Chapter 118
KAIDEN STIRLING
“What party?” Safiya asked, crossing her arms. I ignored her.
“Why? So you can rub it in my face that you’re trying to replace me?” I asked, forcing every bit of emotion out of my voice. I did not want her to see the effect she had on me, the effect her actions had on me. I knew I was being petty by asking her that, but I could not help it.
“Huh??” Safiya spoke. “I don’t plan to do that, Kaiden. Please just listen to me,” Freda ignored her sister as she answered me. “I’m listening,” I said. To be frank, I was even surprised that she was begging me for anything, talk more of begging me to listen to her.
She sighed and spoke. “Francisco knows,” she said and my eyes widened. I gulped because my heart started to race, and I was not sure how to react. I had a fair imagination of what she was talking about, but I needed to be sure.
“Knows what?” I asked, trying to be sure that it was what I was thinking. She sassily rolled her eyes and that gave me my
answer.
“What? How?” I asked. There was no way she would have told him. As of the time I had spoken to her yesterday, her feelings of hatred had not changed for me, so I was not sure why she would decide to tell him now. Except… she didn’t.
She sighed.
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D***n, she had to have sighed at least thirty times since she started speaking to me. Was that how much I exhausted or irritated her?
“He heard our argument yesterday and he knows. He was excited about the party, but after what happened yesterday, he said he’s not going anymore, except it’s with you,” she explained, and my eyebrows rose as my eyes widened. I had been right with my speculation. She would never tell him about me being his father, but that did not dull the excitement I felt from the last words she said.
‘He said he’s not going anymore, except it’s with you’. There was no way…
I knew Francisco liked me, but I knew that liking an adult male that just came into your life was different from liking someone you saw as your father.
“Can someone explain what the f** Kaiden, you can talk about how upset you are about what happened yesterday later, but now, Francisco needs you,” she said, and happiness bloomed within me so much that I smiled.
I hurried towards the dining table, grabbed a glass of coffee, and downed it before heading towards the door. If this was a dream, I needed it to be perfect before I would wake up. And for that to happen, I had to meet my two children at the party.
*** ***
“Come with me,” Freda said, not looking at me. We were in the
parking lot and I had unlocked my SUV with the remote control. I turned to fully face her, not exactly sure what she meant and why she was even making a request to me in the first place. It was me we were talking about here. She hated me and she never tried to hide it.
“What are you talking about?” I asked and she sighed. Again with the d**n sighing. I almost rolled my eyes.
“Come with me… In my car. I can drive you.” She said and I was struck with surprise. Freda never wanted to breathe the same air as me, so I was not entirely sure why she wanted to be in the same place with me (an enclosed space, for that matter) for the twenty-minute drive to the children’s school.
I opened my mouth to speak but she beat me to it. “I am not doing this because I like you out of the blue, Kaiden. My son likes you and he wants you in his life. I will not take that from him. I need us to form a united front by the time we get to him,” she said and I was stunned. Her words were a mix of hurtful, inspiring, and loving.
She still hated me. She did not hesitate to tell me that, but she wanted to make her son- our son happy. If that required her to be with me, she was going to have to do it. That was how I interpreted her words.
My wolf enjoyed the thought of being with her and seeing her more often, but I was not going to admit that I liked it too.
This could be my chance. It could be the one-time opportunity I had to fix things with her and, at the same time, be a father to my son. I was not going to give that up.
So I looked at her and nodded. She gave me a brief smile and
Chapter 118
unlocked her car as I headed towards it.