The Luna and her Quadruplet Pups by Jane Above Story

Chapter 52. Bargaining Ethan

I don’t care what Jane says, I know the pups are mine. She can lie until she’s blue in the face, but she

won’t convince me that she cheated on me with Eric. I know my ex-wife better than anyone else in the

world and no matter how miserable she may have been, she wouldn’t have broken her vows.

“Fine.” Jane snaps, not even pausing to think about my request. Shocked, I narrow my eyes at her. She

sounds completely confident and unconcerned at the prospect of having a paternity test conducted. In

fact, she seems actually eager to get it done. “When do you want to do it?”

For the first time, a seed of doubt settles in my stomach, making my insides churn and roil with unease.

“You’ll do it?” |

ask dumbly.

“Yes.” Jane confirms simply. “I’ll gladly give you a paternity test and when it comes back negative, I’m

taking my daugh

ter.”

Two things occur to me at once, first that she’s already forged one DNA test, so she might simply be

bluffing and as suming she can pull the same trick here. However the second is that if she really is

telling the truth, or if she somehow suc ceeds in faking a second test, she really will take Paisley from

me. The idea of losing my daughter doesn’t just make me feel nauseous, it stills the breath right out of

my lungs.

Whether or not she’s my blood, I’ve raised her from the day she was born. She is my daughter in every

way that mat ters, and she’s Jane’s own creation, a living embodiment of

0.000

the woman I love. Biology aside, Paisley is my everything.

“You can’t take Paisley.” I say in a voice like gravel. “I’m the only parent she’s ever known and she is

the only reason I sur vived losing you.”

“You lost me long before I faked my death, Ethan.” Jane professes somberly, “you lost me the day you

chose Eve over me.”

“I did no such thing!” | object ferociously.

“Of course you did!”. She exclaims, “You believed her lies, you let her schemes convince you I was a

monster!”

I can’t stop myself from reaching out and taking hold of Jane’s shoulders. This is the first time I’ve

heard her suggest things might have happened differently than I’ve always been told. Until I heard her

say this, I never realized how badly | wanted another explanation. I never wanted to believe Jane had

done what Mom and Eve said, but she never gave me any other choice. “Are you saying you didn’t

attack her?”

She sort of deflates, staring at the ground even as I duck my head to try and hold her gaze. “No.” Jane

murmurs after a moment. “I did. It happened exactly the way she always said.”

“Then how was it a scheme, baby?” | prompt, “what did you mean when you said that?”

Jane looks back up at me with wide eyes, exactly the same way she’d looked at me that horrible day

when I ordered her to tell me why she’d wanted to hurt Mom and Eve. It had been nearly impossible to

hold onto my anger then, and now her helplessness tugs at my heartstrings more than ever. “I can’t!”

She finally bursts out. “I can’t talk about it.”

“Why not?” I urge.

“I just can’t.” She sighs, burying her face in her hands, “It’s like I’m wearing an invisible gag tying my

tongue into knots every time I try to explain. I never defended myself because I couldn’t.”

“Okay,” I murmur, pulling her into my arms and feeling shocked when she actually lets me, “It’s okay.”

Rubbing her back, I explain. “I never understood that attack – not why the rogues went after Mom but

not you and Eve, or why you tried to stop Eve from helping her. Now that we know what Eve is capable

of… it seems much likelier that she planned the whole thing to break us up. Do you think she found

some way to spellbind you?”

Jane nods softly, melting further into my embrace and sending a tidal wave of guilt washing over me.

The realization that I punished Jane so ruthlessly for a crime she didn’t com mit slams into me like a

speeding train, and suddenly I can’t really blame her for hating me so much.

Jane mutters something against my chest, and when I pull away there are tears in her eyes. “Whether

or not I could speak, I deserved the benefit of the doubt, Ethan. I was your wife. You betrayed me, you

betrayed our vows by believing! was capable of such a thing.”

“I’m sorry.” I tell her honestly. “Truly, Jane – but please, don’t punish me by taking Paisley.”

“It’s not a punishment.” She responds, swiping at her cheeks. “It’s simply the way things are meant to

be. She isn’t yours, and while I appreciate everything you’ve done for her, meant what I said. I won’t

have her be raised by someone who

thought enslaving her mother was an appropriate punish ment. Even if I was guilty, what you did was

unforgivable.”

“Jane, I made a mistake!” I begin, knowing my actions were indefensible but unable to take them back.

“No, you made a million mistakes!” Jane responds, “You didn’t just do it once, you made the decision to

treat me that way every single day for more than a year, and you never even seemed to notice what it

was doing to me! You were actually surprised when I finally left you.”

“I thought you had accepted the punishment because you felt guilty for your actions!” | share, feeling

my leash on my temper slip away a little more with every word. “If you were that unhappy, why did you

stay as long as you did?”

“I didn’t know I could leave!” Jane hisses, “I didn’t know it was legal for an omega to request a divorce

until Linda was in law school and found the law in one of her textbooks.”

Breathing heavily, I rack my brain for some way to con vince Jane not to do this. If there really is a

chance that Pais ley isn’t mine, it’s becoming painfully obvious that Jane won’t hesitate to take her

away. When this conversation began, I thought she was angry with me. Certainly she was furious about

what happened between Paisley and Eve, but I as sumed the same emotion was motivating

everything. I as sumed she was angry about the past and taking it out on me. Now I’m beginning to

suspect a very different feeling is actu ally driving her.

“You’re afraid of me.” I say, speaking the words even as | realize the truth.

“Of course I’m afraid of you, ‘Ethan!” Jane replies, staring

at me as if I’m the biggest fool on the planet. “You broke my heart, you stole my freedom!”

As strange as it seems, hearing her confirm this actually gives me a fraction of hope. After all, she

wouldn’t be so afraid unless I still had the power to hurt her. A few minutes ago she was coming to

pieces in my arms, and if I hadn’t stopped kissing her to ask why she left, we’d probably be in bed right

now. This wasn’t even the first time she slipped up.

Jane is clearly still attracted to me, even though she’s en gaged to another man. In fact, the more time

we spend to gether, the more she softens. When we first ran into each oth er she wasn’t even willing to

let Paisley get near her, but in a matter of weeks she’s come full circle and admitted she’s her mother.

Just as I’m thinking it may have been a mistake to trade working with her for a few dates, a new idea

strikes me, one that would give me plenty of chances to break down the walls Jane has built around

herself. Maybe the solution to our cus tody problem isn’t a paternity test or any legal battle, but sim ply

more time.

“I’m sorry, Jane. That’s never what I wanted but I know that doesn’t make it okay. I can see how wrong

I’ve been, so I’ll make you another deal.” I offer, taking her hand and trying to look contrite. “I’ll let you

take Paisley with you when you leave after the fragrance launch.” Her eyes widen almost impercep

tibly, and I can feel her pulse racing beneath my fingertips. “But I think we need to give Paisley time to

adjust before we turn her life completely upside down.”

“Okay?” She says, nervously licking her lips.

“Move in with me, you and the other pups.” I suggest. “Live here with us so Paisley can get used to her

new way of life. Let her get to know her siblings and come to terms with the idea of leaving, so there

can be a smooth transition – for all of us.”

Jane stares at me, her lips still swollen from our kisses and parted in surprise. Of course, I have no

intention of letting Paisley go at the end of the agreement. If a few stolen mo ments are enough to get

Jane to forget herself enough to nearly sleep with me, a few months should be plenty of time to win her

back. “Well, what do you say?”