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Ella see the story in stride as if she knew all this already, but he had to tell her everything Things he knew even the press hadn’t gotten wind of "I may not have threatened her, but I was a total asshole to her I wanted her to hatea child withprick to Shelley" Those last words seethed through his teeth "So when Andy had someone call her anonymously and threaten to blackmail her, she went to the tabloids and sold her story"

Felix let out a sharp breath He hadn’t touched his dinner yet, and he was slowly losing his appetite, having to revisit this part of his life Again Ella waited quietly for hi went doith Gio and Bianca When all that happened, I was certain Bianca cheating on me was karma for all the bad I’d done, for the way I’d treated Shelley, and for the way I’d lived ized to Shelley I explained about not knowing she’d been threatened and that I’d be there for the baby if she decided to keep it I never asked her to recant her story I figured it didn’tme But she recanted on her own And she’d already decided she was keeping the baby

"The only thing I asked of her was that she please keep as low a profile as possible and not give interviews She was nancy back to her parent’s ranch in a small town in Nebraska I visited her often But I’d fly out to an airport hours away under an alias and drive there I went to most of her doctor appointments and listened to the baby’s heartbeat" He shook his head "I don’t know if it was the fact that she was having my baby and each tiet that much more excited Maybe it was just that she turned out to be a sweet girl after all, but reith each visit Each time I left to visit her I wasn’t just excited about the baby any tiot close to her due date, I checked us into a hotel near the hospital under fake na this part with conviction The only tione fro a shit what the public knew about hi complete anony any on his every word For a ht maybe he should’ve waited until after they’d eaten, but he was already this far into it, so he continued

"Everything was covered up We’d agreed early on our baby would not be subjected to the media circus and tabloids in any way Especially all the stuff surrounding Shelley’s pregnancy when the word first got out I’d spend every penny I had to make sure of that No one outside my family and closest friends would even know his name, and if I could keep the fact that I’d even had a child a secret until he was old enough to decide whether he wanted anyone to know, then I would That baby-- to protect him I loved him so much before he was even born"

He stopped to s hard He had to Ella glanced nervously at the sliding door that opened up to the room from which theabout the baby Obviously, Felix didn’t have a kid, so she already knew things hadn’t gone as planned His heart was already feeling that faed to drown out with drugs and alcohol The brutal hand he often felt squeezing his throat was there again This hy he hadn’t wanted to tell her sooner, not because he didn’t want her to know, but because he didn’t think he could tell her without falling apart, and he’d been right

Standing up suddenly, he saw her flinch "I need a second," heup his untouched plate "Just a second"

He rushed inside, feeling the agonizing fist at his throat continue to squeeze tighter with every breath and prayed she wouldn’t coether

Chapter 16

Ella

Minutes passed or it could’ve been seconds Ella wasn’t sure Time could’ve stood still for all she knew, but she sat there with her heart at her throat, afraid to rown men cry before Her father and her brother had both done so when herBut so so else in Felix’s voice and saw it in his eyes He was feeling so his son There was so deeper

She let a fewup her plate and half-elass of wine The steps she took into his house and toward the kitchen were slow and cautious He’d asked for tiiven it to hiht now he needed her

They were barely audible, but she heard the slowly She closed her eyes for athe corner into the kitchen He stopped when he saw her His pained eyes were still red and ers through his hair roughly but said nothing

Ella alass down then turned and took the few steps to hied her tightly She felt his body shake softly against hers