Chapter 7 The Price Of Silence

PRISCILLA'S POV

Brent opens the door to a room and I enter, the sense of foreboding not leaving my chest. I take a deep breath and look around the room trying to ground myself and realize that this giant room that could pass as a suite is a bar???

I follow Brent with my eyes as he takes a seat at the bar table and opens a bottle of wine. I take another deep breath since the previous one didn't do anything and go and meet him, the bottle of wine bringing unwanted memories to my mind. We had met for the first time at a bar and after that, everything had gone downhill seemingly. I couldn't believe he would think us taking alcohol right now could even be considered.

"I'm not drinking with you." I called harshly and sat down. The earlier we talked, the earlier I could go and meet my babies.

Brent glanced at me emotionlessly. "There's no alcohol in this wine and I remember you don't like drinking soda when it's late."

I scoffed internally. That was years ago. While struggling to make something of myself to take care of my babies, those things I'd considered unhealthy when there was someone to share the burden with me had been put on the back burner. Anything to keep me awake and soda, energy drinks as well as coffee had done the job.

He poured wine into two glasses and placed mine close to me. I took it without a word and gulped it down. I wasn't in the mood to waste time. "You wanted to see me." I asked.

Brent took a sip of his wine and turned to me. "Yeah. It's been years. How have you been?"

"As fine as I could be given the money I had when I sold my entire shares to you." I replied, sarcasm coating my words.

He narrowed his eyes and I could see his jaw clenching. "Wouldn't you say I was being generous considering the fact that I caught you cheating?" He threw back, anger palpable in his voice and I sighed. He still believed that crap. He still believed his ex over me and I wasn't going to try to change his mind. He hasn't been ready to listen to me then and I doubted that would have changed now. If only he told me what this meeting was about since we hadn't exactly parted on good terms.

He gulped the wine in his glass and filled the glass. "How about your kids? Will they be okay by themselves?" He asked and my heart stopped beating for a moment.

"Yes. They will be fine." I found myself turning red as he studied my facial expression. "What is it?" I asked in an attempt to distract him.

"How old are they?"

"What?" I asked, feigning ignorance and the familiar tick in his throat started again. It mainly came out when he was furious about something.

"Don't play dumb with me." He warned in a soft voice. "How old are the kids?"

I could feel my hands beginning to sweat. "They turned five this summer." I answered softly and I could see him do the calculation in his head.

His Adam apple bobbed and his hands tightened into a fist sending my heart into overdrive. "When did you realize?"

I shrugged, ignoring the memories of how happy I had been and how wrong that night had gone that were plaguing me. "The day you served me the divorce papers."

His eyes reddened. "Why didn't you tell me? How am I sure they are mine?"

I stood up, fire in my eyes. "Good question. Why am I being interrogated if you're not sure. I'm willing to do a DNA test so you can be sure and when exactly was I meant to tell you I was pregnant? Before signing the papers or while you were accusing me of infidelity?"

He stood up, the stool falling down with speed at which he shot up. "What are you talking about? I saw the pictures. You should be apologizing to me right now. Do you have any idea what length I can take to make you regret your decision?"

My fingers tightened in a fist. "What do you mean you'll make me regret? I'm their mother and you're the one that quickly believed the lies of your ex girlfriend over me. What was I supposed to do?" I added, my voice filled with contempt.

Brent laughed. Both our eyes were shooting liquid fire at each other, fury blanketing our gaze. "Looks like you've forgotten something important in the years you've been gone. I have more influence than you can ever imagine. If you didn't have to come here, I wouldn't have known about the kids. Once I let the appropriate people know that, I can assure you that custody of the kids will become a memory."

I slumped back into my seat, my heart thumping at the seriousness in his voice. My babies. I couldn't let them be taken away from me. "Please… please. I'll do anything."

Every thought of how unfair it had been to not have been heard even though we had claimed to love each other left my head. I knew what he could do and if he was determined to take my kids away from me, I knew there was no way I was going to win that fight.

Brent was still staring at me with fury. "You've had them all those years. Isn't it fair that I have them too? At least now, you'll be aware of their existence." His eyes were drilling holes in my face.

I hid my shaking hands. "What can I do? Fine, I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have kept their existence from you and that was an asshole move. I'm so sorry. Please, I'll do anything. Just don't take my children away from me." I kept quiet before my shaky voice put me in even more trouble.

Brent seemed to mule it over as he paced the room and after a minute, he spoke. "Move back into the country. I also need to spend time with my kids."