The Billionaire's Hidden Heir

#17 - Falling For Her Again?

Adrian

"You have a son," Courtney said quietly, her back turned to me as she stared out of my hotel room's window. She had assumed this position since I returned this morning, giving me a chance to study her. I'd expected to get an earful about last night once I walked in, but her state was far from it. She had never looked this rattled before, or this hurt. She seemed worse off this morning than she had been last night after I went after Lily. I was about to say how sorry I was for not making it back to the hotel as I promised when she suddenly whirled around and faced me. "I thought Lily couldn't have kids."

Her words startled me more than her sudden movement. "What?" I stared, wondering why on earth she'd think that when no doctor had ever made such a diagnosis in my three years of marriage to Lily. Each one of them had said to just wait. And yet, Courtney sounded convinced about it somehow. "Why would you think that?" I frowned.

Her eyes widened, just a fraction, but having known her for so long it was very noticeable to me. Seeming to realize that fact too she shrugged and said, "Oh, you know, it took you so long when you were together so I kind of just assumed." When we were together? It was still strange that Courtney had never referred to me as married. Maybe it was my fault for confiding in her about how I never wanted to marry Lily in the first place and how much I hated being tied to her.

"It was nothing like that." I shoved my hands in my pockets if only to hide how much I itched to be done with this conversation and get back to Lily's.

"Are you even sure he's yours?"

"I'm sorry, what?" There was no doubt Asher was mine, but tension wound itself all around me at Courtney's question as images of Lily moaning to another man's touch assaulted me.

"I mean, I don't mean to - she... after all this while? Adrian..." Courtney narrowed her eyes at me. "For all we know the kid could be-"

"He's mine, Courtney!" I snapped, the thought of how close Asher had come to being that bastard's son making me furious, not only at Warrick, but at my best friend too. She'd been the voice of reason I'd listened to many times before, but I didn't want to at the moment. I shoved my phone into her hands and stepped back, surprised by my own need to put that distance between us. Courtney noticed, and I braced for her to bite my head off over it because this was the kind of behaviour she called me out on in our friendship. Surprisingly, I was spared, when all her focus went to my phone. Her reaction to my son's picture was an even bigger surprise.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she took it, staring at Asher's image. After a moment, her jaw dropped slightly, and she blinked several times in rapid succession, hand gripping my phone tightly. "He's uh..." she paused and stared, something I couldn't quite recognize lacing her tone. Finally, she handed the phone back, her voice barely above a whisper. 'Well, he's definitely yours.' The shock in her expression was unmistakable. I was even tempted to think she beat my own when I found out about Asher.

"I'm still coming to terms with it myself." I mumbled, thinking of how it took almost everything to tear myself from Lily's house and come here. It had taken me even much more to keep my feet in Asher's room, beside his bed, instead of marching to Lily's room and kissing her senseless for giving me such a beautiful gift. Okay, so my need to kiss her wasn't just about being thankful for Asher. It was a whole fantasy that had taken root in me, full of desire for her.

"When you say 'coming to terms with it,' what exactly does that entail?" Courtney's question pierced through my fantasy about my ex-wife like an unwelcome interruption, and I felt a prickle of annoyance. I also heard the unasked question.

"He's my son, Courtney, and Lily is his mother." I stated, making it clear that I had no in intentions of excluding Lily in that equation. Hell she was the crucial variable that made the equation true and complete. I wanted the whole package. Despite our history, that truth had hit me the moment she'd called me a dad in front of my son, validating me in ways I never knew I needed. I bet she even thought that me holding her hand in that moment was purely for her comfort, to ease her nerves. What she didn't know was that I needed her to ground me. She'd made me into a father. A man it had taken that kid seconds to look at with so much admiration even when I'd done nothing to deserve it. God knew I knew what 'men' who had done nothing deserved. Taking Lily's hand was my silent promise to make her words to my son true. I would be an awesome dad and more for her.

Courtney sipped on her coffee. I suspected it was cold now, but she downed it with little regard for its temperature, her focus elsewhere. "So what am I now, Aunty Lily?"

Startled by her sudden eagerness, I mumbled, "Something like that."

"Something like that?" Courtney huffed. "Adrian, he's your son, I can't not be a part of his life." Being my best friend and all, she was right, but that wouldn't be happening. It didn't even have anything to do with the fact that I could lose Asher if I even entertained it. "She doesn't want me near him, does she?"

"Just for now."

"And you are going with whatever she says?" Courtney's look turned judgemental in a flash. I didn't care for it. When I'd told Lily that I would do whatever she wanted, I meant it. "Oh, my God, Adrian, you have that look!"

"What look?" I frowned.

"That..." She pointed a finger at me, almost accusingly. "Are you falling for her again?" Again...I had told no one about that, but Courtney had somehow figured it out. If I was being honest, I would say she helped me figure out that the deeper annoyance and anger I began feeling over every little thing Lily did or didn't do back then was nothing but my own unconscious need for my wife. It had taken me a lot longer to realize that need or desire was not it either. Annoyance prickled at the reminder that that realization had come when it was too late and my wife had moved on...which I was beginning to doubt. The hurt in Lily's eyes after seeing Courtney was as fresh as the day she'd asked for a divorce. Coupled with the Malone sister's claims about her being single, I hoped the display of hurt meant I still had her heart.

"After all she's done to you?" Hurt flashed in Courtney's eyes and guilt pinched in my chest for not sharing in her sentiments. "Is that why you've been avoiding me? I just can't believe you are willing to forgive her so easily. What does this make her?" She fired those questions and knowing she wouldn't like any answer to any of them, I cut her off, diverting the conversation.

"Why don't you tell me about that ridiculous stone instead." I hadn't missed Lily's reaction to that piece of jewelry. I wanted to scream and assure her that it wasn't mine, but I doubted my ex-wife would have heard anything in the moment. Lily never liked Courtney, which had been one of the reasons that cemented my view of her. I never could understand why when Courtney had been nothing but friendly.

"Who's the lucky guy?" My gaze darted to the glittering ring on her finger. I never pegged Courtney to be so flashy. I didn't even know she was seriously dating. She paused, her eyes filling with tears. Not happy tears. My protective side activated instantly. "What's going on?"

She let out a bitter laugh. "I'm ridiculous that's what's going on. I mean, I shouldn't be crying over some douche I dated for just a month. But I thought he was it."

"You dated for a month, he proposed and you said yes?" I couldn't help the exasperation in my voice. Courtney wasn't that careless. And why the hell had I not known about this at all? Because you've barely been her best friend for a while now. Guilt prickled when my head supplied that elaborate answer.

"I wish that were the case," she sighed, drawing my attention back to her. I only stared, confused. "He cheated and this was my way of showing him that I have moved on. Which brings me to the reason I'm here. "I need you, Adrian."

My mind instantly went back to that night five years ago when she'd said the exact same words. The night everything went to hell and I realized how capable I was to kill with my bare hands. "Courtney," I mumbled, unsure of what to say. What did my reluctance to jump in to help this time around say about my commitment to her? "You know I'm always here. Why don't you tell me about this perfect social media influencer you found?" I diverted again, not wanting to get into any of it.

For someone recently heart broken, Courtney's face surprisingly lit up as it always did when she'd struck gold for Frost Industries. I couldn't fault her for that though, because we both knew this marketing campaign was not only important for her future at Frost Industries, but for the company too. "Distracting me from my heartbreak wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I guess that works too." She scooted over, a teary grin playing on her lips as she tapped her phone open to a profile. "She goes by the name WonderGirl."