“Why didn’t you figure out what Brooke was up to? Why didn’t you protect your son from her?”

My accusatory tone brings a cloud of anger to his eyes. “I’m protecting him now! You think I want my boy to be tied to her for the rest of his life? Better that I raise this baby as my own and let Reed live the life he deserves.”

“There’s no way it’s his, Callum. The last time he was with her was six months ago, and she’s not six months pregnant.”

Unless Reed lied to me about what happened in his bedroom last month…

But no. No. I refuse to believe it. I gave him another chance because I trust him. If he says he didn’t touch her that night, then he didn’t touch her.

Callum looks at me as if I’m a child, a foolish, stupid child. “It has to be his, Ella.”

“How do you know it’s not yours?” I challenge.

He smiles sadly. “I had a vasectomy fifteen years ago.”

I swallow hard. “Oh.”

“Maria desperately wanted a girl,” Callum confesses. “We kept trying, but after she had the twins, her doctor told her no more. That another pregnancy might kill her. She refused to accept it, so…I got a vasectomy and never told her about it.” He shakes his head in misery. “I can’t be the father of Brooke’s baby, but I can take responsibility for the child. If Reed is dragged into this, there’ll be a bond between him and Brooke forever, a bond of guilt and grief and responsibility. I won’t let that happen. My son might hate me enough to make a play for my girlfriend, but I love him enough to spare him a life of misery.”

“How far along is she?” I ask.

“Three and a half months.”

I curl my fists in frustration, wanting somehow to get it through Callum’s brain that the assumptions he’s made are wrong. “I believe Reed when he says he hasn’t touched her in six months.”

Callum just stares at me.

“I believe him,” I insist. “And I wish you would, too. Just because you wouldn’t cheat on Maria, and Reed wouldn’t cheat on me, doesn’t mean that Brooke’s the same way.”

“Brooke wants to be a Royal too badly to take that chance. I caught her sabotaging her birth control once.”

I rub my face in my hands, because he’s clearly made his mind up. “You can believe what you want, but you’re wrong.” I rise from my chair, shoulders slumped in defeat. At the door, I stop and give one last try. “Reed wants you to get a paternity test. He’d force it on Brooke if he could.”

Callum looks startled. “He’d take the test and risk being officially named the father?”

“No, he’d take the test so the truth could come out.” I meet his eyes. “She’s lying to you. It’s not Reed’s kid, and if you trust your son even the slightest bit, you would force Brooke’s hand and make this whole stupid mess go away.”

I start to leave, but Callum holds up his hand. “Wait.”

Frowning, I watch as he reaches for the handset and dials a number. Whoever he calls picks up right away.

“Dottie,” he booms into the mouthpiece. “When you get in the office this morning, make an appointment for Ms. Davidson at the Bayview OBGYN for Friday, nine a.m. sharp. And send a car for her.”

A smile spreads across my face. Maybe I did get through to him.

Callum hangs up and fixes me with a worried look. Then he sighs and says, “I hope to hell you’re right about this, Ella.”

32

Reed

Ella has refused to leave my side since I got back from the hospital. Which is completely unnecessary. The painkillers are doing their job for the most part. As long as I don’t move, the worst discomfort is that the row of stitches kind of itch. The doctors told me not to scratch them, or risk tearing them open, so I’m trying to distract myself by watching Sawyer and Sebastian toss Lauren around in the pool like she’s a beach ball.

It’s not really a nice enough evening for swimming, but our pool’s heated and Lauren’s got the twins to keep her warm, too. Ella and I are curled up together on a lounger, while Easton is texting on his phone in the chair next to us.

“Wade wants to know if you’re gonna have a cool scar,” East says absently.

Ella grumbles loudly. “Tell Wade to stop thinking about stupid shit and just be grateful that his best friend is alive.”

I snicker.

“I’m quoting you on that, sis.” East types something, waits, then starts to laugh. “Wade wants to know if you yell at Reed like that when you’re boning.”

“Is there a middle finger emoji?” she asks sweetly. “If so, send him that.”

I stroke my fingers through her soft hair, enjoying the feel of her body tucked at my side. She’ll never know how fucking terrified I was last night—not for my own safety, but for hers. When that hooded guy popped out of the shadows, my first and only thought had been to protect my girl. I don’t even remember the knife slicing into my gut. I just remember pushing Ella to the side and heaving myself in front of her.

Christ. What if Daniel had sent someone after her instead of me? What if she’d gotten seriously hurt?

“Reed?” she murmurs in concern.

“Mmmm?”

“You got really tense all of a sudden. Are you okay?” She sits up instantly. “Do you need another painkiller?”

“I’m fine. I was just thinking about Delacorte and what a psycho he is.”

“Truth,” East says darkly. “I hope he gets the shit kicked out of him in that military prison.”

Ella sighs. “It’s not a prison. It’s an academy for troubled youths.”

“Troubled youth?” East snorts. “That asshole is more than troubled. He put a hit out on my brother.”

“You really think Hoodie Guy was trying to kill Reed? What if he comes back and tries again?” She sounds seriously upset now, and I flash Easton a hard look.

“Nobody was trying to kill me,” I assure her. “Otherwise he would’ve just gone for my neck and slashed.”

A shudder goes through Ella’s body. “Oh my God, Reed! Why would you even say that?”

“Sorry. That was stupid.” I pull her toward me again. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Daniel’s gone. And he gave the cops Hoodie Guy’s name, so they’ll track him down in no time, okay?”