Page 107 of Poisoned Promise
Talking about him suddenly feels impossible and my throat closes, so I try to derail the conversation. “Where’s Bree?”
“She’s carefully securing some of my assets, bank accounts and the like while I lay low and heal. She’s also providing shelter for my men still loyal to me while putting out feelers to those I know to be loyal to me.”
“Wow. She’s on the ball.”
“You’ve no idea how highly regarded your family was, do you?”
I squint back outside to the blue sky. “I thought most people were afraid of us.”
“Some were. Something about a Nightingale?” Felix smiles warmly. “A myth if I’ve ever heard one.”
“Oh yeah?” I glance back at him. “A ghost story.”
“Exactly. But… Dove.”
I know that tone. My distraction isn’t enough and he wants to talk about Alex. He has every right to, but for some reason, it scares me.
“You want to know about Alex,” I say weakly.
“I do. You hid my son from me.”
“In my defence, I thought you slaughtered my family.”
“But at dinner when you learned that wasn’t true, why didn’t you tell me?” There’s no anger in his voice, no hurt or blame. Just an aching desire to understand.
Facing him, the sexy expanse of his torso serves as a mild distraction. “Because I don’t want him in this life. I wanted him to have a normal life.”
“I understand,” Felix murmurs. “But deep down, you had to know that was never possible.”
Felix’s words cut far too close to my buried truth.
“He’s my son. And your son. You, Dove Healy. This life of organized crime is in his blood. It runs thicker than anythingelse. Clearly he already has a streak for crime if he’s stealing cars.”
“He was just acting out,” I reply as I gaze up into his striking eyes. “He deserves normal.”
“That might have been possible before all of this, but now? Now he’s known. I have no intention of giving up my life either and this life won’t let me go. It won’t let you go either. Don’t you think it would be better to give him a chance to survive?”
I purse my lips slightly. “You want to train him.”
“You already have,” Felix points out with a light smile. “Why else did you teach him to drive or how to survive in the city alone? That’s not what normal parents do.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No,” he laughs and it’s such a warm sound that a smile tugs at my lips. “When he’s home, you need to teach him everything. Train him and then let him choose. Maybe he will turn his back on this and you will get your wish. But you can’t force it now that he knows.”
“I…” Hesitation weighs down my tongue. “I thought you’d be asking different things.”
“Like?”
“Like what it’s like to be a parent and if I’d even let you.”
Felix’s brows twitch, then he nudges into me with a smile. “I think I’m still reeling from the revelation that Alex is mine. It doesn’t feel real but at the same time, it feels like a missing part of me has finally come home. And… I feel like talking aboutanything like that should be reserved for when he’s back with us.”
My heart squeezes slightly and I nod, glancing back outside as if Alex will materialise in the garden. “I like that idea. I just… I tried so hard to give him a regular, normal life where he never has to worry about coming home to a dead family. Now it’s all gone to shit and I honestly don’t know how to salvage it.”
“Then let me help.” Felix moves closer until his chest bumps my arm. “I will stop at nothing to find him and bring him home. After that… it’s up to you if you tell him the truth. You raised him for fourteen years and I’m not going to intrude on that until you are ready. All I can do is care for you, Dove, because I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. And I can care for Alex and support him too, if you let me.”
“If I let you,” I repeat softly, then I follow the urge to cup his face gently. “I could never fathom an outcome to this where you didn’t hate me.”
