Slow Burn (Dynasties Seven Sins #7) - Janice Maynard Page 0,8
in and out. Seeing you was a punch to the gut. The girl I used to date was wealthy and pampered. I was aware that you and your mom lost everything. But witnessing the personal cost of your father’s deceit stunned me. I didn’t know what to do with that information or how to relate to you.”
Nikki shrugged and snagged a fat boiled shrimp from the appetizer plate. “You don’t have to feel sorry for me, Jake. No one wants to be poor, but the rapid fall in my social position taught me a lot.”
“Like what?”
He seemed genuinely interested.
“Well...” She paused, thinking back. “I learned there are many very nice people in the world. And a few jerks, of course. I learned how hard a person has to work to earn five hundred dollars a week after taxes. I learned how scary it is not to have a safety net.”
His gaze darkened. “Those are some damn serious lessons.”
“Maybe. But I also learned my own resilience. I discovered that although I had been a pampered princess, it felt good to be responsible for myself... To know I was stronger than I knew.”
Their meals arrived, momentarily interrupting her self-analysis. Despite the gravity of this encounter with Jake, she spared a moment to appreciate the quality of the food. Her scallops were plump and perfectly grilled. She enjoyed every bite. Jake would probably be astounded if he knew how many nights she shared boxed macaroni and cheese with her daughter.
Over coffee and dessert, Jake pressed for more. “When I showed you that email, you were clearly shocked. No one is that good an actress. So, if you didn’t send it, who did?”
Nikki’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. “Possibly my mother.”
“Why?”
“About a year ago I lost my job. I was unemployed for almost ten weeks. Money was tight. Mom kept pressing me to ask for child support from Emma’s father. I put her off and put her off, but she wouldn’t let it go. Finally, after she had badgered me incessantly, I told her that Joshua was the father. Your brother. That he and I weren’t ever a couple, but we had been intimate for a brief period. I said he didn’t know about the baby. I thought that would be the end of it.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“Obviously not.”
“Why would you lie to her?”
“Because I didn’t want her to know the truth.”
“And that was?”
Nikki inhaled sharply. “That you are Emma’s father.”
Jake had heard the truth from his own brother. He’d had a little time to get used to the idea. But in this moment, he realized it had all seemed like a remarkable fiction until Nikki told him straight out. He felt sick and angry and everything in between.
“Damn you, Nikki. How could you not tell me I had a child?”
If he’d been expecting her to look guilty, he was way off base.
His dinner companion stared at him with cool hauteur reminiscent of the old society princess she’d been. “A little while ago you told me you still remember our night in Atlantic City. If you’ll recall, you disappeared afterward. I woke up in your hotel room alone. The only thing missing from that scenario was a stack of hundreds on the nightstand to make me feel like a hooker you hired for the evening.”
“I had a very early flight,” he muttered, guilt making him ashamed. He’d acknowledged to himself at the time that he was behaving badly, but he hadn’t known how to deal with the all-grown-up Nikki, so he had left her sleeping, her vibrant red hair spread across his pillow. The provocative image had almost been enough to make him stay and miss his flight.
But he had left her, anyway.
Nikki shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. That night was a long time ago. I’ve moved on, believe me.”
Something struck him. “We used protection,” he said, feeling suspicion creep back in. How could he trust her? Did he know her at all after fifteen years? If he was really the father, why the secrecy?
“Not every time.” She stared him down. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Emma is the result of our reckless reunion. You and I were both curious, weren’t we? And blindsided by sexual attraction. A decade before that night in the casino, we had been on the verge of a physical relationship. But then your father and mine destroyed everything. I suppose Atlantic City was closure, in a way. We came full circle.”
They finished their meal in silence, the mountain