Page 183 of Second Sets Omnibus

“Can we talk about this later when I’m not on my deathbed?” River rasps, squeezing her eyes shut with a pained expression crossing her features.

Although it’s the last thing I want to do right now, I give River the reprieve she needs. “Yeah, but we will talk about this. And the fact that Rad knew…”

“Yeah,” she says, heaving a breath and blowing it out between her lips.

Nervously, I rub my neck. “Do you need any water? I need to fill Rad in on what’s happening.”

River peeks an eye open, staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Um, sure. I don’t think I’ve moved for at least six hours. Thanks,” she says with reluctance, watching my every move like I might poison her water.

“Okay, no problem. I’ll get you some water, and… I’ll be right back, stay here,” I grunt, stumbling my way to my feet, nearly falling over. A tight smile crosses my lips when I give her a little wave before exiting the bathroom.

The awkwardness of the situation presses down on me and doesn’t leave until I walk out of the bathroom and down thehall. Running a hand through my hair, I halt in the living room doorway. My brows pull together at the sight of Asher, Callum, and Rad surrounding Lyric and cooing soft words into her ear. There’s a familiarity between them that pulls at my damn heartstrings, tugging me in so many damn directions. She’s mine. Yet, I don’t have that connection with her.

“Is she okay?” Rad asks, jumping to his feet with concern etched onto his face.

My eyes stare from him and Lyric to the rest of the guys sitting there, staring up at me with wide eyes. “Um, yeah, I think she has food poisoning. She’s stuck on the toilet and doesn’t look very good,” I say, scratching at the back of my neck. “But she’s definitely not dying,” I say confidently, locking eyes with Lyric, who sags with relief in Callum’s lap.

“My mommy is going to be okay?” she asks with a quivering lip—more moisture pools in her eyes, threatening to cascade down her cheeks again.

“Yeah,” I say, clearing my throat, not sounding as reassuring as I wanted. “She’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah, Little Pretty Girl. We’ll make sure that your mommy is all better. Sounds like she’s just got the flu,” Rad says, narrowing his eyes at me. What the hell did I do? Shit. I’m trying to make a difference.

Without another word, I walk into the kitchen and search through the cupboards for a glass with Ash on my ass.

“You good?” Asher asks with reluctance, rubbing his fingers over his stubbly jaw.

I grunt, grab a glass from the last cupboard, and slam it down onto the counter. “Define good,” I hiss through gritted teeth, filling up the glass. “How long?” Asher’s eyes fall to the ground, and he shakes his head.

“I only found out about a week ago.” He doesn’t elaborate more, but it pisses me off. Rage boils through my veins, and my fists clench at my sides.

“And you didn’t fucking tell me?” Stalking up to him, I grab him by the shirt and pull his face into mine, letting him see all the emotions bursting through the surface. “I have a fucking kid, Asher. And you didn’t think to tell me that you met her and that she existed?”

“You said you knew,” Asher says, aggressively growling in my face, pushing his forehead into mine. “I asked you if you knew River had a kid. And you said you fucking knew. How long, Kieran? How fucking long did you know?” he grunts back, pressing his face harder into mine.

I blink several times, going over our conversation in the limo. Yeah, I did know she had a kid. Gloria told me that she did, and she also fucking lied through the damn phone.

I grunt, pushing Asher away from me, and pace around the kitchen with my hands clenching at my sides. “Gloria called me. We had just moved into our first apartment together. She told me that River had come to her and told her that she was pregnant with Van’s baby.” I stare at Asher as the news computes in his mind, and he shakes his head.

“So, you had nothing to do with the restraining orders either?” Rad asks, strolling into the kitchen and giving me the death glare.

I recoil as if I was slapped, and my lips popped open. “Restraining orders? What the hell are you talking about?”

“No, I think that was all Gloria’s doing,” Asher surmises, darting his eyes around the room and avoiding our curious stares.

Confusion swirls around me as I fall back into the countertop. “Somebody better fucking explain what is going on. Before I lose my shit.”

“I think that’s a better conversation between you and River,” Callum mutters, shuffling into the kitchen and shaking his head.

My eyes drop to Lyric clinging to his hand as her wide eyes take every inch of me in, sizing me up. I swallow the hard lump forming in my throat. She’s a fucking mini version of River mixed with my features, too.

In my heart, I know there’s no denying who she belongs to. You take one look at her and you know without a doubt, without getting a DNA test, that she belongs to me. And because we walked away, we never got the chance to know her. I never got the chance to watch her walk or talk or crawl. Fuck.

“I’m going to take care of River,” I say softly, peering into Lyric’s eyes. “I’m going to take care of your mommy until she feels better, okay? And then maybe we can hang out?” I question, raising a brow when she slowly nods in agreement.

My heart seizes in my chest when she pulls away from Callum and slams into me, hugging my thigh. Her strong little grip clings on as she takes several deep breaths and finally peers up at me.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she says in a raspy, overused voice.