Nash pulled back, literally and figuratively, as he stepped around her and let out a sigh. “You know all you need to right now.”
Lily turned and followed him into the living room, refusing to accept his evasive tactics. “I know you grew up around horses and that you are close with your mother. That’s all.”
Across the room, Nash rested his hands on the mantel, his head dropped as tension crackled in the silence between them. Something weighed heavily on those wide shoulders of his, something he didn’t want her to know.
Was he worried she’d think less of him? Did he wonder how much he should share just because they had different pasts?
Dread settled deep in the pit of her stomach. Was he hiding something worse? Endless possibilities flooded her mind.
“Nash, I know you’re keeping something from me.” She eased farther into the room, skirting around the sofa and coming to stand just behind him. “You’re scaring me with the silence. It can’t be that bad, can it?”
She hoped not. Had her judgment been so off again? Please, no. Please let it be something that is in actuality very, very minor.
“You deserve the truth,” he muttered, still gripping onto the mantel so tightly his knuckles were white. “This is harder than I thought.”
Lily slid a hand over her stomach. What had she done? She stepped back until her hip hit the edge of the sofa arm. She gripped the back of the cushion for support.
What bomb was he about to drop and how would this affect the life of her and her child?
Nash turned, his eyes full of vulnerability and fear. Raking a hand through his hair, he met her gaze across the room.
“Damon Barrington is my father.”
Seven
She’d been played for a fool...again.
Her shaky legs threatened to give out. How could she be so foolish? Was she so blinded by men with pretty words and charming attitudes that she couldn’t pick out the liars?
Damon Barrington, billionaire horse racing icon, was Nash’s father? Her eyes sought his across the room. He hadn’t moved, had hardly blinked as he watched her to gauge her reaction. So many thoughts swirled around in her mind she didn’t know how she was supposed to react.
“You lied to me.”
That was the bottom line.
Oh, no. Nash’s father was a wealthy mogul and famous in his own right in the horse racing industry. How would the media spin this story once word got out who her baby’s father was?
The muscle in his jaw ticked as he crossed those muscular arms over his chest. “Yes, I lied.”
No defense? Was he just going to reveal that jaw-dropping fact and not elaborate?
Lily rubbed her forehead, hoping to chase away the impending headache. She wouldn’t beg him to let her in. He either wanted to tell her or he didn’t, but he better have a damn good reason for lying to her face.
“I honestly didn’t want to lie to you,” he defended, as if her silence had triggered him to speak up for himself.