Page 20 of Finding You
“Thanks for dinner. I’ll find my own way back to the B & B.”
Chapter Nine
Son of a…
Zion lunged out of his chair, barely keeping from knocking it over. He pulled his wallet from his pants pocket and took out a couple of large bills. So much for having leftovers as a midnight snack,but there was no time for food to be wrapped up. He tossed down more than enough cash to cover the meal and a generous tip before he chased after Raven.
He was a bastard. A jerk to the ninth degree for questioning the twin’s parentage—again. Especially in a restaurant full of people. What made it even worse was he didn’t miss the tears that had gathered in her pretty eyes.
What had he been thinking? No, scratch that, he knew what he’d been thinking—just maybe he wasn’t the father. The problem was, he let his wayward thoughts slide out of his big mouth.
Ignoring the attention they’d attracted, Zion darted out of the restaurant. He saw Raven get on the elevator, but the doors slid closed before he could get to her.
Dammit.
Thankfully, the second elevator’s doors slid open, and he got on along with several other people.
“Ground floor, please,” he said to the guy who was standing closest to the buttons as if he were the elevator operator. Zion prayed he’d get to Raven before she caught a ride. He was counting on her not knowing the building to slow her down.
After two, long, excruciating stops, the metal doors finally slid open on the ground floor, and he took off for the front of the hotel. When he rounded a corner, he saw her talking to the concierge.
“Raven!” he called out as he jogged toward her.
She and the hotel staff glanced up and looked at him, but then Raven went back to talking to the older man. The moment Zion reached her, he gently tugged on her elbow.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I was a jerk.”
“Yeah, you were.” Without another word, she eased out of his grasp and started to move toward the entrance, but he blocked her path. When she stepped to the left, Zion did too.
He lifted his hands out in front of him. “Please. Just hear me out and give me a chance to make this right.”
After a slight hesitation, she nodded.
He reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers, knowing it wasn’t a good idea to take such liberties, but he did anyway. He wanted to touch her, to have her close to him in any way possible. It blew his mind that even after all their time apart, there was still an electrical current that shot through him whenever he touched her.
That alone should be enough to make him think before speaking. He had to make this right since he had already decided, whether the twins were his or not, he wanted Raven in his life. But at the rate he was going, she might not want anything to do with him, and it would serve him right.
Zion guided her over to the large sitting area. There were people milling about, but there was a comfortable-looking sofatucked in the far corner that was available. When they reached it, he directed her to have a seat, and he sat next to her.
“I’m an asshole, and you have every right to be pissed at me.However, Raven, I had to ask the question, and if you were in my predicament, you would’ve too. I think it’s better to be upfront and honest about this situation than to have questions and concerns floating inside my mind and not saying anything.”
Raven sighed. “That might be true, but like I said last night, I get this is a shock to you. But it’s not just about you right now, Zion. This past year has been hard for me too, and I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your—”
“Stop. You haven’t ruined anything. It’s just taking some effort for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I might have children.”
She propped her elbow onto the arm of the sofa, then rubbed her forehead. “I know, and it was a fair question. Maximus and I broke up a year and a half ago, and even months before then, he and I hadn’t been intimate. There’s no way he’s the father of my children,” she said the last part with emphasis, and Zion didn’t comment.
Right now, they were her children, and he was glad she was acknowledging that instead of calling them his. If that made him a jerk, oh well. Until he got those results, he wasn’t going to assume anything.
“Why are you running from this guy?”
“I’m not run—”
“Let me rephrase my question,” he interrupted. “What happened between the two of you to make you want to leave Houston and move here? Has he hurt you?”
Zion braced himself for the answers, but if the guy had caused harm to her or the babies, he might hunt the creep down and—
“No,” she said quickly and shook her head. “He hasn’t physically hurt me, but he’s acting like we’re still a couple, and I don’t know what to do. How many times can you tell someone that you’re not interested? Or that you’ve moved on? Or that you don’t want him to stop by uninvited?
