Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sarah
My breath left me in a rush. I knew something was up with Dmitri all evening, but I assumed it was something to do with the trial or maybe his mafia business. I had no idea he’d somehow figured out what I’d been keeping from him.
I swallowed hard. “I swear, I was going to tell you tonight. I tried telling you yesterday, but…”
It was true. After what he’d shared with me last night about his dark childhood, I knew it was time to be honest about Alexis. He deserved to know.
“So, I’m right? She’s my daughter?”
I wished I could read his expression, but it was impossible. No emotion showed through.
“Yes,” I said in a shaky voice. “You’re her father.”
For a moment, there was no reaction. Then he pivoted on his heel and threw his glass at the wall behind him. I gasped as it shattered into a thousand pieces and the amber liquid splashed on the walls and floor. When he spun back toward me, my stomach flipped.
He was showing an emotion now.
His jaw was tight as his eyes narrowed on me as he stormed to where I was standing, fury radiating from his tense body.
“How could you have kept this from me?” he demanded to know in a hard voice.
He wasn’t quite yelling, but his voice was loud enough to make me flinch. At that, his steps faltered, so he stopped about five feet away, but I couldn’t help stumbling back a step, steadying myself with a hand on the banister when my ankle bumped into the bottom step of the staircase.
“I didn’t even know who you were or where to find you,” I said, my uneven voice revealing my fear in a humiliating way.
I didn’t want to think that he’d ever hurt me, but I couldn’t lie to myself about this man’s capabilities. He was the head of the mafia. If he wanted to cause me harm, it would be so easy for him.
“But you’ve been living here for a week!” He shoved a hand through his dark hair and shifted his gaze to the side, as if he couldn’t even look at me. “You claim you trust me enough to keep you safe, but you don’t think I have the right to know I’m a father?”
His eyes met mine again, and my chest ached as I saw the anger there fade away, replaced by pain. I hurt him by not telling him that he was a father.
“You have to understand,” I said desperately, “I was shocked when I walked into the courtroom and saw you were the defendant. I thought that the man I slept with, the father of my child, was a killer.”
His expression shuttered at that, and I realized that my choice of words was unfortunate, because I was pretty sure Dmitri was a killer. But that truth didn’t fill me with dread the way that it might have just days ago. I knew this man now, and while I believed he was capable of violence, I didn’t think he’d kill anyone without a good reason. Even just moments ago when I was afraid of him, I didn’t feel the need to run or try to call for help. I didn’t truly believe he’d do anything to me.
“I mean I thought you were involved in the murder of my boss.”
“I wasn’t,” he said in a much quieter voice than before.
“I know that, now.” Tentatively, I moved closer to him, closing the distance between us with steps that grew bolder until I was standing right in front of him.
He looked at me with more uncertainty than I’d ever seen on his face. The confident mafia man I knew was gone and I was glimpsing a part of him I didn’t think most people got to see very often.
“But I live a violent life, Sarah. I’ve done bad things.”
I couldn’t help myself. I needed to touch him, to comfort him. “I know, but I don’t believe you’re a bad man.”
He was raised to live this mafia life, introduced to violence at such a young age that the thought of it made me feel sick. He didn’t choose this, but he didget to decide what kind of person he was despite his father’s treatment of him, and I was proud to know he was the father of my child.
He deserved the full truth. “I was scared.”
“Scared of me?” he asked.
“I’ve been Alexis’s sole parent, when I realized how powerful you are I was frightened if you knew the truth you might try and take her from me.”
I saw a flash of something cross his face. Surprise? Hurt?