Worth It (Forbidden Men #6)(129)

No one wanted to hear that kind of shit about his mom. What if he ended up blaming me, hating me, because I’d gotten time with her that he hadn’t or because I came from the seed of his mother’s murderer?

I shuddered, tempted to flee. Except I couldn’t.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and stared back at a man I’d known over a year, a guy I looked up to and respected and actually liked. And suddenly, I could see my own chin, maybe the shape of my face, the cut of my shoulders.

It freaked me out. Paralyzed me.

“I’ve been thinking about that message you left on my phone.”

“Aww, f*ck,” I muttered.

An amused grin lit his face. “Yeah, I sensed you regretted making that call, but I’m still glad you did. Because I’ve always wanted to know where I came from, and this is honestly the first lead I’ve ever gotten.”

“It doesn’t mean it’s true,” I started. “It could’ve been some other woman completely who’d been your mother. I’m sure mine wasn’t the only one who...” I couldn’t finish the sentence, so I swallowed hard.

“You’re right. It might just be a coincidence. We might not have the same mother. But I found a way to get the truth, once and for all.”

I shook my head. “What’re you talking about?” My gaze landed on the envelope in his hand. “What is that?”

But I pretty much already knew.

He tapped it against his palm slowly. “It’s DNA test results, matching a piece of my hair to a piece I stole from you.”

My legs turned to Jell-O. “Oh, shit,” I mumbled, blindly finding my way to his couch and plopping down. “So it was a match? We’re really...?”

I glanced up at him, and his brown eyes held so much compassion and understanding that I almost lost it.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t opened it yet. I thought the two of us should open it together.”

“Right now?” I wiped my hands over my face, still afraid of the answer. Not sure what it’d mean for us, no matter what the results were.

“When else?” He watched me as he opened one end. I almost blurted out for him to wait. I wasn’t ready. But he’d already pulled the papers free, and was scanning the front page.

And it was too late to stall anything.