Harley (West Coast Rock Star #1)(68)

 

There was a small smile at the corner of his lips. "She said that the only way she'd agree to chemo and radiation is if I go and see you. At first I thought she was ridiculous. I even got angry at her." His frustration rolled off his skin. "I thought about it. And … I suppose that's why I'm here."

 

Cade squeezed his shoulder. "It's nice to see you, Mac. I wish it were in different circumstances. I'd like to visit her when I return to Vancouver."

 

Mac nodded. "She'd like that."

 

He worked his jaw with his hand while he contemplated what he wanted to say next. Most of Cade's interactions with Mac had been about work. No matter how much she'd tried before to ease him into a more personal topic, he'd either wave her away or change the topic. She thought she'd try his tactic.

 

"Gram seems to enjoy having you here," Cade said, leaning back on the chair. Not knowing what else to do, she reached for the coffee. She had plenty of questions for him but Irene's condition weighed heavily on him, that much was obvious. No one could ever say that Mac didn't love his wife. They'd been married for years yet they'd always been cozy during any events they had attended together.

 

After another sip of his coffee, Mac nodded again, and then shook his head, hanging it over his cup. "I should have been there for you."

 

Cade leaned forward, unsure of what she had just heard. "What do you mean?"

 

Eyes lowered, he turned to Cade, and he only lifted his eyes to look at her once he was ready to speak. "I made a promise … " Mac swallowed the lump in his throat.

 

"Your father and I were close. We were like brothers. We would have stayed that way if I didn't-" His brows drew together. "-if I didn't have an affair with your mother."

 

Cade's hand flew to her mouth. Her shock and anxiety grew fierce and choked her, rendering her speechless. All she could do was stare.

 

Mac continued, shaking his head. "I was separated from Irene at the time and stayed with your parents for a while. It wasn't good between them and my presence brought the worst out of your father. I didn't understand it, why he was angry with your mother all the time, but later on we figured it was PTSD. I suppose she wanted to get out of the relationship too. The stress on her was too much. Our connection came as a surprise to me and your … to Mila. We didn't think we were doing anything wrong at the time."

 

Cade couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had known something might have happened in the past but not to this extent. "An affair? But my parents seemed fine. And you and Irene?"

 

"One day she called me and told me she was pregnant." Mac ran a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the memories of his infidelity. "I returned to her, of course, but I broke your mother's heart in the process. We had fallen in love in that short time. I still love her very much now. Irene lost our baby soon after I came back. Mila stayed with your father, then after a while, she found out that she was also carrying a child."

 

Cade held on to the edge of her seat. Was this the moment she'd find out the truth? Who was her real father?

 

"Mac, I need to know. Are you-" Tears welled up in her eyes.

 

"I wasn't certain," Mac answered right away, "There was a big possibility. I severed all communications with your parents for the sake of my own marriage. I didn't find out about you until your grandmother called to tell me about your father's passing. Then you showed up at my doorstep." For a man who always had such a huge presence, Mac seemed so small at the moment. "I'm not ashamed to say that I had a background check done on you. I do it for every employee."

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"I wouldn't have expected anything less," Cade said while she stared at her feet. "I suppose you didn't find anything incriminating on me."

 

Mac shook his head, and then he produced an envelope from his jacket pocket. He placed it in front of Cade. "I didn't know if your father ever found out about the affair, but from what your grandmother told me, he had been terrible to you. She couldn't understand why your mother stayed with him despite her urging."

 

"She stayed for me." Cade didn't know if he had heard her, so she repeated it, "My mother stayed with him for me. I think deep inside she had hoped he would learn to love me. My father loved her, that much I was sure of, but he was a terrifying man. It was like living with a time bomb."

 

Mac pushed the envelope toward her again. "This should give us answers."