Page 46 of My Alpha Stepbrother's Dirty Secret 2

"Daddy," he answered with a little smile, still focused on the toy, making little fighting noises and sound effects with his mouth like he always did when he was imagining a full-blown battle scene.

I moved closer and sat beside him, watching him play, and for a moment I just stared at him, completely in awe.This was my son.My actual son.And the more I looked at him, the more I saw myself.It was like looking into a mirror from years ago.The way his nose scrunched up when he concentrated, the way his brows furrowed slightly even when he was happy, the exact same way mine did.He didn't look anything like Liana, which was strange but also beautiful.He was mine.

I reached out and took his tiny hand in mine, gently lifting it and placing a kiss on his soft knuckles.And before I even realized it, a tear slipped down from the corner of my eye.

Ryan looked up instantly."Daddy, why are you crying?"

I wiped my face quickly and ruffled his hair."It's nothing, buddy.Nothing."

But that was a lie.It wasn't nothing.It was everything.

Because I remembered the day five years ago when my doctor sat me down and told me I wouldn't be able to have children.That something had gone wrong, some infection I never even knew about that had scarred me permanently.I remembered sitting there in silence, not even reacting, because the pain was so much it just froze me.

I hadn't told anyone.Not my mother.Not even Logan or Steve.No one.I couldn't even speak about it.It was too painful.Like admitting it out loud would make it more real.So I buried it, locked it up deep, and tried to move on like it didn't matter.Like I didn't need to be a father.

But I did.God, I did.

So when I found out that Liana had a child, my child, from that night we shared seven years ago, I thought I was hallucinating.I thought it was some sick trick the universe was playing on me.But it was real.He was real.Ryan was mine.and every day since, I've thanked the gods that Liana didn't abort the pregnancy.That despite how much of an asshole I was back then, she kept him.She carried him.She gave birth to him.She raised him.and she gave me the one thing I thought I would never, ever have.

I pulled Ryan into my arms and kissed his head.

"I love you, Daddy," he whispered as he hugged me back.

and it broke me.

"I love you too, little man.More than anything."

My eyes stung, but I refused to cry again in front of him.

Liana didn't understand.She didn't see it yet.She thought Cynthia was better.She thought she wasn't enough.She thought I still wanted Cynthia.That I regretted choosing her.But what she didn't know was that I would choose her a thousand times over.That if I had to kill everyone in this world just to keep her beside me, I would.She didn't know that every time she pushed me away, it made me more desperate to pull her closer.

She was mine.In every way.She had always been mine.From the moment I touched her.From the moment I saw her eyes light up that night.From the second she moaned my name like I was the only man that ever existed.

She didn't understand what she meant to me.

She gave me Ryan.She gave me life.She gave me something I thought I would never have.That woman, my mate, my love, my pain, she was everything.

I looked down at Ryan who was now back to playing with his toy on the floor.I wanted to be there for him.I wanted to be the father he deserved.I wanted to watch him grow, teach him how to ride a bike, scold him when he breaks a vase, take him to school, help him with his homework, hold him when he's crying over his first heartbreak.I wanted to be there for all of it.

And I wanted her.

Even if she didn't love me back yet, I would love her enough for both of us.

My love was enough.

And leaving her wasn't a fucking option.Never was.and never will be.

CHAPTER 72

Killian's POV

Just as I stepped out of Ryan's room, my phone buzzed again, and this time it wasn't just a notification, it was a message from Logan, and all it said was: What the fuck did you do, Killian?!

I didn't even get the chance to reply before my phone started ringing.I answered, pressing the phone to my ear, already bracing myself.I barely got a word out while his voice came crashing through, loud and furious.

"What the fuck did you do, Killian?!You divorced her?!How?!Why?!And you didn't think to inform me or ANY of us first?!"

I rubbed a hand down my face, "Logan—"