“He already knows you.”
“I hope so.”
“He does.”
The certainty in her voice almost broke him.
David lowered himself into the chair beside her bed, Liam still drinking in his arms.
“I should have been here,” he said.
Maya’s gaze dropped to the blanket.
“We’ve already talked about that.”
“No. We talked about what my mother did. We haven’t talked about what I did.”
“You were working.”
“I chose to go.”
“You went because the project mattered.”
“I went because I thought providing money was the same as being present.”
Maya looked at him.
David kept his eyes on Liam.
“I told myself the trip was for us,” he continued. “For the apartment. For his future. But part of me also liked being needed by everyone. My mother. Chloe. Mark. Even people at work. It made me feel important.”
“You are important.”
“That’s not the same as being needed.”
Liam’s hand curled around David’s finger.
David swallowed.
“I don’t want him to grow up watching me confuse the two.”
Maya was silent for a moment.
Then she reached across the space between them and placed her hand over his.
“You came home,” she said.
“It was almost too late.”
“But it wasn’t.”
David looked at her.
For the first time that night, there was no fear in Maya’s expression. Only exhaustion, hurt, and something cautious but still alive between them.
Trust had not returned.
But perhaps it had not completely left.
A knock sounded at the door.
Daniel stepped inside carrying a laptop bag, a paper cup of coffee, and an expression that told David he had not slept.
“You look terrible,” David said.
“So do you.”
Daniel pulled the visitor chair closer.
“I spoke to a private investigator I’ve worked with before,” he said. “I also contacted the insurance company again. They won’t release everything without formal authorization, but I learned a few things.”
Maya adjusted her pillow.
“About Marisol?”
“About Marisol, Samuel Reeves, and David’s father.”
Daniel opened his laptop.
“Hudson Family Consulting was registered by Samuel Reeves, but the company hasn’t reported any normal business activity. It appears to exist mainly to receive money.”
“From my mother and from Maya,” David said.
“Yes. And probably from other people.”
Maya’s face tightened.
“Do you think my mother is involved?”
“I don’t know,” Daniel replied. “But based on what she said during the call, she may be a victim too.”
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