he’d flash his smile. He’d take off his clothes. Promise to make a child with me during his next heat.” Heath swallowed thickly. “It’s shameful how I let him treat me.”
“But you loved it.”
Heath shook his head. “It was an obsession. I see that now.”
“And I’m part of that obsession. Michael and me.”
“No! You and Michael are the best things I’ve ever done.”
“We’re just a new obsession. Thanks to Nathan.” He wished the name didn’t burn to say, but every time it came out of his mouth, it hurt.
“Yes,” Heath said, taking the photo album out of Adrien’s hands and slamming it shut. “Thanks to Nathan.”
Adrien stared in shock as Heath stood up and paced in front of him, ripping at his hair as he spoke in rapid, angry tones, but clearly meaning every word like fire means to burn.
“It’s true! If not for Nathan, we wouldn’t be here right now. Michael wouldn’t be here now.” Heath stopped in front of him, glaring down, but his anger hurt more than it intimidated. “If not for Nathan, I wouldn’t know what it is to hope for a normal, happy future with a kind man who loves me, or to finally have my feelings for a man returned. I wouldn’t know the joy of being a father. Of being your lover and alpha. Of wanting a life with you. I wouldn’t have you at all!”
“Because you wouldn’t have bid on me.”
“Because he gave birth to you!” Heath roared.
Adrien blinked at him.
“He gave birth to you. And, yes, maybe he walked away and left you with your father—who raised you to be the kind of man that Nathan would never have raised you to be. He’d have done the same thing to you that he did to me. You got a clean break from him. That was his gift to you. He didn’t torture you for years with promises of love and then yank it away. He let you stay with a man who adored you. So your father was too religious and kept you more innocent than he should have, but he loved you. He had kind eyes.
That’s what Nathan always said about why he left you with him. ‘He had kind eyes.’ ”
Adrien’s chin trembled. His heart ached, and he covered his face with his hands.
“So go on and blame him if you want. Blame me. Be angry. But none of
what we had—have, could still have—would exist without Nathan. I don’t love him anymore. Not just because he’s dead. But because he was a cruel man, and he treated me terribly. I understand that now. But I am grateful to him, because he made you, and then I found you, and now we have Michael.”
He stopped a moment. “And, Adrien, I love you. Our life could be beautiful.
Please—” Heath’s voice was gruff. “Try to forgive me.”
“I want to,” Adrien whispered. “I want to forgive you. I’ll try. But…”
“But?”
The big clock in the nest ticked as Adrien’s mind raced. Finally, he said,
“I need to try somewhere else. I can’t stay here. In this nest.” He looked around the room and it felt exactly like what Heath had denied it was: a comfortable prison.
“So you’re going to leave me, too?”
Adrien squeezed his eyes shut. “Maybe. I am Nathan’s son after all.” He stood, hauling the bag he’d packed while they’d waited for Simon to take Michael over his shoulder. He’d known even then, deep down, what he was going to do. “I’ll contact you when Michael and I are settled in. We can arrange for you to visit.”
“Where are you taking him?”
“I’ll call you when I get there.”
Adrien walked toward the door leading to the rest of the castle. Some part of him expected Heath to tackle him, to force him to stay, but he pulled the door open without any effort at all. As he did, he heard Heath roar with pain in the living room. It made his knees weak, but he forced himself forward.
Simon stood outside with Michael in his arms and his cheeks wet with tears.
“You can come visit, too,” Adrien said, taking the baby from him. “We’ll miss you.”
Simon said nothing at all, hiccupping sobs slipping out of his throat.
It wasn’t until he’d led Adrien down the winding halls and up the stairs, and then out into the sunlight in front of the massive house that he finally spoke.
“You said nothing could change the way you feel,” Simon rasped. “And I said I’d remind you of that.”
Adrien hugged Simon, kissed his soft, wet cheek, and whispered, “I love him. That hasn’t changed. But trust… That’s another matter.”
He climbed into his car that someone had pulled around and left running.
There was a baby seat in the back for Michael, and he strapped him in. He looked so small in it, so helpless and tiny. Adrien’s heart broke.
He headed down the drive toward the giant gate, his throat tight with screams he couldn’t seem to let out.
The fairy tale was over.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I DON’T NEED to hear that you told me so.”
Heath sat in the gazebo, the empty nest behind him, and plucked the petals from a rose. It had been three days since Adrien left and there had been no word at all. He was trying not to panic, but with every passing minute he imagined all sorts of terrible scenarios. He hadn’t slept for more than a few minutes, and he missed them both like his peace depended on them being back in arm’s reach.
Simon took the bench across from him and remained silent.
“I should have told him from the start.”
Simon shrugged, his jowls shaking with the movement. “You didn’t intend to fall for him. How could you have known he’d be so different from Nathan?”
“I was selfish. I didn’t see him as his own person until it was too late.”
Heath plucked the last petal and let it fall. Then turned and snapped off another late bloomer and began to pick it apart, too. “I should have known when the heat crush was so strong.”
“And if you had told him then? In the middle of his heat?”
Heath shook his head. “It would have been unfair to him. Forced a choice when he didn’t have any. I should have told him before so that he could back out, sell to another alpha.”
“I’m not the person you need to be saying all this to, lovey.”
Heath groaned. “I hurt him. He trusted me.”
“Should have, would have, could have,” Simon said, and tutted. “What’s done is done, as you were telling Lidell. Now what are you going to do about it?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Moping here isn’t going to get your son and lover back.”
“I’m not moping,” Heath growled.
“What are you doing then? Ignoring the ugly truth again? You screwed up, lovey, and you’re going to have to make it right. No amount of sulking
and wringing your hands is going to do that. So figure out a plan and enact it.
You’re Heath Clearwater, heir to the Clearwater estate, and you’re in love with a boy who’s out of his depth. Go get him.”
“What if he doesn’t want me to? I’ve already hurt him enough.”
“Heath, for God’s sake, he has your son.”
“Michael will be safe with him.”
“Will he? Adrien is young and has no family, nowhere to go. He’s angry with you, and is afraid he can’t trust you. He’s still in post-partum drop, and he’s alone. He needs his alpha.” Simon leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “And you need him, too. The bond you were building together was a beautiful one. Go claim it.”