Chapter 24
Marco
I feel Erica stir as she lies in bed next to me, her hair splayed out over my bare chest. I run my fingers through it gently and smile to myself.
We’ve been here before, except last time our morning together ended abruptly.
I don’t plan on that happening again, so I settle in beside her, feeling her naked body against me as I watch the sky start to change from black to a dark purple in the early morning hour.
I lean in and press my lips to her neck.
She lets out a soft whimper, and I realize she’s still sleeping.
My eyes feel heavy and falling asleep again sounds good after our night together.
I don’t think we fell asleep until an hour ago.
I close my eyes and wrap my arms around her, my breath falling in sync with hers as I fall asleep.
A few hours later, the sun is high in the sky, pouring its warm light over my room. I never shut the shades last night as we took our fun from the living room to my bed. It’s no matter though. It’s nearly noon. Clearly, even the sun couldn’t wake us until now.
Erica’s eyes flutter open and find mine. She gives me a sleepy smile and I pull her in for a kiss.
“Good morning,” she whispers.
“Good afternoon,” I correct her.
“Is it really?” she asks in surprise.
“It’s almost twelve.”
“Oh, my gosh,” she says, a slight panic to her voice as she sits up quickly.
“Have somewhere to be?” I ask, raising a brow.
Her face softens and she shakes her head, settling back under the sheets beside me.
“No, I’m just surprised that’s all,” she murmurs.
“I’m not. With the moves you were pulling last night, I think I could have slept until six.”
“Marco!” She gives me a playful shove and my eyes wander down her naked body. Her tan skin is aching to be touched. I’m ready for a fifth serving. I smile greedily at her, my eyes glued to her.
“Oh, no you don’t.” She giggles, reading my mind as she grabs the sheets and covers herself.
“What? I can’t help it.” I shrug, kissing her again.
I hear her stomach grumble and mine answers back.
“Seems we’ve worked up quite the appetite.” I chuckle.
“I wonder why…” she says with a coy smile across those perfect lips.
“Why don’t we get lunch?” I suggest. “I know a great spot just around the corner.”
“Okay,” she says, somewhat hesitantly. I catch her looking at the clock on my nightstand. She seems like she does have somewhere to be. “Let me shower first?”
“Sure. Do you know where—”
“I know from last time.” She gives a single nod.
Last time. When I left her in this very bed. It feels completely crazy that we slept together over a year ago and I’ve been wanting to do it again all this time. It’s so not like me to pine over a woman like this. It had been well worth the wait, though.
I know that as I watch her roll out of bed, the sheets slipping off her as she walks completely naked to my master bathroom.
My eyes follow the curves of her body that glow underneath the sunlight before she disappears from sight.
She’s so confident in the way she walks, I almost wonder if it’s an invitation.
I hear the water start to run, and debate if I should join her, but my body is wrecked.
From sex on the couch, to the sex in the kitchen, where we enjoyed a bottle of champagne, to the hallway on the way to the bedroom, to my actual bed.
It’s a wonder I’m even awake right now or able to move.
It’s like we couldn’t get enough of each other, our hands asking for more and our lips greedy.
I smile to myself as I think about our night. It was definitely well worth the wait.
I stretch my arms above my head and my knuckles graze the headboard.
I let out a satisfied sigh as my body gets little relief.
I hear Erica’s phone vibrate on the opposite nightstand as mine, the glow of the screen catching my eye.
I’m usually not one to pry, but the text alert catches my eye.
I roll over and look at the screen more closely to see a text notification from someone named Sadie.
I know I shouldn’t read it, but something pulls me to.
Sadie: Hi! Hope you had a good night. Just checking in. Josie just went down for a nap. Your little girl sure loves to sleep! Text me to know you’re alive, please ?
Her little girl? Josie? I furrow my brow as I read the text again before the screen dims to darkness again.
I glance over my shoulder at the bathroom.
I hear the shower still running and Erica humming a familiar tune.
I roll back over and tap the screen of her phone, bringing it life again.
Behind the text notification box, I see the corners of a picture.
My nerves are making me jittery, as I wonder what I’m about to find.
I hesitate before swiping the text away from my thumb, leaving me face to face with a photo of Erica and a baby.
I jerk my head back in confusion. I shake my head, trying to put my intruding thoughts out of my head.
There’s no way she’s a mom. She’s never mentioned having a baby.
In fact, no one at the office has ever mentioned it either.
Maybe it’s her friend’s baby? Or her niece?
Still, as I look more at the picture of this baby nuzzled up on Erica’s chest, I’m starting to wonder if she’s been keeping her baby a secret.
I scratch my head, wondering why her being a mother would be something she would be so secretive about.
It does come as a shock to me, but it doesn’t make me see her any different.
Still, I wonder who the father is. She must have had the baby in the time we’ve known each other.
I look at the picture again, as if I know anything about babies to try to estimate an age.
The baby is smiling up at the camera with a toothless smile, while Erica plants a kiss atop her dark hair.
My eyes are drawn to the baby’s eyes though.
They’re a rich brown in the shape of almonds as they stare back at me through long, dark lashes.
I feel like I’m looking at my own eyes in a mirror.
Then there’s her nose and her cheekbones.
I suck in a breath, dropping the phone down on the nightstand in a clatter.
It’s not possible. I run a shaky hand through my hair as I look back to the photo lit up on the screen.
The resemblance is undeniable. But it doesn’t make sense.
Erica would have told me. Wouldn’t she? Plus, I thought she had told me she was on the pill before we did anything that night.
I’ve heard of it not always having a perfect success rate, but this just seems too crazy a possibility.
I take a deep breath before picking up the phone again to look again.
It hits me that the baby is mine, and I’ve had no idea this entire time that I’m a father.
“I’m starved! You said that place is around the corner?” asks Erica, walking into the room wrapped in a towel as she dries her hair. She stops in her tracks as soon as she sees me on her side of the bed, clutching her phone in my hands. Her mouth falls open, but nothing comes out.
“What is this?” I ask, holding up her phone.
She stays quiet as her eyes go from me to the phone lit up in my hands, the photo of her and the baby peeping out from under my fingers.
“What is this?” I ask again, my voice rising.
“Why do you have my phone?” she asks, keeping her voice steady, but I can hear the shakiness trying to break through.
“Because someone texted you while you were in the shower. By the way, Josie is down for a nap, just in case you were wondering.”
Erica sucks in a sharp breath and walks swiftly toward me.
“Please, let me explain…” she says, reaching her side of the bed and grabbing for her phone, but I hold on to it tightly.
I want an explanation. I deserve one.
“Marco!” she says, as I pull it out of her reach.
“You didn’t answer my question…What. Is. This?” I ask, pointing at the photo.
Erica lets out a sigh before dropping her head and looking at the wooden floor underneath her bare feet. She shifts back and forth on her feet nervously.
“That’s my daughter,” she murmurs.
“And why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“Because I hardly know you!” she says, throwing up her hands.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You know me enough to sleep with me,” I say sarcastically.
She doesn’t say anything.
“But no one seems to know. Why is that?” I ask sharply.
“I don’t know. It’s no one’s business.” She shrugs, her damp shoulders pulling away from the towel that encases her. She’s still avoiding looking at me.
“Or maybe there’s a reason you were trying to hide her from everyone. More importantly, me …”
She stays quiet, clutching her towel at her chest.
“Because she’s mine,” I say.
Erica slowly looks up at me, her eyes rimmed with tears. I can see she’s scared out of her mind, her fear escaping her through salty tears.
“Isn’t she?” I ask in almost a whisper.
Her silence is all the answer I need. The baby on her phone is mine.
“Get out,” I say slowly.
“Wh-what?”
“Get. Out.”
“Marco, please…”
I look at the phone in my hand, getting one last look at the picture of my baby before tossing her phone back at her. She fumbles to catch it, missing, before it falls to the floor with a thud. She scrambles to her knees to pick it up, still clutching the towel.
“Get dressed. Get your things and get out.”
She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face and I try to fight the part of me that feels bad for her.
It’s not hard because I’m so angry at her right now.
I realize I don’t know the woman looking back at me at all.
I thought I did. I even thought there was a chance I was falling for her.
But now, all I see when I look at her is the secret she’s been hiding from me for months and months.
If I hadn’t seen Erica’s phone this morning, would she ever tell me?
I get the feeling she never would have. And why not?
I don’t know the reason, but there’s not a good enough one to hold this information from me.
I feel like my life has changed in a matter of minutes, and I’m trying to grasp at anything that feels solid.
Erica is still on the floor, her knees pressing into the hardwood as she looks up at me pleadingly. I can’t even look at her. And I don’t. I look out the window at the city outside.
“Please leave,” I whisper.
She pulls herself from the floor and walks out of the room, quiet sobs escaping her.
I hear her rustling in the living room, probably picking up her clothes from last night to get dressed.
A few moments later, I hear the front door click closed, and I know I’m alone now.
A scary place to be when your head is swarming with thoughts, your heart with emotions.
I’m a father. To a little girl named Josie. And I just kicked her mother out of my penthouse.