Entangled (The Accidental Billionaires #2) - J. S. Scott Page 0,73

all . . . I was missing Aiden.

Was I angry that he hadn’t listened to me when I’d told him that Maya was his child? Yes. I was hurt.

But did I understand his hesitance to accept my word? Kind of.

My heart ached, but my brain comprehended exactly why he’d been upset.

I just wished he hadn’t been so vehemently sure that I’d lied to him. His accusations were what really hurt the most.

I could have understood much easier if he’d just been . . . confused.

He hadn’t even had enough time to truly accept the fact that he was a father to an eight-year-old, so finding out suddenly that Maya supposedly wasn’t his blood had to have been difficult.

Aiden had readily believed me about the letter I’d left him, albeit with Seth’s backup of confessing that he’d taken it.

However, it was hard to accept that science could actually be wrong.

Really, how well did he know me anymore? We’d had a brief summer love that had ended in disaster. And we’d only been reconnected for a matter of weeks.

Unfortunately, my heart and my body hadn’t taken long to come to terms with how I felt about Aiden, but sometimes absolute trust took time.

I hadn’t trusted Aiden immediately.

And he’d had a load of things he’d taken on that had changed his life.

So rationally . . . I could give him a break.

But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t sad that he’d refused to listen to the truth.

I got up from the table and went to the kitchen for another coffee. I’d been working on the designs for the new restaurant, and my vision was blurry from lack of sleep.

I’d just have to live with being wound up on caffeine.

I had been trying to work since Maya went off to school, but my brain just wasn’t into it.

I knew I was going to have to go talk to Aiden. I couldn’t hang out at Jade’s place forever, no matter how nice it might be.

My best friend’s home wasn’t as big as Aiden’s. It was more of an adorable cottage that was bright with beach themes.

I dropped a pod into her coffeemaker and waited for the finished product.

I’d have to find another apartment, and it would tap my already-dry resources, but I’d figure something out. I always did. Since the restaurant wasn’t active and making money, things would be tight for me and Maya, but it wasn’t like we weren’t used to making do with whatever we could afford.

But I couldn’t afford to not be working to get the restaurant back up and running.

I need to focus.

No matter what happened between Aiden and me, the last thing I wanted was for Maya to lose her father again. She already loved Aiden so much, and she’d be devastated if he just walked out of her life. So I’d get to Aiden’s place shortly, and try to get him to at least commit to maintaining a relationship with Maya until the tests could be redone.

I let out a long sigh as I put cream and sweetener in my coffee. Really, I wanted to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. Pretend that last night had never happened.

I wanted . . . Aiden.

He’d become my place of safety. Not his house. Him. And it had become pure hell to not be able to talk to him when I was feeling down. Or when I was feeling good.

It was torment to not have him near me . . . period.

I tried to blink back the tears that filled my eyes, but my emotions were wide open and exposed now. That psyche trick just didn’t work anymore.

Aiden had opened that door, and I couldn’t close it.

I loved him, and I was completely screwed.

If I was really honest with myself, I’d admit that I’d always loved him. Probably always would. We were connected in a way that just didn’t happen every day.

I knew that because he’d been the only man I’d ever loved. The only guy who could make me feel this damn miserable. The one who could also make me unbelievably happy.

Sweeping at the tears pouring down my face, I tried to be strong. I was going to have to pull myself together for my daughter.

She was really going to need me to be there if her father wasn’t.

I startled when I heard somebody pounding on the door at the back of the house.

Putting my coffee down, I headed in that direction, wondering if I should