I give Aspen a few more minutes to gather herself while I run through the speech I have been memorizing all day.
I’m just about to get her attention when she looks directly into my eyes. Determination forms in her gaze, and she suddenly stands. Quinton wraps an arm around her waist like he wants to lead her away. That’s my cue. I clear my throat. “Can I have a minute with you?”
Aspen exchanges a look with Quinton and nods. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up to you.”
Then we’re alone. It’s not the first time we’ve been alone, but today feels different because today is different. She takes a seat again. I choose to stand for a little bit longer. I don’t know where to start, whatever I had thought about before is gone, so I say the only thing that comes to my mind. “I hope you don’t hate me for blurting that out in front of everyone.”
“I don’t. You probably saved my life.”
“Not entirely. You did a lot of that on your own.”
“So it’s really true?” She searches my face, looking for a lie or maybe some kind of resemblance she missed before.
“I want you to know I had no idea there was even a child.” I pace the room, unable to sit still for another moment. “Not until we watched that video together. I can’t tell you how shocked I was. Because I did see a woman named Charlotte, and the time we were together lined up with roughly the time you were born. Last I heard, she passed away a few years ago, I’m sorry to say.”
I rub my hands together nervously. “It was enough to make me want to look deeper into the situation. I had your DNA tested against mine. The results came in earlier today and confirmed our connection.”
“Earlier today? Before the…?”
I stop pacing. “Yes. Before the wedding. I had the honor of walking my daughter down the aisle and giving her away.” Again, I regret not telling her sooner. I should have, but I didn’t know how she would react. I draw in a deep breath. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions.”
“Only about a million. The one that stands out is why was my birth mother so afraid of you? I don’t understand.”
Straight to the point. She’s the one subject I don’t want to talk about, but more than anything, I owe her the truth. “Honestly, sometimes I feel like I used to be a different person back then. I was young and hurt and so fucking lost. I was reckless and didn’t care about anything. I’m sorry, Aspen. It’s probably not what you want to hear, but I’m glad you didn’t meet me then.” So fucking glad. Charlotte did the right thing by hiding our child from me.
“I’m glad I met you now.” Aspen’s words hit me with more force than a fifty-pound weight on my chest.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. We have all the time in the world now that you’re safe. For now, you don’t want to keep your in-laws waiting too long. Xander’s patience is not legendarily generous.”
A tiny smile crosses Aspen’s lips. She looks hesitant about leaving as if she would rather talk more, but she also knows I’m right. If she doesn’t leave the room soon, one of the Rossi’s is going to march in here regardless.
“Thank you for speaking up when you did.”
“It was only what was right,” I assure her, keeping to myself just how far I would have gone to keep her safe.