Page 66 of Reckless Love

My mouth goes dry. If Landon dies, I cannot even imagine the pain Ava would go through.

“None of the immediate family is well enough to donate, so we asked Mrs. Tucker for extended family,” the doctor continues. “No matches so far. We already used the blood we had on site that matched to get him stable, but we may need more when we reassess later.”

“I’m not…” I start to say, but then the timeline that’s been bothering me since I heard about Landon clicks into place. When I stare at Celia, willing her to deny it, she doesn’t break eye contact, just tips her chin higher in defiance. It’s such an Ava move that my heart squeezes in recognition. The stone of truth drops so hard that I want to sit down, but my emergency training tells me there’s no time. “I’m a universal donor,” I admit. “Landon’s blood type is also rare?”

“Yes,” the doctor admits. “You’re willing to donate?”

My brain spins with what Celia hasn’t admitted in words, and I want to ask Celia if Ava knows, if they’ve been lying to me this whole time. Would Ava really have lied to me this whole fucking time? To my face, even when I asked?

“Take me to wherever you need me,” I say to the doctor, and just before I follow him, I turn to Celia and say, “Keeping him from me is a step too far.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” she says. “His father is Raul. You’re just the donor.”

Rage rises in me with such swiftness that I almost can’t control it. Landon is symbolic of everything I ever wanted, ever hoped for. All this time, I thought Ava chose to have Raul’s baby. That I left the country, and she moved on as though I wasn’t worth a single thought, let alone any regrets.

Did Ava know Landon was mine all along? Did she use my baby to land the rich husband she wanted?

Suspicion makes me nauseous to the core.

“Ava’s in surgery, but she’ll be relieved to hear you played such a vital role in saving her son—as a universal donor,” Celia says.

“When this is done,” I say, looping my finger around the waiting room, “we’re having a conversation. Do not forget for one second what I used to do for you and everything I know.”

Threatening her is a mistake, but I’m beyond caring.

In another room, a nurse hooks me up to a machine that’ll allow me to donate more blood than normal. They explained the process to me during their intake, but I’m still numb, trying to get a handle on what I think I’ve just learned.

Or did I? Celia didn’t confess anything outright. But my mind keeps circling.

Landon is my son.

Ava had my child.

I don’t know what the fuck to do with that possibility. If she knew and didn’t tell me… Let me believe for months that Landon is Raul’s…

Does Raul know that Landon isn’t his biological child?

There must have been some uncertainty, or why would they test? The DNA result removed that doubt. Didn’t it?

Questions keep piling up with no answers in sight. With Ava in surgery, there’s no way to know for sure. I can’t trust Celia to be truthful. She’ll look out for everyone else involved in this knot of lies before she’ll even spare one thought for me. Classic Celia Tucker. Fuck with people’s lives. Accept zero blame.

If he’s mine, she’s fucked with the wrong person this time.

“Landon?” I ask the nurse when she comes to check on the blood I’m donating. My voice is rough with emotion. The idea of losing him after only just realizing I might have what I’ve always wanted causes an unbearable ache. “Is he going to be okay?”

“He has a bad concussion, some substantial lacerations on his extremities, and he lost a lot of blood. But he’s alive, and he’s fared better than both his parents.”

Not both. One.

The other is an imposter.

I think.

I’m pretty sure.

“I was told they were considering airlifting someone off the island?” I ask to still my spinning thoughts.

“Not Landon,” she says. “Raul. Swelling on the brain. He’s in an induced coma.”