Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
HUNTER
“Hunter, why did you do it?” Dorothy’s gaze roams my face.
I furrow my forehead. “Help me out here. Do what?”
“Jonah told me about the legal contracts you have on file with Efron Worldwide pertaining to me getting fired and suing the company. Do you think I’m going to get fired?”
Damn, Jonah.
I glance over my shoulder at the door to give myself time to think. “We should go back inside and discuss this. It’s cold out here.”
“That’s fine, but answer me first. Did you put those documents in place because you think I’m going to lose my job?”
I step to her. “I put them in place because there’s more at stake than you know. It has nothing to do with believing that you’ll get fired. It’s a precaution. That’s it.”
“Hunter, promise me you don’t think my job is in jeopardy.”
“With five board members backing you, I don’t think we’ll have a problem changing your clause. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. ”
“Then why go to those extremes?”
I gesture to the door. “Let’s go inside and discuss this. It’s freezing, and I don’t want you to get sick. Besides, I have something I need to show you.”
As I say it, the wind picks up. I run my hands over her arms and then guide her inside. The warmth from the bustling crowd instantly blankets us.
“Come with me and I’ll explain everything.” I take her hand and lead her behind a curtain to an opera-style balcony that overlooks the dance floor of the event.
She steps in first and immediately goes to the edge. The venue is dimly lit, but we can clearly see the people below dancing in the warm orange glow.
My heart rate ticks up, but I stop to take her in. This could be the end for us, so I selfishly take my time.
I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. “It’s magical being in Paris with you while we bring in the New Year.”
She turns to face me, resting her palms on my chest. “It is, but before we do any more celebrating, please tell me everything. You said there’s more at stake, so don’t keep me in the dark.”
“My intention has always been to tell you everything. That’s why we’re here.” I take her hands in mine, the blood coursing wildly in my veins. “As much as I’d like to say you know everything about me, there’s more you need to know.”
“Is it about my contract?”
“No. It’s nothing like that.” I stare into her eyes as a few beats pass. “You know Ava was blackmailing me, but the embezzlement issue wasn’t the only thing she was holding over my head. That came after. What started it in the first place was something I did.”
“Is it worse?”
My stomach tightens .
“That’s up to you to determine. Come over here and I’ll show you.” I lead Dorothy to the edge of the balcony.
She looks up at me, tripping a little over her feet as she approaches the ledge. “You mean she’s been holding something over you and it’s here at this party?”
“It is.” I peek over the railing and stare at an area near the side of the room.
Dorothy’s eyes flit around the room until she follows my gaze. There’s a group of young teenage boys checking out a group of girls about their age.
A glamorous Helena approaches the boys. She addresses Jack. His back is to us, but he turns and comes into full view as she speaks. It takes Dorothy no less than five seconds to notice him.
My heavy stare goes to her. I offer a gentle, guilt-ridden sigh. “We need to talk about where this thing between us is going. I know how much Jamison hurt you by not telling you about his son.
“That brings me to what I need to share with you. I’ll understand if what you discover tonight ends it for us, but I want you to have all the information before you decide.”
I can see the information spinning in her mind, filling in the blanks: the teenage boy who resembles me, Jamison not telling her about his son, and being blackmailed by Ava since I was young.
Dorothy’s eyes close, and she shakes her head. She takes a moment of silence.
Her eyelids open and confusion sweeps over her expression. “Hunter, is that boy down there your son?”
“Let me explain. To answer your question, the kid you just saw is Gerald and Helena Dupree’s fourteen-year-old son. They’ve raised him all his life. I have no part of it and that’s by design. His name is Jack Dupree. And yes, by blood, he’s my son. ”
There’s a rustling behind the curtain. Gerald Dupree appears through a slip in the material. He dips his head at me and then addresses Dorothy.
“Good evening, Dori. It’s wonderful to see you again. I never expected this to happen, but when Patrick Efron approached me to get my support to change the clause in your contract so you and Hunter could explore a relationship, other issues needed to be addressed.”
He glances at me and then back at her. “Jack is my son. He’s a Dupree through and through. Hunter may have been the donor, but that’s the only thing that ties them together. Jack will never know he’s not technically a Dupree because, in the eyes of everyone involved, he is.”
Anxiety crawls through every cell in my body as my eyes dial in on hers. “You need to know he lives a great life with them. I was barely twenty years old when he was born. I’ve never been a part of his life and never will be.
“Gerald and Helena have raised him and done a wonderful job. I have no intentions of disrupting that, but you still have a right to know.”
She shuffles over to a bench positioned within the booth. “And everyone is okay with this setup?”
Gerald sits beside her. “More than okay. You see, Hunter didn’t know this until recently, but I’ve known for years. After Jack was born, Helena and I tried for another child.
“When it failed to happen, we went to a specialist where I discovered I was sterile. I had mumps as a young boy and that caused it. I knew Jack wasn’t my biological son as soon as I received the news.”
Dorothy shakes her head. “And that didn’t bother you?”
“Oh, it did. But truth be told, I had been a horrible husband to my wife during that time. I had multiple affairs and hurt her constantly.
“Hunter can tell you how it happened between them, but I no longer harbor any anger toward Helena or him. It’s in the past and we’re all at peace with it now. Oddly enough, I’m grateful their summer fling took place. I have a terrific son because of it.”
She glances at a terrified me and then faces Gerald. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because we’re all on good terms and we hope you can accept it as well.”
He smiles and stands. “I wanted to help Hunter calm your worries and help you see nothing is standing in the way of you two going forward if you can accept this. He has my support. Please excuse me now so I can get back to my wife. Hunter can fill in the rest.”
Gerald shakes my hand and wishes me good luck. The curtains rustle behind him as he slips away into the night.
Dorothy and I lock eyes. My hands sweat as my heart thuds.
She takes turns staring at the floor and sighing at the ceiling. I try to give her the time she needs, but I’m about ready to jump off the ledge if she doesn’t say something.
“Dorothy, please tell me what you’re thinking.”
“It’s a lot, Hunter. First, I find out about you signing over your life to protect me financially and now this. You have a son.”
“I have blood offspring. The Duprees have a son. There’s a big difference.”
She draws in a breath. “Why tell me this? I don’t understand.”
I kneel before her. “I’ve come to terms with why I never wanted kids—all my associations with what happened back then were painful and terrifying. I was barely a man trying to maneuver through something extremely difficult.
“I couldn’t turn to anyone. Because of that, I made choices that weren’t always the right ones. Those have tortured me throughout my lifetime, but I’m ready to let them stay in the past where they belong.”
“Do you regret not having a part of Jack’s life?”
“I regret the affair, but not giving him up. They’re a happy family. I have to believe there’s a reason it happened. From what Gerald says, that reason is so they could raise a child they love and have wanted from day one. It’s more than I could’ve given him, so I don’t regret not being in his life. He’s better off without me.”
She gets up and walks to the edge of the balcony. I join her at her side as we watch Jack run off with his friends. Helena glances up just as Gerald joins her and kisses her cheek.
She softly smiles our way and then hugs him as her eyes close. They hold their embrace and then go to mingle with some of their friends.
I didn’t know until I met with my dad to discuss Ava that Gerald knew about Jack. I wish he had said something long ago so we could have talked about it, but it wasn’t me he was concerned with. It was my dad and their relationship.
Gerald told my dad before I found out, explaining that it took him a while to forgive me fully and understand that it didn’t matter. All he cared about was that his family stayed intact and knowing I had no desire to change that.
Once that was clear and we promised never to acknowledge the relationship, we were able to move forward. Our family is indebted to him now, but it’s all worth it. I can finally breathe.
Dorothy faces me. “I have to say, Hunter. You really made a mess out of your personal life before you met me.”
“You don’t say,” I say dryly. “Because of you, I’m trying to clean it up. I understand if it’s too much, but?—”
She presses her finger against my lips. “Shhh. Don’t say anything. I don’t need the excuses. All I’ve ever needed is the truth and someone to trust me to handle it all .
“All my life, people have treated me like I don’t deserve to know all that’s going on. They’ve left me to make sense of it on my own without communicating with me. Do you know how confusing that is?”
Where is she going with this?
My heart hangs on the edge. “I can only imagine.”
“It’s like I’ve always known in my gut there’s more to what I’m being told. It’s why I don’t always trust my feelings. I think I’m making things up in my head, but now I know I’m not. I’m picking up on hidden facts I should’ve been trusted with from the start.”
“Yes, you should’ve been. I should’ve trusted you from the start.”
She skims right over my statement. “Aiden knows so much more than I do about my parents. Do you know I recently found out my mom’s brother and dad were best friends before my mom married him? My dad and he have been at war ever since and I never knew why. Don’t you think that’s something I should’ve known?”
Half of me wants her to hurry her along so she gets to the point. The other half is screaming for me to calm the fuck down.
I go with the latter. “If Aiden knew, then you had a right to as well.”
“And I should’ve known this about you from the start.”
I nod. “Like I said, I should’ve told you. But Dorothy, you have to understand something.”
She tilts her head. “What’s that, Hunter?”
“I trust you with everything. That’s why I told you now. You know everything there is to know. Nothing I did was right and I’m sorry. But I vow to trust you from here on out. Ask me anything and I’ll tell you the truth.”
She pins me with a smoke-screen-covered stare. “That’s why you put the legal documents in place. Because you trust me not to sue. If I trust you to take my contract to the board and things go against me, I’m set up for life. Any way it shakes out, I’m taken care of. Isn’t that right?”
I can’t read her, so I stand frozen.
What does she want me to say?
Listen to her, Hunter. She’s told you everything she needs to hear.
“Yes. The truth is, I don’t know for sure if things will go in your favor, but I think they will. If they don’t, I want you to get what you deserve, so that’s why I filed the documents.
“Loving me shouldn’t put you at risk. It’s my selfishness that wants you to do it, so it falls back on me. The risk is mine to take, but only if that’s what you want.”
A smile slowly spreads across her face. “The truth is all I want, for someone to believe in me and trust me enough to put me first. That they’ll come and talk to me about anything and everything. That’s the closeness I’ve always wanted. And do you want to know what’s crazy about this?”
I slide my hands in my pockets. “I guess so.”
“It took you less than a year to figure it out. Everyone else in my life still thinks I don’t deserve that. Not until I have to know because there’s no other way around it.”
“Even Melanie?”
Dorothy laughs like I should know better. “Don’t you see? That’s why she’s my best friend and I love her so much. She gives it to me front and center. Sometimes she even smears the goddamn truth pie in my face and I wouldn’t ask for it to be any different.”
I run my hand over the back of my neck. Just like so many times before, Dorothy’s confusing the fuck out of me. I can’t tell if she’s upset, relieved, or what.
“Beauty, what are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m trying to tell you that this—” She whirls her finger in a circle above her. “—is what you think is the grand gesture to prove you love me when all you needed to do was sit me down and share your life with me. All I want is for someone to love me enough that they trust me, are honest with me, put me first, and believe in me—in us.”
Our future rides on the next question, so I take a second to prepare myself for her to walk out of my life for good.
I reach out and hold the edge of the balcony for support. “And now that you know everything there is to know about me, where does that leave us?”