You can count on me, Shelby. I will always have your back.”
She folded her arms under her breasts, pulling the oversized sweatshirt tight and making him wonder why she always hid her curves. “You had enough going on in your life. I knew how hard things were for you over there, and you wanted to be with Eliza, and you missed your mom, and your family sucked. I didn’t want to add anything onto your already overburdened shoulders.”
“How do you know things were hard for me?” His heart jackhammered in his chest. There were things in his past he didn’t want anyone to know. Things he’dseen. Things he’d done. Mistakes. Miscalculations. His anxiety-fueled mind conjured a million scenarios.
She held his gaze. “Because I heard you talking to Eliza over the webcam.”
He shifted from one foot to the other, uncomfortable knowing she’d heard him pouring out his thoughts to his little girl when he’d catch her awake in her crib waiting for her mom to come in and get her in the morning or after a nap.
He’d been honest. But he’d held back on the darkest stuff, even if he had said things to Eliza he hadn’t shared with anyone else.
The compassion in Shelby’s eyes touched him. “I felt bad for listening and intruding on your time with her, but you had to know I could hear you.”
“I guess I just didn’t really think about it. She was there, my captive audience, and I could whisper all the things cluttering my mind. I wanted her to hear my voice and know that I was there, even if I couldn’t be right there in the room with her.”
“You tell really great stories. I love how you changed the dangerous things that were happening to you into other things, like you being swarmed by trolls shooting bees at you.”
“I got stung a couple of times.”
“Five times,” she corrected him.
“Four,” he reminded her.
“Five if you count the one that grazed your thigh.” She gave him a pointed look. “Stingers are still stingers even if they only cut and not impale.”
“Okay. So, seven by your way of counting.”
Her head whipped back, her eyes wide with shock. “Jeez, Chase.”