Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(45)

“Mitch grew up without him. Isn’t that all you need to know?”

“Did you know Dad settled a bunch of money on Nora Bradford? Do you know what she did with it? She moved them out of San Francisco and as far away from Dad as she could get. Once she ran through the money Dad meant for Mitch, she went through a string of lovers and wouldn’t allow Dad to see his son without sending a hefty check. After a while, it got too hard to keep up with where Nora had taken him. She moved about ten times before Mitch got to high school.”

Chaos. It would have been so chaotic for a child to constantly be on the move. Always the new kid. Always having to adapt to his mother’s new man. Never having a family to call his own. His mother, from what she could tell, was always more interested in herself than Mitch. She didn’t call him unless she wanted something, usually money.

What had it been like to be Mitch growing up? She’d had a rough childhood. Her mother had been in and out of jail, in and out of rehab, but they’d owned their trailer and somehow Will had always found a way to keep them together and fed. She’d always had Will and Lila and Lisa. They’d given her support and love and stability.

Mitch, it seemed, had none of those things.

“He could have fought for custody. It sounds like he would have won.”

“I didn’t say my father was perfect. He went through a divorce and married my mother. And then another divorce. I suppose he lost track of Mitchell, lost the will to fight. Like I said, he’s not perfect.”

She couldn’t imagine having a child in the world and not fighting to be his mother. “What does he want with Mitchell now?”

Flynn leaned forward, his eyes on her as though he could will her to believe him. “Laurel, he’s dying. He was recently diagnosed with stage four cancer. The doctors have given him maybe a month to live. Six weeks, tops. He wants to make things right with Mitch. He needs this. It’s his dying wish.”

“And you’ve written to Mitch?” How could Mitch know his father was dying and not talk about it? She talked about her mother often. He’d even driven her and Lisa halfway across the state the prior weekend to visit their mom in prison. He’d made sure her mother had everything she needed.

But not once had he mentioned his own father was dying.

“Multiple times. I’ve sent e-mails, letters, left voice mail messages. He changed his number, naturally, and now I can’t find it.”

He’d changed it for a different reason, but Flynn didn’t need to know that. She wasn’t sure how much to tell him. “He hasn’t talked to me about it. Mitch can be stubborn. I know he feels your father abandoned him.”

Flynn’s hands were fists as he moved them off the table. “Then Mitch should confront him about it. All my dad wants is to see him. I don’t think it will matter if Mitch needs to yell and scream and let it all out as long as he gives our father a few minutes of his time so he can say what he needs to say.”

“Mitch would never yell.” He never lost control that way. Except the first couple of times they’d made love. When they made love now, he was very controlled. He brought her an enormous amount of pleasure, but it felt like there was a distance between them. He was thoughtful and she knew she should be grateful for it, but she missed the passion they’d had those first two times.

Mitch wouldn’t yell. Not at his father. Not at her. Maybe it was a good thing or maybe he simply didn’t care enough to yell.

“He needs to. My father would take it. He knows he hurt Mitch, but how can he ever have any chance to make it right if Mitch won’t talk to him?”

“I’m not sure Mitch believes in second chances.” It was another thing that frightened her. They were happy for now, but when the pressure hit and she couldn’t play the perfect submissive, when she had to be a woman with all her flaws, how would he handle it?

He always said the reason he hadn’t wanted a relationship with her was because she deserved better. What if he’d just been kind by saying that? What if the real reason had been he simply hadn’t wanted her?

Flynn sat back, his sandwich untouched. “Then there’s not a lot I can do. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

He started to push his chair back, like he was leaving. She couldn’t let that happen. Flynn had ties to Mitch, knowledge she needed. Flynn was his brother. He couldn’t walk away with nothing. She reached out a hand and put it over his.

“Please don’t go. I know Mitch won’t talk to you or your dad, but I will. I lied to you. Mitch and I are serious. Maybe not about getting married, but we’ve got a commitment between us and you should know I’m pregnant.”

Flynn sat back, a smile covering his handsome face. “That’s great, Laurel. It’s about damn time, as my dad would say. Mitch isn’t getting any younger. When’s the wedding? Or are you waiting until after the baby’s born? I know that’s a popular thing to do. Damn, Dad’s going to be happy to hear that. He doesn’t have any grandkids.”

Why did she always blush when she had to answer the wedding question? It was the twenty-first century. Plenty of people had babies without getting married. She’d grown up in a household where her mother had never married and had four kids. Not that she wanted to follow in her mom’s footsteps, but still. “We don’t have plans to marry at this point. I’m afraid this baby wasn’t planned, though I’m very happy about the pregnancy.”