I flinch as the images haunting my nightmares flow behind my eyes. As I relive what those drunken soldiers did to her all those many years ago.

“There wasn’t any testing done? How do you know you’re even my father?” I can’t believe this question is being asked.

“I know it. You know it, too. Everyone always said how much you looked like Ken, but I know it’s my blood that runs through your veins. The timeline doesn’t add up for him to be your father. There is no way that she was pregnant by him.”

I focus on the trees outside, and my phone starts to buzz again. “Why now? Why are you telling me this now?” I ask, my voice rising, my barely existent patience evaporating.

“Because your mum has grown paranoid. Ken mentioned something to me two weeks ago, asking you to get some blood testing done to help Karen, and I brought it up to your mum—”

“Testing for what? What does Karen have to do with any of this?”

Vance glances down at my leg, then at his own cell phone resting on the middle console. “You should answer that. Kimberly is calling me as well.”

But I shake my head. I’ll call Tessa as soon as I’m out of this car.

“I really am sorry for all of this. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, going to her house last night. She called me, and I just . . . I don’t know. Kimberly is to be my wife. I love her more than anything—even more than I ever loved your mum. It’s a different type of love; it’s reciprocated, and she is everything to me. I made a huge mistake seeing your mum again, and I will spend my life making up for that. I won’t be surprised if Kim leaves me.”

Oh, spare me the sad-sack act. “Yeah, Captain Obvious. You probably shouldn’t have been trying to fuck my mum on the counter.”

He glares at me. “She sounded panicked and she said she wanted to make sure her past was in the past before her wedding, and I’m a poster boy for terrible decisions.” He taps his fingers on the steering wheel, shame clear in his voice.

“So am I,” I mumble to myself, and reach for the door handle.

He reaches for my arm. “Hardin.”

“Don’t.” I pull my arm away and get out of the car. I need time to process all of this shit. I’ve just been bombarded with too many answers to questions I never even knew to ask. I need to breathe, I need to calm down, I need to get away from him and get to my girl, my salvation.

“I need you to get away from me. We both know that,” I tell him when he doesn’t move his car. He stares at me momentarily, then nods, leaving me on the street.

I look around the street and notice a familiar storefront halfway down the block, meaning I’m only blocks from my mum’s house. My blood is pounding behind my ears as I reach into my pocket to call Tess. I need to hear her voice, I need her to bring me back to reality.

As I watch the building, waiting for her to answer, my demons battle inside me, pulling me into the comfortable darkness. The pull is stronger and deeper with each unanswered ring, and soon I find my feet carrying me across the street.

Pushing my phone back into my pocket, I open the door and walk into the familiar scenery of my past.

Chapter three

TESSA

Broken glass crunches under my feet as I shift side to side, waiting patiently. Or as close to patiently as I can manage.

At last, when Mike is done talking to the police, I go up to him. “Where is he?” I ask, and not nicely.

“He left with Christian Vance.” Mike’s eyes are void of all emotion. His look makes me calm down a bit, recognize that this isn’t his fault. This is his wedding day, and it’s been ruined.

I look around at the broken wood and ignore the whispers coming from the nosy onlookers. My stomach is in knots, and I try to hold myself together. “Where did they go?”

“I don’t know.” He buries his head in his hands.

Kimberly taps my shoulder. “Look, when the police are done with those guys, if we stick around, they might want to talk to you, too.”

I glance back and forth between the door and Mike. I nod, then follow Kimberly outside to prevent drawing any of the cops’ attention to me.

“Can you try Christian again? I’m sorry, I just need to talk to Hardin.” I shiver in the chill air.

“I’ll try again,” she promises, and we walk across the parking lot to her rental car.

A slow, sinking feeling sets in my stomach as I watch yet another police officer enter the swanky bar. I’m terrified for Hardin, not because of the police, but because I’m afraid of how he will handle all this when he’s alone with Christian.

I see Smith sitting quietly in the backseat of the car and lean my elbows onto the trunk and close my eyes.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Kimberly shouts, breaking me out of my thoughts. “We’ll find him!” she snaps and ends the call.

“What’s happening?” My heart is pounding so loud that I’m afraid I won’t hear her answer.

“Hardin got out of the car and Christian lost track of him.” She gathers her hair and pulls it into a ponytail. “It’s almost time for that damn wedding,” she says, looking toward the door of the bar where Mike stands, alone.

“This is a disaster,” I groan, sending a silent prayer that Hardin is on his way back here.

I grab my phone again, and some of the panic decreases when I see his name on the missed-call list. With shaking hands, I dial him back and wait. And wait. And get no answer. I call back again and again, only to get his voicemail each time.