Page 106 of Fierce-Jax

“Just that at times I think I’m moving too fast and get worried you’re trailing behind.”

“I’m not worried about it,” she said.

“Then what is going on if it’s not us? It can’t be that bad. I don’t see you acting this way for days over work?”

It’s not as if she wasn’t financially set in her life.

Even if her practice was struggling, which he knew it wasn’t, she had her father to fall back on.

She might not have ever wanted to do that, but it was still there.

“It’s easy for you to say,” she said. “I should tell you about Alec. Gianna’s father.”

“I’d like to know,” he said. “You never say much. I don’t want to intrude knowing that it’s most likely very painful.”

She snorted. “You have no idea,” she said.

Not really what he wanted to hear. That she might still hold onto her love for the man she had a child with.

“I looked into him,” he said. “Nothing major. Curiosity more than anything.”

“Did you find the article on his shooting?” she asked.

“I did. It was pretty brief. Seemed like it was the wrong place at the wrong time. He was shot and killed on the street or something. Not the best part of town, but it happens. Did they ever catch the person?”

“They did,” she said. “Months later and he’s in prison.”

“That’s good,” he said.

He wouldn’t admit that he’d seen a picture of Alec online. The guy looked nothing like he expected him to.

Lighter brown hair a little messy or unkempt, tired blue eyes, and rough uneven facial hair, but maybe the picture had been taken after a long shift.

Gianna was the spitting image of her mother. He couldn’t see any of her father in her.

“I told you how we met. He was an ER doctor during my residency. He wasn’t someone that opened up freely, but he did to me.”

“Because you’re an easy person to talk to. I noticed that right away.”

“I am,” she said. “I’ve always been that way. Kind of like you, I think I’m drawn to those that I feel sorry for.”

“You felt sorry for him? Why?”

She shrugged. “He was quiet. He did his job and did it well, but he always felt as if he had to look over his shoulder. I couldn’t figure out why and then found out more about his childhood.”

“Not good?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Mind you, I only know what he told me. He’d cut his parents out of his life when he was in college. Or thereabouts. I never met them.”

“Never?” he asked. “Not even at Alec’s funeral?”

“They didn’t know he died. I had no way to get in touch with them. No information. Alec didn’t even have their numbers on his phone. I wasn’t thinking clearly to even try to search for them. I knew nothing.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, jerking back. “So they have no clue they have a grandchild either?”

“As far as I knew, no.”

“As far as you knew,” he said. “That sounds like something has changed.”