Lex’s pulls on my hands just before we reach my parents’ front door, a mischievous grin on his face. Since we learned about his grandmother he’s frequently lost in thought, but then there are times like these, where it’s like I’m all he can see.
“What?” I ask, my eyes narrowed.
He chuckles and pulls me closer. “I have a dare for you,” he says, his forehead dropping to mine. “Kiss me before we head in. I know you’ll tempt me once we make it to your bedroom and turn me into the kind of sinner that breaks all your father’s rules, but that could be hours from now. What if I can’t survive until then? I need fuel, Raya.”
I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck as I rise to my tiptoes, tilting my head. His lips come crashing against mine, and my body melts into his. Lex sucks on my bottom lip, his hand roaming down my back, and I pull him closer, loving the way he’s completely losing himself in this, in us.
“God, I want you,” he says against my mouth, his hands moving to my hips. My hand slips into his hair, and he groans, his cock pressing against my stomach.
I smile against his lips — and then the sound of the front door opening startles us both. Before I even realize what’s happening, Lex’s has turned me around and pushes me toward the front door. I stumble and glance over my shoulder to glare at my husband, who tries his best to look as innocent as possible as he grins up at my dad.
My husband doesn’t fear a single thing in this world, other than, apparently, my parents catching him kiss me. “You issued that dare all by yourself and now you act surprised I’m standing so close to you,” I mutter under my breath.
He throws me a wide-eyed warning look, and if my father hadn’t been standing right behind us, I’d have teased him about the way his personality changes the second Dad is near. One of the most powerful men in the world, yet he cowers in front of my dad. Everything it implies makes the butterflies in my stomach go wild. The level of respect he has for my family, along with his attempts to gain my parents’ approval, doesn’t go unnoticed.
Dad’s gaze moves between the two of us, his gaze lacking the usual affection and amusement. “Come in, kids,” he says, and I frown when I realize his tone is off.
“What’s going on?” I ask, kicking my shoes off in a rush. Lex does the same and offers me his hand, entwining our fingers as we follow Dad into the living room.
Mom looks up from the sofa, her eyes red, and Dad immediately wraps his arm around her. “There’s something we need to tell you, Raya,” he says. Mom nods, and my heart sinks. With the news about Lex’s grandmother still fresh on my mind, I find myself bracing for the worst.
“Let’s sit, darling,” Lex says, guiding me to the sofa we’ve come to consider ours, the one that’s adjacent to the one my parents are sitting on. He takes our joined hands into his lap and draws soothing circles on my skin, his presence providing more comfort than he could imagine.
Mom sniffs, and Dad tightens his grip on her, pulling her closer. “I didn’t mean to keep this from you, Raya. Dad and I always meant to tell you, but it just… it just wasn’t ever the right time.”
My thoughts race as I subconsciously try to guess what they might be referring to. “Tell me what, Mom?” My voice is trembling, my tone reluctant. Something about that look in her eyes is breaking my heart before she’s even said anything.
She looks at Dad and bursts into tears, a sob tearing through her throat. My own eyes begin to fill with tears when I realize Dad looks visibly emotional, too. He looks at me so apologetically that my heart begins to break before he even says anything. “We got a call this morning, Raya. It was about your grandmother. She isn’t well.”
I stare at him in confusion. “I thought… I thought that…” Mom hasn’t spoken to her parents in years, and Dad’s parents passed away when I was in elementary school. I turn to Mom then, inhaling shakily. “Is your mother okay?” I ask, unsure what to do, what to say. If not for Lex’s tight grip on me, I’d have rushed over to her, doing what I can to console her. Something about the way he’s holding my hand is keeping me rooted in place. I can’t imagine what this conversation is doing to him. Unlike me, he’s very close to his grandmother, and this’ll just make his grief deepen.
Mom begins to cry harder, and dad pulls her into his arms, cradling her head the way Lex sometimes does with me when I’m upset. “Meera,” Dad whispers. “I can’t do this without you, my love.”
She nods and straightens, wiping at her tears furiously. “The call wasn’t about my mother, honey,” she says, choking back a sob. “It was about your f-father’s mother. Your b-biological father.”
I stare at her wide-eyed, the words not quite registering. I heard what she said. I just don’t understand how that could be true.
Lex tightens his grip on me as my mom takes a shaky breath. “Do you remember the story I told you about my first marriage?” she asks carefully. I nod, my stomach turning. “I didn’t tell you the full story, honey.” She takes a deep breath, regret marring her beautiful face. “When I escaped that marriage, I was pregnant… with you.”
My gaze cuts to dad, realization dawning. He straightens his shoulders, despair in his eyes. “I have had the great honor of raising you, Raya. I was there when you were born, and I was there when you took your first steps. I walked you down the aisle, and I’ll love you until the day I die. I just… I just didn’t have the honor of bringing you into this world.” He looks away, and I watch as his eyes fall closed, his breathing uneven. “Nothing will ever change the fact that to me, you are my daughter,” he says, his voice soft, pleading. He turns to look at me then, his eyes filled with sorrow. “Nothing could ever change that, you hear me?”
I nod, a tear sliding down my cheek. Lex turns toward me and wipes it away, his gaze tormented, pained. I bite down on my lip, but a sob tears through my throat nonetheless. How could my father, the man that loves me most in this world, not be my real father?
I try to swallow down my tears, only to choke on my sobs. Lex opens his arms for me wordlessly, and I press my face against his neck as I begin to cry, unable to help it.
“Darling,” he whispers, hugging me tightly. “The call,” Lex says quietly, rubbing my back. “Raya’s grandmother…. is she okay?”
“No,” Dad says, his voice breaking. “She’s in the hospital, and she only has a couple of weeks left. We were told that she wishes to apologize to Raya and your mother while she… while she still can.”
“You don’t have to go,” Mom says, and I turn to face her, Lex’s arms staying wrapped around me, his heart beating steadily under my ear. “I just needed to tell you, Raya. I didn’t want you to have any regrets, and I didn’t want to take this choice from you.”
