Damian's POV
It was a long drive, I would have opted for the private jet but I needed some time to think. I needed the view to appease the storm I was going through. Sofia turned to Anita. They were two different women in the same body. Sofia was my woman, Anita – I didn't recognize her. Seeing her again at the wedding had stirred something in me: longing. I miss her, I love her. I always loved her but what Genevieve did to me broke me. I couldn't allow myself to show emotion for a woman. My resolve had cost me her. She had moved on, run away, and become Anita to get away from me. And even though her words say one thing, her eyes and body give her away. I know she hadn't forgotten what we had, what we shared.
"You're restless," came the voice of Nadia, my personal assistant. She sat beside me, her eyes trained on me.
"What gave it away?" I asked distractedly.
"For one thing, you only go on long drives when you have something on your mind,"
By the time we arrived, I already made up my mind. The jet landed, and I'd already made up my mind. I can understand that she wanted to get away from me but her resolve to keep me away showed there was a more significant reason. It couldn't be because of the little man, she didn't love him.
We arrived at my penthouse office about four hours later and still hadn't managed to get her out of my mind.
I picked up my phone and dialed a number. It rang twice before a deep voice answered.
"Marcus, it's Damian. I need you to run a discreet background check."
"On whom?"
"Sofia... or Anita Harper. I am not so sure but she owns a bakery in Clearwater. I need everything you can find, every single thing. If she breathes, I want to know,"
There was a pause before Marcus responded. "Consider it done. Give me 48 hours. I will forward the bill,"
*****
A few days later, I found Marcus' report on my desk. The first few pages were all boring stuff; her phone number, house address, medical records… and then I got a shock; a pregnancy … a son… two years and a few months old.
I swear, I stopped breathing for a minute. Two years. The math wasn't hard. I ran a hand through my hair, anger engulfing me. Why didn't she tell me? Why would she keep this from me? Was this the reason she left? I had a son that she was hiding from me.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess. How could she keep something like that from me? Did she think I wasn't fit to be a father? I picked up the phone and called Nadia, "Ready the jet. I'm heading for Clearwater.
*****
The next morning, I walked into Sweet Surprise. I met the lady I had seen with her at the wedding behind the counter.
"Where's Sofia?" I asked impatiently.
"Good morning to you too. We do not have any Sofias around here."
"Anita,"
"Ah! She is busy at the moment. Is there something I can help you with instead?" she asked politely.
"Tell her Damian is here," I ordered.
"I'm sorry but she cannot receive guests at the moment,"
I moved closer to the counter, leaning down to her eye level. I wasn't the man she wanted to mess with especially not now. "Get me Sofia now or I will burn down this place."
I saw the moment she realized this was a war she wouldn't win. She shuffled on her feet and stepped back. "I'll just get her. Wait here," I watched her make her way into a backroom but my patience was short, I followed after her a few seconds later and barged into the room. The petite woman was taken aback at my entry, she almost jumped out of her skin. Sofia looked up at me from behind her desk.
"Damian," she said, "Always as charming as ever," sarcasm laced her voice. "What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk," I said finally, I turned to the lady beside me, "Get out," She looked at Sofia who nodded in agreement and silently left the office.
"I thought you left town." She said while closing her laptop.
"I did. And then I came back."
"Why?"
I stepped closer, keeping my anger in control "You know why."
"Damian, it might shock you to know that I am not a mind reader. And you have no right to waltz in here like you own this place. You do not own me. I am not your…"
"Who is Lucas's father?" I asked.
Her face paled, and she opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out.
"It's me, isn't it?" I pressed.
"How did you know about Lucas?"
"Answer my question, woman!"
"No!" she shouted. "No, he is not your son!"
"What?" That wasn't the answer I was expecting, it wasn't the answer I was looking forward to. "What do you mean? He is two years old. It doesn't take a genius to figure out…,"
"You think you were the only man I was fucking? Uhn?" her words were like swords slicing at my heart. She wouldn't. She didn't. She couldn't have cheated on me.
"I—" She paused, "I left because I knew that if you found out I was pregnant with another man's child, you would be a drama queen about it,"
"You were cheating on me?" I asked with a shaky breath.
"Why do you seem shocked, Damian? I was just your kept woman. We made no commitments to each other. I remember you telling me and emphasizing that there were no strings attached, it was just sex."
I didn't know what to say. I admit that I may not have treated her right, I knew that she wanted more, and I was willing to give her more but I never got the chance to. I realized too late that I was in love with her and when I made plans to propose she was gone.
"All those times we were together, all those times that I made love to you, you were seeing another man?"
"Don't get it twisted, Damian," she continued with her fingers clasped on the desk. "You never made love to me! You threw money at me after sex like a slut!"
I got the wind knocked out of me. I thought I knew her, but the woman sitting there looking as elegant as I remember, I didn't recognize her. I felt like a fool as I took a couple steps back. She cheated on me. Twice the fool. First Genevieve, then Sofia. How many women were going to make a fool out of me? I turned and left the room, out the bakery. I thought I was broken when Genevieve left me, this feeling was worse.
*****