“Gabe. It’s Gabe, right?” Nate’s voice was too strong, too loud in this empty space. I wanted to tell him to be quiet, to stop talking. His police negotiation tactics wouldn’t work right now. Not with Gabe. But he kept on speaking. “You’ve known Ben for a long time. Look at him. He’s losing a lot of blood. We need to get some help. Why don’t you just put down the gun? Everything’s going to be a lot worse for you if you hurt somebody.”

Gabe’s face hardened at the underlying threat.

“Gabe. Look at me. We need to think about Josh.” I took another step toward him.

Gabe’s eyes were hot on mine.

“Please.”

Finally he nodded. He dropped his hand abruptly, but turned to Nate. “I’m not doing this for you,” he said roughly. “I’m doing it for my son.”

Nate’s eyes flickered in confusion. My heart nearly stopped beating.

“No,” I whispered.

Nate looked between us. “Your s—?” He took a half step back, stumbling away from me. The betrayal on his face sent ice scattering across my spine. “Josh is…?”

“No!” I exclaimed. I reached for Nate’s hand. It was cold, limp in mine. He stared at my fingers as if he’d never seen them before. “No! Of course not. Josh is your son. You know that!”

“What the hell?” Gabe’s voice was a question. A warning. “What are you talking about? You said he was mine.”

I turned to Gabe and inhaled deeply. When I’d found out I was pregnant, my first thought was of Gabe. We’d slept together shortly before I met Nate, so I assumed it was Gabe’s baby. I didn’t want to deceive Nate, to move in with him, let alone marry him, if I was pregnant with another man’s baby. So I’d ordered a prenatal paternity test.

But even before the results came back saying Nate was the father, I knew what I was going to do. I had no intention of letting Gabe near my baby. I chose to marry Nate because he was a good, decent man. The kind of man who would always put his family first. I loved him in a way I’d never come close to loving Gabe.

“I’m so sorry, Gabe. I lied to you. I knew you would only help me if you thought Josh was yours.”

He stared at me, dumbfounded. “But the paternity test…”

“It matched Nate. I’m sorry.” I turned to Nate. “Gabe and I were together before I met you. I did a prenatal paternity test, and it matched you. I have it at home. It’s in the bottom of my jewelry box.”

Gabe’s mouth widened into a silent O. “You… lied… to me.” He rubbed a hand over his face, like he was trying to wake himself from a bad dream.