Page 119 of Gravehouse

Surely I misheard him.

Every second of this conversation is getting under his skin.

“He doesn’t have access to this island. Period. But we’ve let him in everywhere else.”

Everything he’s just dropped on me turns over in my head before I land on the one thing I need to address. “I know Parker is your father.”

He doesn’t even flinch, kicking his leg out with a low chuckle. “Who snitched?”

I search his face for the tell, the flicker of deceit. His eyes hold steady, borderline vulnerable.

“That doesn’t matter.” I shake my head. There’s no way I’m telling him it was his mom. “You’re… part of him.”

Leaning forward, he drags me closer by the backs of my thighs, and I drop to my knees in front of him.

With a finger pressed below my chin, he directs my face up to his. “Fuck that. Just because DNA ties me to him. Doesn’t mean shit. Hasn’t for a while.”

He starts to pull back but my hand flies out, catching his jaw to hold him in place.

“Stop,” I whisper, the walls inside my head trembling. “Tell me.”

Whether he tries to hide it or not, I see it. Right there in the split second before he answers. The hard set of his mouth. His eyes raking over my face for the hundredth time, and I know exactly what he’s doing. He’s searching for the crack, the tell, the part where I feed him a pretty lie and expect him to swallow it like everyone else has.

He doesn’t trust me. I’ll be earning that back for the rest of my life.

“I love you,” I say, not only because it’s the most truthful thing I’ve ever said, but because it’s all I’ll ever be able to give him.

I lock my other hand around his neck, forcing his forehead down to mine. “You hear me? I don’t care what you’ve done. I just. I need to know if the son is—“The words stick to my throat, refusing to leave.

“Mmm,” Sarcasm drips from his chuckle. “Not so easy is it?”

I kiss him, so soft his lips barely feather mine.

“Well are you?” I try to keep the desperation out of my tone but I’m fucking dying here.

His jaw locks. “You shouldn’t even need to ask me that shit.”

He pulls back, ripping the air from my lungs.

I’ve seen every face he owns. Rage, laughter, the soft one he watches me with when he thinks I’m asleep. But he’s never pulled away physically.

Shit. I’m so far gone I’m going to check myself into rehab at this point.

I rest back on my heels, swallowing past the throbbing in my throat.

The sun starts to set in a hue of sorbet, deepening his tanned skin as shadows darken along his cheekbones.

“What is it you think I was doing with Parker?” He asks, shocking me. “And don’t fucking bullshit.”

I shrug, because I truly don’t know. “Being a son who wanted to know his father?”

He holds me in place. “And how long do you think I’d been his son for?”

I tilt my head. “I’m going to go with all your life because well, that’s how?—“

“—Venom,” he snaps but it’s gentle. “Now isn’t the time.”

I breathe out a sigh. He’s right.