Page 66 of Promised to the Cowboy

He crouches in front of me now, one knee on the floor. His eyes search my face. “Talk to me.”

I shake my head. “I-I can’t.”

“You can.” His voice is so calm. So certain. Like nothing I could possibly say would make him let go of me.

He thinks it’s the pregnancy. Morning sickness.

God, I wish it was.

He brushes a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Is something hurting?”

“Yes.” The answer breaks on the way out.

His expression changes immediately. “Where?”

I close my eyes. “My whole life.”

Silence.

He waits. He always waits.

I don’t know how long we stay there.

Seconds.

Minutes.

Long enough for the tears to start falling. When I finally look at him, I can barely see through them.

“Ethan said the FBI knew who Vance was working for.”

Gabriel’s face tightens. “Yeah.”

I swallow. The words stick in my throat like broken glass. “The man he worked for…”

My voice disappears.

Gabriel reaches for my hand. “Evie?”

I squeeze my eyes shut.

When I force them open again, there’s no denying the truth. “Alexander Voss”—my breath catches—“is my father.”

Chapter 17

Gabriel

For a heartbeat, I don’t understand the words.

Then they rearrange themselves, punching the air out of my lungs.

Alexander Voss... is my father.

Everything inside me goes still.

Voss.

The man who’s spent years trying to tear my family apart. The man whose company poisoned Kitty. Whose people nearly burned Luna alive. Who forged my name onto documents and nearly convinced the people I loved that I’d betrayed them.