Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [105]
"Exactly the same. You saw it, too, David. I am so afraid of what will happen next. First, you are almost killed. Now I worry about Alyssa, and what the curse will do to her. You must remember, David. You must remember where you went when you left me. You didn't go back to the store. If you had found the dragon, where would you have gone?"
"I don't know," he said slowly. "I wish I did." He strained to remember, but the effect only brought a throbbing pain to his head.
"There is something else. I told Alyssa that you're her father."
"Why? Why would you do that?" he asked, shocked to the core. They had kept the secret for so many years. It was difficult to believe it was out.
"Your daughter found out about Alyssa."
"Paige? That's not possible."
"It's the truth. I don't know how she did, but she did. I couldn't let Alyssa be blindsided. I had to tell her first."
Paige knew about Alyssa and Jasmine? His heart sank to the bottom of his toes. She must hate him. She hadn't said anything yet, probably because he'd been so badly hurt. But when things were back to normal, she would remember that he'd betrayed her and her mother. And she wouldn't understand. He couldn't bear it if Paige turned on him. She was the only daughter he had. Except Alyssa, of course, but he didn't know her. She didn't know him. It was a choice he'd made a long time ago. There was no turning back now. Unless .. .
"Does Alyssa want to see me?"
"She isn't sure. But you know she will not make trouble for you, and neither will I."
No, the trouble would come from Victoria. No doubt about that.
"I have to go," he said, hearing the nurse outside his room. "I'll call you when I get home." He hung up the phone, almost wishing he could return to the unconscious state he had just left. His daughter and most likely his wife knew about his mistress and his illegitimate child. Maybe he would have been better off dead. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Someone had wanted him dead.
Who? Did he know? Was that why he couldn't remember? Maybe he didn't want to remember. Maybe he didn't want to know who had attacked him.
Or worse, maybe the person who had attacked him was someone he knew. He wasn't the only one with secrets.
Chapter Nineteen
"You're awfully quiet," Paige said as Riley drove them across town.
"Just thinking about everything."
"It makes my mind spin. There seem to be so many secrets."
"Yeah," he said. But he wasn't thinking about secrets; he was thinking about Paige, about the kisses they'd shared before she'd reminded him that they had to leave, that they didn't have time to take those kisses into the bedroom, which was the only place at that moment he wanted to go.
He needed to stop kissing her, stop torturing himself with possibilities that could never be. Paige was a long-term girl; he was a short-term guy. He could have women in his life without making a commitment. In fact, he'd probably get more sex if he stayed single; at least that's what most of his married friends told him.
If Paige wanted a fling, he was her man, but anything longer, forget about it. He didn't carry the commitment gene. He knew that without a doubt. Neither his mother nor his father had been able to handle a relationship or a family. Although ... his grandparents had had a good marriage.
Sure, they'd fought over the years. He'd heard them yelling at each other and driving each other crazy about not filling up the car with' gas or forgetting to buy toilet paper. But they'd also hugged and kissed and laughed together. They'd been best friends as well as lovers. They'd had a special connection, something rare, something most people didn't have. What was the likelihood of him finding such a connection? A million to one.
And the truth was—he didn't have the stomach for those odds. He didn't want to put his heart on the line, make himself vulnerable. He'd lived his childhood like that. The pain was still with him years later. He'd loved his mother and she'd abandoned him. She'd lied so many times, broken so many promises. He sighed,