Chapter Six

Tony. 

Tris slammed the door behind her and  I stood there, frozen. The air she’d left behind still buzzed with the scent of jasmine and adrenaline.  

Ethan was all I could think of, My son.  When I had an investigator look into her, I still wasn't sure she was the same wombat from years ago, I was not sure Ethan was mine, but now it was as clear as day by her reaction when I confronted her. She seemed scared, like she had seen a ghosts the moment I mentioned Ethan to her. 

I sank into the chair behind my desk like the wind had been knocked out of me. For four years, I’d thought of her maybe a dozen times, always with a hint of regret, always with a sense of unfinished business. But I’d never imagined she was out there raising our child.  She had been a virgin when I first met her, what are the chances she met someone else right after me and got pregnant. 

She never told me. Hell, I didn’t even know her last name back then.  Neither did she know mine. I never bothered to go after her that night, I mean what could I have said to her, she had met my wife, now ex wife and lala had made sure to scare her away, I never thought our paths would cross again, I hoped but that was all. 

But now, she was here. In my building. Applying for a job in my company, and I was engaged to someone else.  Someone new who is not even my ex wife. A lot can happen in four years. Clearly. 

Of all the women in Miami.  She had to be the one to walk into my office today. 

My phone buzzed. Claire. Again.  

I ignored it.  I was in no mood to deal with her right now. Claire was a diva through and through, she was good for my image, she knew my kind of work, and she looked good on my arm. But she wasn't the smartest cookie. But I didn't love her for her brains, I loved her for her looks and charm. 

Instead, I hit the intercom. “Maya, cancel my next two meetings.”  I said to my secretary who hesitated a little before speaking, "including lunch with the board VP?”  

“Yes.”  

I grabbed my keys and immediately run out. 

Something about the way Tris looked at me, like she was one second away from bolting permanently rattled me. I couldn’t let her disappear again. Not without answers.  

I didn’t even lock my office. I took the stairs down two at a time, ignoring the polished stares from staff.  

The lobby was nearly empty. Claire stood near the glass doors, scrolling on her phone, her platinum blonde hair like a beacon.  

But Tris wasn’t there.  She was already gone 

“Tony,” Claire said brightly, stepping toward me. “I tried calling, are we still on for lunch, I have been waiting and you know I don't like being kept waiting?”  

“I’ll call you later,” I muttered, already looking around. Nothing. No sign of Tris.  

“Excuse me?”  Claire went off, her voice high pitched, but I was not going to deal with that right now. 

“Not now, Claire.”  

She blinked, frowning. “Is this about that woman? The one who was just up there?”  

I turned sharply. “What do you mean?”  

Claire raised a perfectly sculpted brow. “You looked like you’d seen a ghost. Who is she?”  

“I said I’d call you later.”  

Her jaw tensed. “Fine.” She spun on her heel, heels tapping furiously as she walked out.  

I scanned the street through the glass doors. No sign of Tris.  

Damn it.  I had lost her. 

I pushed through the doors and jogged to the corner, looked both ways. I had no idea where she lived, no address, no phone number.  

Again.  

I cursed under my breath.  

I had a son.  

That thought kept hammering through me like a drumbeat. A four year old kid out there who might have my eyes, my name hell, my laugh and I didn’t even know he existed until five minutes ago.  

And now she was gone.  

My phone buzzed again. This time, I answered.  

“Maya?”  

“She left her résumé,” Maya said quickly. “You want it?”  

“Yes. Email it to me, Now.”  

I opened it as I walked back inside.  

Tris Callahan.

Finally. A name. An address.  

Pineview Apartments. Only three blocks away.  

I didn’t think. I moved for a few seconds before  I grabbed my car keys, but halfway through the parking garage I stopped. No too slow. She was on foot. I could beat her there.  

I broke into a run.  

Every step was a memory the way she laughed that night, how she’d fallen asleep with her head on my chest. The way she had flirted with me so naturally, the way her eyes sparkled under the dim lights. 

But all of that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now.  

I had a son. I had wanted to be a father for so long and it was finally happening. 

I reached Pineview in under ten minutes, my heart pounding, shirt sticking to my back. The building looked old but clean, two stories with sun bleached balconies and a broken buzzer system.  

I checked the address again. Unit 2B.  

I climbed the stairs, two at a time,i knocked on the door, but there was total silence, no one answered. 

I knocked again, harder.  

Still nothing, I was about to walk away, then I heard it.  

A soft voice inside. A child’s laugh.  

I backed away, breathing hard. What was I going to say to him? I hadn't thought this lk through. 

And then the door opened.  

Tris stood there, holding a small backpack, her face pale. Her eyes were red.  

Behind her, a little boy peeked around her leg. Dark brown eyes. A mess of wavy black hair.  

My knees almost buckled. It was like looking in a mirror, he looked exactly like I did when I was his age. 

He looked just like me.  

“Tony…” she whispered, she seemed scared. 

I stepped forward, voice shaking. “Is that—?”  

“Ethan,” she said. “This is Ethan.”  

The little boy looked up at me, curious. Then he smiled, he had his mother's smile, with dimples. 

And just as I was about to speak, 

A black SUV screeched to a stop behind me.  

Two men in suits got out, fast.  

One of them shouted, “Mr. Black, you need to come with us. Now.”  

"Why, what's going on?" I asked confused, 

“Something’s happened,” the man said. “It’s your brother. He’s missing.”