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I flinch. The pet name is a turn-off but his admission raises something as delusional as hope inside of me.

“Then…” My throat thickens. “Lina is yours. And she’s sick, Julian.”

At first, his expression brightens, like I’ve just handed him the golden key to the city.

But then the word sick drops like a guillotine, and I watch the joy fall right out of his eyes.

He falters, just slightly.

Despite the wine,the candlelight, and the suit he’s wearing, they are not quick enough to hide the crack in his mask.

“She has an illness that’s rare. Genetic. And the healer said the cure…it depends on her parents.”

My hands shakeas I place them gently on top of his. “The blood of both biological parents is needed. I’ll do my part. But I need you to do yours.”

He doesn’t move.

Doesn’t blink.

“I’m asking for a little blood,” I whisper, like he didn’t hear me the first time, “from her father.”

Julian pulls his hands back like I burned him.

“Lila—”

“You’re her father, right?” I press on, the desperation in my chest tasting like pennies. “Then prove it. Give her what sheneeds. A few vials of blood is nothing compared to saving her life.”

He stands abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor with a sharp screech.

I go still.

The lawyerto our left looks up. The couple by the door, the ones I’d noticed were perfect, glance over at our table.

But they don’t react like normal strangers. No.

They’re too calm.Too aware. They are not curious about what’s happening.

The thought of digging into what their demeanor could mean makes my stomach bottom out and my breath puncture its way out of my lungs harshly.

Julian catches on quickly to my curiosity about the other folks at this restaurant because he says, “The results already say I’m her father. I don’t have to do anything.”

Wait.

What?

I’m desperate and I’m on the verge of tears, but there’s no denying what I just heard.

“How do you know about the test results?” I ask slowly. “I never told you about them or that they were back.”

Julian’s silence screams at me that something’s wrong.

And the minute everything feels off, I stand up, wrap my arm tighter around Lina, her body curling protectively against my chest as I rise, ready to walk…no, run out of here.

I take one step.

Just one step.

Before the second comes, a shadow cuts across my path.