The Billionaire's Hidden Heir

#7 - A Bittersweet Gift

Adrian

From the day Lily surprisingly disappeared from Glanbury, leaving me bitter and with more questions than answers, I'd pictured many scenarios of how I'd react if I got to see my ex-wife ever again. None of those scenarios involved me in my very expensive suite, heart hammering in my chest while I flew across a yard full of people, praying to the heavens that I reached Lily in time. Or me spending hours perched at her bed side, brushing her silky raven hair while I mumbled every comforting word I knew. It was the most I'd spoken to her since the first day I laid my eyes on her. And definitely none of those scenarios were supposed to leave me feeling like this. I couldn't get her eyes out of my head. Those brown things, as common an eye colour as they were, struck me with a complete sense of uniqueness that was so Lily when she'd stared up at me in her bedroom. It had gone straight to my heart. Had she always been that expressive?

I swiped the drink in front of me and downed it, the familiar burn numbing the feelings assaulting my mind. If only for a moment. What Derby had forgotten to mention to me about Radiant Springs was the fact that it also had the best pubs on earth. The booze never stopped flowing at The Cozy Cask, a comfort in the chaos for me.

For five years after Lily left, they'd been anger, hate and in those weird moments hurt, but none of those made an appearance today when I laid my eyes on her again. Instead, I'd been bathed in totally new feelings that had left me off balance.

"Make it a double this time." I demanded of the barman. The bearded guy stared at me for a moment before he shrugged and filled my glass and another. I arched a brow at him, surprised and slightly annoyed by the second glass I had not requested.

"Can't let you have all the fun, now can I? I'm Carl, by the way," he gave me a military salute.

"Adrian." I nodded, surprised at myself for giving the guy the time of day. I'd never been that guy.

You've never been a dad either. I shifted in my seat at the screaming thought that let loose all the feelings about my unexpected fatherhood too. I shoved them right back before my faux calm gave way to the rage simmering over being excluded from my son's life.

"A newbie around these parts, huh?" Carl asked.

"What gave me away?" I answered while I brought my drink to my lips.

"Definitely not that designer's tux." Carl grinned. "What brings you here?"

Fate? I shook my head at the weird thought. I had never been a believer.

"Don't feel like sharing? That's alright. Welcome to R.S, mate. Hit me up if you are staying longer than the night, we could finish this," Carl raised his glass and toasted.

I wasn't that type of guy either, but I found myself nodding. "Sure." As soon as Carl left and I'd emptied my glass, I reached for my phone that I'd shoved away sometime after stumbling through the doors of the pub. Swiping at the screen, it came to life with a recently added image.

My heart stuttered as I stared at Asher's pic, seeing more of myself than the last time I did. There was no doubt that he was mine. He was the perfect little creature I'd ever seen. A bittersweet gift that had left me both in awe and deeply angry at my ex-wife despite all the other feelings I was beginning to have towards her.

The doors to the Cozy Cask opened and in walked Lily as if summoned by my thoughts and I stared. I shouldn't have, not in the way a man does a woman because she was no longer mine and I was mad at her, but I did.

I took her in, seeing more of her in the moment than I had in years. Allowing myself to see more than I ever had when she'd been my wife. She was different. Dressed in a snug dark pair of jeans and a tucked in loose fitting dress shirt, she was all curves. They spoke of experience, each line attractive, and telling a story of motherhood and nurturing...of my child. A sense of pride filled me together with a need to trace those curves, letting her body tell the story while I listened with my head lying on her full cleavage.

Her full cleavage? Damn it! I blinked, while I tried to rein in my mind that was filling with desire at a startling rate, but it was no use. I was attracted to my ex-wife.

All the colour she'd lost after seeing me at Asher's party was back, giving life to her beautiful face that was framed by her raven bob. I had never pictured Lily with short hair before. I more than loved it and I itched to run my fingers through it all over again.

"You too?" Carl's amused voice startled me. "Don't worry, L's got that kind of effect on us all."

L? It took me a moment to realise the barman was talking about Lily and another to realize that I didn't want him giving her a pet name or him or any other man here looking at her. I barely kept from growling that stance at him. "She's not a frequent patron here though," he said and that pacified me somehow. She was never a heavy drinker, and I couldn't bear the thought of some random guy putting his filthy hands on her while he dragged her drunk self home.

Lily rubbed herself as she looked around the pub, no doubt searching for me. She was nervous. That had not changed about her and apparently neither had I in that respect. On instinct, I wanted to go over to her, except this time around, I really wanted to offer her my comfort, not because I was afraid the world would see through the sham of our marriage if I let her stand alone.

I froze, though, when someone beat me to it. Warrick Sullivan... I ground my teeth when his hand snaked around her waist as he ushered into the pub. And that grateful smile on her lips, it punched my insides and soured my mood even more.

"I want to speak to my wife." I bit out as soon as they came over, the words slipping out of my mouth before I could put a rein on them. "...alone?" I added.

"Lils?" Warrick lovingly turned to my ex-wife and I couldn't help but glare at that, together with that damned sweet pet name. How dare he give her one? I ground my teeth at the guy. He on the other hand totally ignored me and cupped her cheeks. "Your call," he said softly, much to my annoyance.

"I'll be fine, thanks." Lily answered after what I felt was an annoyingly long moment. And did she have to sound like that? "It's actually ex-wife," she pointed out, turning to me. She was right, but I hated it still. I hated how matter-of-fact she was about it too. "Thank you for leaving the party, when I asked."

"I did it for Asher." I bit out. I did it for her too. God, seeing her crumble like that... I waved away all those images that reminded me of how close my son had come to losing his mother... because of me. "Is he mine?" The evidence that Asher was a Frost, was all there, but I needed to hear it from her mouth.

"Asher is my son." She said, a little forcefully, making annoyance prickle in my gut. "I only came here to remind you of the agreement that you signed."

The no-contact agreement? She was leading with that? I bristled at the reminder. "That agreement was made without full disclosure." I hissed, regretting ever letting my temper drive me into signing the damned thing.

"You had another baby on the way, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have cared," she equally hissed, taking me aback. I'd never seen her upset and looking so... alive. And what the hell was she talking about?

"What baby?" I stared at her, dumbfounded. For a beat or two before realization hit me hard and fast.

"Awww, don't look so hurt, Lily. If you had been able to give him a baby, we wouldn't be here." Courtney's confession that night, the one I should have corrected but didn't, ripped through me, leaving behind a splutter of guilt.

"That wasn't-" gosh! I stared at her, lost for words, but then I remembered the reason why everything went to hell that night and my jaw hardened. "He's my son. I deserved to know about him."

Something flickered in her eyes, but it was gone before I could get a read on it. "Like I said, Asher is my son and we are doing just fine without-"

"With Sullivan?" I hadn't intended on giving her companion any importance with my words, but the damned picture of the three of them 'doing just fine' as a family assaulted my senses in the moment, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. "I'll never let that scumbag raise my son!" I thundered.

Lily blinked, shock evident on her face. "You know Warrick?"

I more than knew Warrick and everything they'd both tried to hide about their disgusting relationship. I wanted to slap all that information in her face so that she could swallow it together with her no-contact nonsense, but I took a deep breath and leaned back on the bar counter. "You are wrong, Lily. Asher is 'our' son."