4-The Ghost Who Came Back
1433 Words
Parker didn’t breathe normally again until she was halfway across the city.
Even then, it wasn’t much better.
The courthouse encounter replayed in her head like a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.
Maxton.
His questions.
The way he’d looked at Luca.
The way Luca had nearly blown apart six years of carefully constructed lies in under thirty seconds.
By the time she picked Luca up from Sophia’s house after work, her nerves were stretched thin.
By the time she got him home, helped him with homework, fed him dinner, and tucked him into bed, she was exhausted.
Yet somehow, she still found herself sitting behind her desk at nearly eight o’clock that evening.
Working.
Because work was easier.
Work didn’t ask impossible questions.
Work didn’t have dark eyes and a devastating smile.
Work didn’t remind her of the boy she’d loved for most of her life.
A knock sounded against her office door.
Parker didn’t look up from the file in front of her.
“Come in.”
Silence.
Her stomach tightened instantly.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
And froze.
Maxton Sutton sat comfortably in one of the chairs across from her desk.
As if he belonged there.
As if he hadn’t completely shattered her carefully controlled day.
As if six years hadn’t passed.
Parker nearly dropped her pen.
“What are you doing here?”
His gaze traveled over her face.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like he was making sure she was real.
“Good to see you too.”
Her heart betrayed her immediately.
Because despite everything—
It was good to see him.
Which was precisely the problem.
“You can’t just show up.”
“Apparently I can.”
Parker glared.
Maxton looked unimpressed.
The same stubborn boy she’d spent years arguing with still existed beneath the expensive suits and dangerous reputation.
Unfortunately.
That only made him harder to resist.
“What do you want?”
A slow smile appeared.
And there it was.
The smile that had ruined her life.
The smile she’d spent six years trying to forget.
The smile she’d never actually succeeded in forgetting.
“You still drink caramel coffee.”
Parker blinked.
“What?”
His gaze shifted toward the cup on her desk.
“Extra caramel.”
Silence.
Her stomach dropped.
Because he was right.
The exact same coffee she’d ordered at seventeen.
The exact same coffee he’d teased her about endlessly.
“You remember that?”
The smile disappeared.
“Of course I remember.”
The answer hit harder than it should have.
Because she remembered too.
Everything.
The coffee.
The late-night drives.
The inside jokes.
The promises.
The almosts.
The things neither of them had ever said.
Parker looked away first.
A mistake.
Because the second she did, her hand started tapping her pen against the desk.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A nervous habit she’d never managed to break.
The tapping lasted all of five seconds before Maxton spoke again.
“You’re nervous.”
Her hand immediately stopped.
His mouth twitched.
“You still do that.”
Parker stared.
“What?”
“The pen.”
His eyes dropped to her hand.
“You tap it when you’re nervous.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too warm.
Too intimate.
Because it wasn’t just that he remembered.
It was how much he remembered.
The little things.
The insignificant things.
The things people only notice when they truly know someone.
Or when they once loved them.
Her chest tightened.
Dangerously.
Painfully.
“What do you want, Maxton?”
This time his smile vanished completely.
The air shifted.
The playfulness disappeared.
Something heavier took its place.
Something serious.
Something she’d been dreading since the moment he’d stepped out of that SUV.
His eyes locked onto hers.
And suddenly she was seventeen again.
Unable to breathe when he looked at her.
“Answers.”
The word landed softly.
Like a bullet wrapped in silk.
Parker’s pulse quickened.
“You don’t owe me answers.”
His jaw tightened.
“No?”
“No.”
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
Then—
“Why did you leave?”
There it was.
The question.
The one she’d known was coming.
The one she’d feared for six years.
Parker looked away.
Because she couldn’t look at him while lying.
Not about this.
Not about him.
“I moved.”
His laugh held no humor.
“You disappeared.”
The truth of it stung.
“You stopped answering calls.”
Silence.
“You changed your number.”
Silence.
“You left without saying goodbye.”
Each accusation landed harder than the last.
Because they were true.
Every single one.
Parker swallowed.
Hard.
“I had my reasons.”
Maxton stood.
Immediately the room felt smaller.
More dangerous.
He moved closer.
Not enough to touch.
Enough to feel.
Enough to remember.
His voice lowered.
“You were my best friend.”
The words shattered something inside her.
“You vanished.”
Pain flickered across his face.
Real pain.
Not anger.
Not resentment.
Pain.
And somehow that was worse.
Because Parker had always known she’d hurt him.
She’d just never allowed herself to imagine how much.
“I looked for you.”
Her heart stopped.
The confession wasn’t loud.
Wasn’t dramatic.
It didn’t need to be.
“I looked everywhere.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
Don’t.
Please don’t tell me that.
“I spent two years trying to find you.”
The tears came unexpectedly.
Burning.
Threatening.
She blinked them away before he could see.
Or so she hoped.
When she finally looked up, his gaze softened.
Just slightly.
The sight nearly destroyed her.
Because beneath all the anger…
He was still hurt.
Still wounded.
Still carrying the scars she’d left behind.
Then his expression hardened again.
And Parker knew exactly what was coming.
The second question.
The one she’d been dreading since the courthouse.
“Who is Luca’s father?”
The room went silent.
Completely silent.
Parker’s pulse thundered.
Her throat tightened.
Every instinct screamed at her to run.
Lie.
Deflect.
Anything.
Everything.
Just not the truth.
Not yet.
Not when she wasn’t ready.
Not when revealing it would change everything.
Maxton watched her carefully.
Too carefully.
The hesitation had already given her away.
Not the truth.
But the fact that there was something to hide.
His eyes narrowed.
“Why doesn’t he know about Luca?”
Parker stood abruptly.
“I think it’s time for you to leave.”
The muscles in his jaw flexed.
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“It isn’t.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Emotional.
Neither willing to back down.
Finally, Parker grabbed a file from her desk.
Anything to create distance.
Anything to keep from falling apart.
“I have work.”
The excuse sounded weak even to her own ears.
Maxton didn’t move.
For a second she thought he might keep pushing.
Might force the conversation.
Instead, something surprising happened.
He nodded.
Once.
Slowly.
“Okay.”
Parker blinked.
That wasn’t the response she’d expected.
But relief washed through her anyway.
Because she wasn’t ready.
Not tonight.
Maybe not ever.
She moved toward the door.
Needing space.
Needing air.
Needing him gone before she did something stupid.
Like tell him everything.
Before stepping into the hallway, she glanced back.
Big mistake.
Maxton was already watching her.
His gaze holding hers.
Intense.
Unwavering.
Far too familiar.
And for one impossible moment—
She saw the seventeen-year-old boy she’d loved.
The one she’d never stopped loving.
Then she walked away.
The second the door clicked shut, silence filled the office.
Maxton remained where he was.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
Questioning.
Because nothing about today made sense.
Not Parker.
Not her disappearance.
Not Luca.
Especially not Luca.
His gaze drifted around the office.
Bookshelves.
Case files.
Awards.
Photographs.
A life built without him.
Then something caught his attention.
A framed picture sitting near the edge of her desk.
Turned face down.
Curious, he stepped closer.
And flipped it over.
The breath left his lungs.
It wasn’t recent.
It wasn’t professional.
It wasn’t family.
It was old.
Six years old.
A picture of two teenagers sitting on the hood of a black Mustang beneath a sky full of stars.
Parker.
And him.
Seventeen years old.
Laughing.
Happy.
Together.
The frame looked worn.
Handled often.
Treasured.
For a long moment, Maxton simply stared.
Then something dangerous settled inside him.
Because people don’t keep photographs like that unless they matter.
Unless the person in them matters.
And for the first time since Parker had walked back into his life, Maxton realized something that changed everything.
She hadn’t forgotten him either.
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