“Oh my God.” Emi gasped. “You think maybe it was why she went with Nathan? So she could try and get a moment alone with Isaiah? That sneaky little bitch!”

“I’m gonna ask Isaiah,” he said as he started back to his room.

“Don’t tell him I told you. There’s still a possibility I could be totally wrong about this.”

“I won’t,” he said, walking into his bedroom.

Just seeing Addison struggling but so determined to eat her noodles with the chopsticks made AJ smile, despite the exasperating evening he was having. He told Emi not to worry; he’d keep her name out of it. He’d talk to Isaiah the next time he got the chance alright, but at that moment, he needed to deal with something far more pressing first.

Chapter 21

Addison

“At the risk of sounding like a dick,” AJ said the moment he was off the phone, “can I ask you to please not keep anything from me, even if it is one of my siblings asking you to?” Addison stared at AJ as he moved his neck from side to side like he had a stiff neck. “I have this thing about us keeping shit from one another. I’m already making a huge exception when it comes to your ex.”

“The donor,” she said, pushing her box of noodles away. “I don’t think of him as my ex or her father. We weren’t even together that long—”

“You called the relationship beautiful, Addison. You said he was the reason why you took the job in Chicago—”

“I said he was partly the reason for my taking the position.”

Already she was regretting having admitted that Fred had anything to do with her decision to take the position in Chicago. She should’ve known way back when he first reminded her that she’d called the relationship a beautiful one that he wouldn’t be forgetting stuff like that. He’d likely never forget about this either.

“I had several offers, and it was by far the best one at the time. He wasn’t the only reason I took it. What I said about always being partial to Chicago was true too.”

“Okay, well you and I have only been together a few months now, and this relationship is without a doubt the most important one I’ve ever had. Regardless if it ended tomorrow, I’d still consider this the most profound experience of my life. So it doesn’t matter to me how long you two were together. Even after seven years, the guy still can’t get over you. I can’t say I blame him, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna stand by and let him even try to get you back.”

“That’s never gonna happen,” she said, pulling her legs off the bed.

“No, stay there,” he said, taking his shoes off and crawling onto the bed. “I know tonight’s been exhausting and I don’t wanna argue about this anymore, but we still need to discuss it.”

“I get it, AJ. You don’t want me keeping anything about him from you.” AJ snuggled up next to her, kissing her lips softly before leaning his back up against the headboard. “Except for giving you the specifics about who he is, because I really feel strongly that it doesn’t matter, I’ll tell you everything you need to know. And as far as agreeing to keep anything from you if your siblings ask me to, I only did because it seemed so trivial.”

“It isn’t really, but I’ll tell you about that another time.” He slipped his hand into hers, brought it to his lips, and kissed it softly. “Clair knows about Fred.”

She turned to him, the alarm more intense than the one she felt when AJ first asked her who Fred was. “How?”

“I’m probably shooting myself in the foot by telling you, but I trust you and I’m holding you to it that you won’t be keeping to yourself anything more about your relationship with this guy, including any phone conversations you have with him.”

Addison nodded, staring at him, glued to his every word now. “Yes, you have my word. How do you know she knows?”

“She overheard you on the phone, babe. You need to be more careful about that whenever she’s anywhere nearby or even in the house. She told me about it months ago when she heard you the first time but begged me not to tell you.”

Addison lifted a brow and pulled her hand away from him. “You’re gonna get on me about something so insignificant your brother asked me to keep from you, but you kept this from me?”

“You know Clair has that power over me, Addison.” He reached for her hand again. “It hadn’t even dawned on me until just now that I never hold anything in or keep secrets, and damn if that little girl wasn’t able to convince me to keep this from you. She was just so worried, and she called you the smartest person she knows. She said she trusted that, if you didn’t want her to know, you probably had a good reason, so she wouldn’t ask you about it. She didn’t seem upset or anything. I believe her words were ‘I’m not sure how I feel about it.’”

Addison groaned. She knew the day would come when she’d be forced to talk, even if only minimally, about Fred; she’d just hoped it wouldn’t be this soon. First AJ and now Clair. AJ brought his arm around her and pulled her down slowly onto his lap. He stared down at her, caressing her hair and forehead. “She’s gonna be fine,” he said, kissing her softly. “Tell her a little more about it and then do the same thing you did before. If she still wants to know more about it when she’s older, she can ask you again. At least until you know for sure what’s gonna happen with this asshole.”

Staring at him for a moment, she finally smiled. “I love you,” she said, sitting up and kissing him a little longer and deeper than he’d kissed her. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I really am.” Straightening up a little more, she turned her body so she was still on his lap; only her knees straddled him now. “I’m not a liar,” she said, kissing him again, loving how instantly she could make him go from rock-hard tense to rock-hard aroused. She could already feel the evidence of that against her crotch, and it got her breathing a little faster. “I swear it’s not like me to lie as blatantly as I did today, but it was only because I panicked. This is so important to me. I knew you’d be demanding answers. Answers I’m not ready to give, nor do I think I ever will be. I actually wish even I didn’t know who her father was. As shameful as that would be, it beats having to worry about his threats.”

Just like that, AJ tensed again, and he pulled back. “You said he hadn’t threatened you.”

“Not recently, not in so many words anyway, and never physically. But what he said when I was still in Chicago about going to court and things getting ugly still lingers. It terrifies me,” she whispered as AJ took a deep breath to calm his own anxieties, no doubt. “My only hope,” she added, trying to sound optimistic, “is I know how full of himself he is. It’s all a game to him. All about his ego. I told you that from when Clair was born until now, the only time he made an effort to reach out to me was when there was something in it for him or his ego was feeling bruised because I’d started seeing someone else. I think he always thought I’d stay single forever for the sake of protecting Clair, and for the longest time, I was very hesitant to bring anyone into her life. I guess I may’ve given him the vibe that I just might stay single. The way things happened with you”—she stopped and stared at him for a moment, remembering his words—“it really does feel like we were destined to find each other, and the way we did was so perfect. Clair and my dad knowing you and both already being so smitten by you prior to my meeting you were two things that made doing this less terrifying. That and the fact that I’ve never met such an honest and genuine person in my life. You really don’t hold anything back.” She felt the corner of her lip tug. “Even at times when maybe you should.”

“Never,” he whispered with a smirk. “That’ll never happen and don’t you forget it. And just because I forgive you this time for lying, Addison, doesn’t mean I’ll let it go again.” He lifted a brow. “I mean it.”