"Shower. Food. Nap. Sex." Riley counted off the options in order on his fingers, and slowly, hand in hand, they made their way back to the weathered villa at the tree line.

The shower was heaven, the food was delivered as they dried off, and they consumed it all with uncurbed enthusiasm. The nap was more cuddling and talking than actual sleeping and was only disturbed when Riley's phone sounded again from the drawer.

"I'm expecting a call from Travers and the consortium," Riley explained. With a wryly apologetic expression on his face he opened the drawer and pulled out the iPhone, glancing down at the screen and double-taking as he read. Jack read over his shoulder.

"Twelve missed calls and three voicemails?" Jack said. "Is this consortium thing a problem for you?" Riley hadn't said much about the latest consultation he was involved in apart from the usual. Setting up CH Consultancy had been tough on Riley on top of everything else. He was in the house office one hell of a lot, and his cell phone was his constant companion.

"Not really," Riley answered. "Thought it was done and dusted before we left for here." He thumbed to his voicemail. The list only had one name on it—Eden Hayes. Jack watched as Riley listened to his voicemails, watching his husband's reaction for any clues as to what the problem was. Riley just looked more and more confused each second that went past.

Then he went white. Literally every single element of color left his face, and he dropped the cell. It fell to the floor and bounced to a stop next to the mini fridge.

"Ri?" Jack said, shocked. Riley didn't say a thing. He just stared at Jack with a mixture of loss and utter shock. "What is it? Talk to me." Still no reply, and Jack was growing more scared. "Is it the family? Eden? Beth's baby? What?"

"It was Eden," Riley finally offered. His voice was dead flat with no emotion. "She's sending the jet. We have to go home." Riley stood and crossed to the suitcases, opening his and scooping clothes from the closet haphazardly into the space. Jack wasn't sure what to say, but actions spoke louder than words. He stopped Riley with a firm grip on muscled arms, and he pushed himself into Riley's space.

"What's wrong? Tell me what's happened." He shook Riley slightly to snap him out of whatever shock was driving the instinct to pack and not talk. Riley blinked his way back to this world, and sorrow filled his eyes. It was a heartbreaking expression, and Jack had seen it too many times since meeting Riley to not know something terrible must have happened. He put two and two together and came up with the only solution that would make sense in all of this. "Did they find out about what Lisa did?" No one outside of a few members of the family knew it had been Jeff's wife who had shot him, as Riley's father had taken the fall. If anyone found it out now, it would mean ruin for far too many people with secrets.

"No. It's me."

"You?"

"God. I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Riley's face held so much grief.

"Ri, you're scaring me."

"Eden said…" Riley twisted his fingers into his short hair, closing his eyes.

"What!"

"A daughter." Riley opened his eyes, and his expression was anguished. "Fuck, Jack. I have a daughter."

C

HAPTER

2

"What?" Jack was shocked, and that was an understatement. He wasn't sure what Riley had said was actually what he'd heard. Maybe he'd heard wrong?

"The calls. All of them. They were from Eden. The child's great aunt has been trying to contact me through her. Shit, Jack. There's a letter that says I'm the dad."

"When?" Words of one syllable seemed to fit the moment. A dad? Riley couldn't have fathered a kid since they'd married. Riley hadn't had time to cat around on him. No. He dismissed the instant reaction with an internal flush of shame. Riley wouldn't do that anyway. They loved each other.

"She's eight," Riley said much to Jack's relief and then slumped to the bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Okay. So you were what? Twenty?"

"College. The woman—girl—Lexie, she was in my business course. I remember the name."

Jack bit his tongue to follow this line of thought. Given what he knew of Riley's past, remembering a name in all of this was a good thing. Riley's time before his marriage had been one long party.

"So you have a letter. That doesn't prove anything. We'll get blood tests. Fight it if you need to."

Riley looked up at him, grim determination bracketing his mouth.

"I remember her," he said. "Lexie, I mean. She was just someone I hooked up with, but it lasted longer than most. For nearly three months. I liked her. Jeez, I even took her home for Easter, introduced her to my family, for what it was worth. She was normal, you know, not society, not a daughter of someone who thought a lot of themselves. Just a girl I sat next to in business studies." Riley frowned as he spoke. "She disappeared. Just up and left a few weeks after the break, left some note about moving colleges and thanks, but no thanks."

"She left you when she was pregnant then?"

"I don't know. Her note was brief."

"You didn't suspect she was pregnant?"

Riley shook his head. "No, and I was always so careful. Always."

"Not everything works one hundred percent of the time, Ri. You know that." Jack hadn't meant to say anything so bluntly, but he was trying his hardest to find the right thing to say.

"Shit," Riley said miserably.

"Look, she may be testing the waters to see how much money she can get from you, and getting a paternity test is easy. Worst-case scenario, if she's entitled to any of your money for child support, then it can be cleared up one way or the other out of court. Best case, it'll prove you're in the clear." Riley stared back at him with wide eyes. Laying out the extremes was something he felt Riley should hear. Jack expected him to agree, but what Riley said next rocked Jack to the core.

"She's not going to be fighting it." Riley closed his eyes. "She's dead Jack. That's why Eden called me. They were at the house. With Lexie's daughter. Her name is Hayley. Funny that. She'd be Hayley Hayes." Jack dropped to his knees between Riley's legs, looking up at him. The last part sounded like Riley was close to losing his cool. In his shock, all his words were staccato.

"Whatever this is, we can get through it." Unspoken was the "together" he'd left off at the end of the sentence.