Hannah kept Anton’s gaze as he took her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. What could this possibly be about?

“Our night together was amazing,” he said.

She nodded in agreement. She hadn’t had a night like that in years.

“I know I’m not the man you need me to be.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but he stopped her.

“Hannah, my life has not been easy. I grew up poor and hated it. You know that. I always wanted to find a way out of that life. A way to make something of myself and do better. When my parents died, I thought my whole life was over. I had to move and leave you, live with some old man I’d never even met. It seemed like the worst possible scenario. But my grandfather wasn’t as bad as I thought. He taught me so much and trusted me with a lot. I moved up in the family business and now I’m going to be taking over soon. My dream. CEO of a successful company. My biggest dream comes true. And I make more money than I ever thought I would.”

“You’ve come a long way and made quite a life for yourself.”

“But it’s not the life I want,” he said. “I can’t tell you every detail about it, but I think you know that I’ve always been a little…”

“Dangerous?” It had been his reputation in high school and still was, according to the papers. There wasn’t much to find about him online, but everything tied to his name involved investigations and suspicions of murder or other crime. He had gotten himself into trouble plenty when they were teens, too. He must’ve found a way to make that profitable in his adult years.

“Uhh, yeah, I guess you could say that,” he continued. “It’s just that, I might not always be the most upstanding guy around.”

“You were and still are, the hottest bad boy around.”

He gave her a half smile. “Thanks. But this is the point. I haven’t always done things I can be proud of. I haven’t felt good, really good, about life or myself since the day I left you all those years ago. You were always on my mind over those years, but I didn’t realize until I saw you again just how much of an impact you had on me. You were my first love, Hannah. You were the woman who made me want to be a man. You were the reason I wanted to work so hard. So I could give you a nice life, the life you deserved. I wanted to become the man you needed in your life.”

She chuckled. “I don’t need a man in my life. I do fine being a single mom.”

“You’ve made a life for yourself, as well. I see that, and I’m happy that you have. I’m sure you’ve raised your daughter to be a wonderful person. But you had dreams, too. Hannah from high school wanted to have five kids and be a stay at home mom, cooking dinners and making school lunches, having an amazing husband come home and love you.”

“I was a lot different in high school.”

“Have your dreams changed that much? You don’t still want a family and a loving husband and a house full of kids?”

“Umm.” She chuckled again. “Definitely not five kids. That was my teenage brain just thinking life was easy and having kids would mean finger painting and bubble baths after playing outside with the dog all afternoon. Real life doesn’t work that way. Real life means working hard. And speaking of work, I have to get back. My break is almost over.”

Anton stood. “I don’t want you to be late.” He opened the car door for her and directed the driver where to go once they were inside.

She took his hand as they drove. “I’m sorry your life hasn’t turned out like you wanted it to. I don’t think anyone’s really does.”

“All I know is, when I’m with you, I want the same things. I want to be a good person and a dependable man. I want to be the man you dreamed of back then.”

“I don’t think that person exists.”

The look in his eyes was so pained that it sent a spark through her own heart. She’d given up so many dreams when she found out she was pregnant. College, a career, and even finding a husband and having a family. Those things didn’t happen as easily for someone who had a baby as a teenager.

“My point in telling you all this,” Anton said, “is that I said some things the other night that might not have been really true. I was upset and it was stupid of me to get petty, but I did. The truth is, I do want a family. I want to get married and have kids and be the husband who comes home to his family every night. I want all of that.”

“Thank you for sharing all this with me.” She turned to face him as the car stopped. “I have something I want to tell you, too. Why don’t you stop by my place tonight so we can talk? There’s something you should know.”

“Okay. Yes, I can do that.”

She smiled at him again before getting out of the car and hurrying inside. She was a few minutes late. Hopefully, no one would notice. And hopefully, she’d be able to concentrate after that conversation.

If Anton was having these thoughts, then maybe finding out he had a daughter would be a good thing. Even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t keep this secret any longer. It was affecting her sleep and starting to eat at her. It just wasn’t right that he didn’t know. Hopefully, he would do what he said he would. He would become the man she needed him to be, even if that was different than the picture she painted in high school. Now, she needed him to be a dependable father and co-parent. If he was coming into their lives, things would change.

He had confirmed one thing she suspected and feared. Whatever he did for a living, it wasn’t something spotless and clean. He was into some bad stuff somewhere. The business seemed legitimate from the outside. She’d done some searching about DeCalvo Shipping when she searched Anton’s name. They had a web site and boasted excellent customer service. There were business hours and phone numbers, and all the things you’d expect to find from a shipping company’s web site. She considered having something shipping through them to get a closer look, but they only dealt in large freight. Unless she was going to ship her old torn and stained couch, she had nothing that would be a viable transaction.

It made her nervous to think someone involved in questionable activities would be coming into her daughter’s life. If he were anyone else, it wouldn’t be happening. But despite his bad boy reputation, he’d always been good to Hannah. She’d never been afraid of him or anything like that. And he’d never shown any sign of being violent toward her. Something like that would have ended things between them for good long ago. But he had been kind to her. Mean to people who crossed him, sure, but kind to her.

The idea did occur to her that he might be very mad at her after what she told him tonight. Should she be afraid? Should she make a plan to protect herself? It seemed silly on one hand. This was Anton, who she’d known for so long. Who was the father of her child. But, this was Anton, who became very different if you got on his bad side. Would this be enough to put her on his bad side? She didn’t know, and the idea made her nervous.