Chapter 16 - The First Night He Was Dad
Children understand more than adults want them to.
“Yes,” I told them. “Luca is your biological father.”
Micah’s eyes widened.
Mila asked, “Did he know?”
That was the question that mattered.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because adults made bad choices. Some people lied. And your dad and I stopped talking when we should have kept talking.”
Mila crossed her arms. “That was dumb.”
I almost laughed.
“Yes. It was.”
They wanted to see him.
So I called downstairs.
Luca came up without security, without a suit jacket, without the armor he had worn for most of his adult life.
He stood in the doorway like a nervous teenager.
Micah looked him over. “Are you rich?”
Luca blinked. “Uh. Yes.”
“How rich?”
“Micah,” I warned.
“What? I want to know.”
Luca smiled. A real smile. “Enough that your mom is going to tell me money does not impress her.”
“It doesn’t,” I said.
Mila pointed to the couch. “Sit.”
The billionaire obeyed.
For the next hour, the twins interrogated him.
Favorite pizza. Worst vegetable. Can he swim? Does he have pets? Why is his office so tall?
Then Micah asked, “Why didn’t you come to our birthdays?”
Luca stopped smiling.
“Because I didn’t know you were mine.”
“Would you have come?”
“Every single one.”
Micah looked at me, checking.
I nodded.
Luca’s eyes filled again.
When it was time to leave, Mila hugged him first.
He froze before carefully wrapping his arms around her.
Micah followed.
Luca held both children and closed his eyes.
I had imagined this moment in a hundred angry ways.
None of them prepared me for how much it hurt.
After the kids went to bed, Luca stood by the door.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“I want to earn access to them.”
“That’s better.”
He nodded.
Then my phone buzzed.
Lena had sent one sentence.
May you like
Victor Dane is offering a plea deal.
And he says he has evidence that Luca knew about the twins four years ago.
