Sixty Days In The Billionaire's Arms

Chapter 10

Nate’s Pov

Serena’s face went white as she read the message over my shoulder. Her hand slipped from mine, and she backed up a step like the words had burned her. “Robert isn’t my real father?” she whispered. “That can’t be right. Diana’s lying. She has to be.”

I pulled her back to me fast, wrapping my arms around her like I could hold her together. She felt small, trembling against my chest, and it killed me. Ten years I’d waited for her, and now this poison from my past was trying to rip her world apart. “We don’t know anything yet,” I said, keeping my voice steady even though my gut was twisting. “Diana lies when it suits her. This could be another play to break us.”

Serena pulled back just enough to look up at me. Her green eyes were shiny with tears she was fighting hard not to let fall. “But what if it’s true? My dad—Robert—has been my whole life. The pancakes, the bedtime stories, holding me when Mom died. If he’s not… who am I, Nate?”

“You’re Serena,” I said firmly. I cupped her face with both hands, thumbs brushing her cheeks. “The girl who jumped into stormy water for a stranger. The one who works two jobs and loves her family more than herself. Nothing changes that. Not a letter, not Diana, not anything.”

She leaned into my touch, closing her eyes for a second. “You keep saying that. Like you really believe we can face all this and still be okay. I want to believe it too. Last night, falling asleep on the couch with you… it felt like the start of something good. Now this.”

I kissed her forehead, then her lips, soft and quick. She kissed me back, desperate, like she needed to feel something real in all the chaos. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead on hers. “It is something good. The contract’s done. Debt gone. This us? It’s ours now. I’m not walking away because of some old secret my ex dug up to hurt me.”

We sat on the couch again, her curled into my side with my arm around her shoulders. I called Marcus on speaker so she could hear. “Handle the press on the embezzlement. Buy us a few hours. And look into any connection between the Voss and Calloway families from decades ago. Quietly.”

Marcus whistled low. “Diana’s going nuclear. You sure about this girl, Nate? She’s bringing a lot of heat.”

Serena stiffened beside me. I squeezed her shoulder. “She’s worth every bit of it. Get it done.” I hung up and turned to her. “See? Team. You and me.”

She nodded but didn’t smile. “I have to meet her. Alone, like she said. If there’s a letter about my mom, about who I really am… I need to know. For Dad. For us.”

“No way,” I said, sharper than I meant. I softened it, pulling her closer. “We do this together. I’m not letting you walk into a trap with her. She already ambushed your dad last night. She’ll twist everything.”

Serena sat up, facing me fully. Her hand rested on my knee, warm through my pants. “Nate, I love that you want to protect me. It’s new for me—having someone in my corner like this. But this is my life. My blood. If she tells you first, it might change how you see me. I can’t risk that.”

“It won’t,” I promised. I took her hand, lacing our fingers. “I see you, Serena. The real you. Not whatever story Diana spins. But if you need to do this, I’ll be right outside. One word and I’m there. No more secrets between us after this. Deal?”

She squeezed my fingers. “Deal. Thank you for not fighting me on it. You could’ve just… used the contract or your money to shut it down. But you’re letting me choose.”

“Because I want the real thing with you. Not control.” I kissed her again, slower this time. Her fingers curled into my shirt, holding on. We stayed like that for a while, just breathing each other in.

Later, we drove to the café Diana had named in her follow-up text. Serena changed into a simple blouse and jeans, nothing fancy. She looked strong, but I saw the fear in her eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking. I parked across the street and walked her to the door.

“I’ll be right here,” I said, pulling her into one last hug. “Text if you need me. I mean it.”

She nodded against my chest. “I know. I trust you, Nate. That’s new too. Don’t make me regret it.”

“You won’t.” I watched her walk inside, chin up, and my chest tightened. This woman had saved me once. Now it was my turn, even if it meant facing every ghost from my family’s past.

I waited on a bench outside, phone in hand, refreshing news alerts. The embezzlement story was still spinning, but Marcus had some pull—retractions starting to trickle in. Good. One fire at a time.

Minutes dragged. Twenty, thirty. My leg bounced. I pictured Serena in there, listening to Diana tear apart her life. What if the letter was real? What if Robert really wasn’t her father? Would it change how I felt? No. But it might break her, and that would break me too.

My phone buzzed. Serena.

Come in. Now. Please.

I was through the door in seconds. The café was half-empty. Serena sat at a corner table, face pale, a folded letter in front of her. Diana leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied.

“What happened?” I asked, sliding into the seat beside Serena. I took her hand under the table. It was ice cold.

Serena’s voice was barely above a whisper. “The letter… it’s from my mom. To Robert. Before I was born. She says she was involved with Victor Calloway—your father—during a rough patch in their marriage. I… I might be Calloway, Nate.”

The words hung there. Diana smiled. “Surprise, darling. Your mother and Victor had a little fling. Robert raised you as his own out of love. But blood tells. That’s why the will clause, the debts, everything pulled you two together. Fate… or a setup.”

I stared at Serena. My father? The reckless bastard who nearly ruined the company? Serena’s eyes met mine, wide and searching, full of fear and hope and love all mixed up.

“Nate?” she said, voice breaking. “Say something. Does this change us?”

Before I could answer, my own phone rang. Grace. I answered on speaker without thinking.

“Mr. Calloway, the executor is here. Emergency meeting. He says new information about your mother’s clause just surfaced. It involves Serena Voss by name. You need to come now. He’s threatening to void everything if it’s not addressed today.”

Serena gripped my hand tighter. Diana laughed softly.

I looked at the woman I was falling for—the possible half-sister to my family’s mess—and felt the ground shift under us.