Cian and Aaron are both asleep when I open the bedroom door, their little bodies straddled across the beds, duvets hanging to the floor. Tiptoeing over to their bedsides, I pull the duvets over their innocent bodies, kissing them at the same time. Cian’s mouth is wide open, his breath puffing like the engine on his favourite toy. Aaron’s is closed in a smile. I put my face close to his and feel the heat of his soft breath caress my skin. My heart tugs watching my two boys sleep and I worry what all this could do to them. How they would feel if a stranger came to live in their house. Sit at their table when they’re having breakfast. Set up house in their playroom.

What we have is perfect compared to the pain and sadness I grew up with. I’ve spent far too long building this beautiful family, put up with all Tom’s mistakes, put my own dreams on the back burner. Making sure the kids have everything they need. No one is going to destroy that. I kiss Aaron one last time and whisper that I will take care of him and his brother.

Chapter Seventeen

‘How did he contact you?’

Tom jumps with fright when I walk into the room. He must be so on edge. Anxiety, Tom, welcome to my world. Stirring milk into his coffee before turning around he takes the mug and moves away from the counter.

‘Sal, it was earlier in the year, I’m sorry, I just… like I told you, I only got the DNA results two months ago, so technically I’ve only known for sure since then.’ My God, bullshit knows no boundaries when it’s oozing from Tom’s lips.

‘I know he rang you at Easter. I remember the call coming in from Kenny’s Golf Supplies when we were sitting having dinner. How did he first contact you? Was it her, the mother? The woman you said you never spoke to since the night you had sex with her. Did you even know her name, Tom?’

He shakes his head.

‘Well, how did he track you down?’

‘I don’t know, I never asked him, it was all such a shock.’ He sits down at the table, nodding his head at the chair by my side, inviting me to sit. I don’t.

‘It was the boy himself who made contact. He made an appointment to see me in work, said he wanted to talk about insurance.’

‘A kid?’

‘I didn’t know how young he was, Sally, not until he arrived. It was arranged through the company’s contact email.’

‘Where did you meet him?’

‘He came into the office… I thought it was just a regular enquiry until I saw him.’

‘How did you react?’