lowed was a speci

ough an endless loop of fear and dread. Every time she looked at Lily, her heart clenched with a mixture of love and ter

and cut her off completely. No job, no money, no help for Lily's surgery. She couldn't risk that. So she had taken Lily to a private clini

days. One hundred and sixty-eight h

g late at night. Regina caught glimpses of him sometimes-a shadow in the hallway, the scent of his cologne ling

everywhere. A stuffed duck sitting on the kitchen counter, a brand-new children's book

y stunted way, he was trying to be something

nor Martinez cornered

, her voice deceptively casual. "And yet my son s

inens she was folding. "I wouldn't kn

hark sensing blood in the water. "But you know something. I can feel

t she was folding and met Eleanor's gaze. "I'm

cially maids." She paused, her gaze sharpening. "You remind me of someone. A woman my

d. "I don't know what

rmured. "I don't

heels clicking against the marble

e was involved with. Years ago. Before his fiancée. The timeline fit. The

g? What if Lily really

e had been so certain she was lying. She had been so sure that Lily's father was someone else-a nameless, faceless man from a lost we

leave her less than a year later. She had been in New York for a conference, alone and lonely and desperat

take to her grave. When Lily was born, she had assumed the child was her husband's, even tho

oom, surrounded by the scent of expensive detergent

-

, Valentine summon

he doorway, she understood why. The walls were lined with books, floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with leather-bound vol

his eyes, and his jaw was thick with stubbl

he door,

, her hear

nvelope from his desk and held

sibly heavy, as if it contained not just paper but the weigh

Valentine said, his voice fla

m, her breath catching

walked around the desk to stand in front of her. He was close-too close-an

e said. "Lily i

ward, the envelope slipping from her fingers and falling

broken. "I don't remember that night. I don't remem

rld tilting on its axis. She had been lying. She had been so certain she was lying

r. "I swear to God, Valentine, I didn't know. I thou

beneath it. Something raw and vulnerable. "You've been lying to me for

r face. "Lily needs surgery. I couldn't afford it. I cou

, he sank onto the couch beside her. Not touching. But close. Cl

quietly. "That's the wo

her vision blurred with t

nd took her hand. His fingers were warm, surprisingly gentle.

ing and exhilarating and impossible. But as Regina looked into

saw

-

ter sleep. Lily's chest rose and fell with the steady rhythm of he

bout Valentine. About the impossible tru

truth she never could have imagined. Lily was Valentine's daughter. Valentine w

med of. Not the kind of family Lily

zed. A text f

est pediatric cardiologist in the count

h tears. She typed a rep

nk

ank me. I'm her father.

age for a long time. Then

k

d turned back to Lily. He

n years, Regina allo