13-Question
1205 Words
By late morning, the penthouse had settled into an unfamiliar kind of quiet.
Not silence.
Something softer.
Temporary.
Fragile.
Upstairs, Parker Taylor was locked away in a conference call, the sharp click of her heels having disappeared down the hallway nearly an hour ago.
And somehow, her absence changed the atmosphere of the entire house.
Maxton Sutton stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows for a long moment, coffee untouched in his hand, watching the city move beneath him.
But his attention kept drifting back to the living room.
Back to Luca.
Luca Taylor sat cross-legged on the rug in front of the coffee table, entirely focused on lining up toy cars with deadly seriousness.
One by one.
Perfectly spaced.
Perfectly straight.
Maxton found himself watching him again.
Not casually.
Not politely.
But with the kind of focus that felt carved into bone now.
The furrow in Luca’s brow when he concentrated.
The way he hummed under his breath.
The slight bite of his lip when one car didn’t align exactly right.
Every tiny mannerism hit harder now.
Because it wasn’t resemblance anymore.
It was recognition.
A mirror.
A living piece of himself sitting ten feet away building racetracks on Persian rugs.
Luca glanced up suddenly.
And immediately caught him staring.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
Maxton didn’t bother denying it.
“Because you’re interesting.”
Luca grinned instantly.
“I know.”
A rough laugh almost escaped him.
God.
Even the confidence was familiar.
Silence settled again.
But not uncomfortable silence.
Something quieter.
Newer.
Like both of them were standing on the edge of something they didn’t fully understand yet.
Luca grabbed another car and rolled it slowly across the table.
Then—
“Hey.”
Maxton looked over.
“Yeah?”
Luca hesitated.
And that alone made something tighten in Maxton’s chest.
Because Luca didn’t seem like a child who hesitated often.
Then finally—
“Are you my dad?”
The question landed softly.
Quiet enough that it should not have shattered the room the way it did.
Maxton went still.
Not because he didn’t know the answer.
But because this mattered.
This moment.
This answer.
It would stay with Luca forever.
Luca kept talking quickly, filling the silence the way children do when they sense something important.
“We look the same.”
He held the toy car loosely in his small hand now.
“Mom always said I looked like my dad.”
His eyes lifted carefully.
“And you look like me.”
Something in Maxton’s chest cracked wide open.
Because there it was.
No lawyers.
No contracts.
No strategy.
No manipulation.
Just a little boy putting pieces together with heartbreaking simplicity.
Maxton leaned forward slowly, resting his forearms on his knees until they were eye level.
“What do you think?” he asked quietly.
Luca frowned hard like he was solving advanced mathematics.
“I think…” He dragged the word out thoughtfully. “You act like you already know me.”
The truth of that hit harder than expected.
Maxton swallowed once.
“That’s because I want to.”
Luca studied him carefully.
“You don’t get annoyed when I talk a lot.”
A faint smile tugged at Maxton’s mouth.
“Should I?”
“No,” Luca said quickly. “Mom says I’m loud sometimes.”
Maxton’s expression softened before he could stop it.
“I think you’re exactly the right amount of loud.”
That earned him a small smile.
Tiny.
But real.
Then Luca asked again—
more directly this time.
More bravely.
“Are you my dad?”
No hesitation now.
No fear.
Maxton nodded once.
Firm.
Absolute.
“Yeah.”
Luca blinked.
Once.
Then twice.
Like he was waiting for the world to change around him.
“That’s why you got mad at that guy yesterday?”
Maxton huffed out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
“Yeah. That was definitely part of it.”
“And why you let me sit in your chair?”
“That too.”
Luca absorbed that quietly.
No panic.
No dramatic reaction.
Just careful processing.
Then finally—
“Okay.”
Maxton frowned slightly.
“Okay?”
Luca shrugged one shoulder.
“You’re not scary.”
That caught him completely off guard.
“Good.”
“I thought you might be.”
Something sharp twisted in Maxton’s chest.
“Why?”
Luca glanced down at the cars.
“Because Mom gets weird around you.”
A startled breath escaped him before he could stop it.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “I noticed that too.”
Luca nodded solemnly, like they’d just agreed on something important.
Then came the question that changed everything.
Quiet.
Small.
But devastating.
“Do dads stay?”
The air left the room.
Maxton stopped breathing for half a second.
Because that wasn’t curiosity.
That was fear.
Old fear.
The kind children carried silently when they learned too early not everyone stayed.
And suddenly Maxton hated everything about the last six years.
Hated that Parker had carried this alone.
Hated that Luca had grown up with questions like that living inside him.
Hated that another man might have failed him badly enough to make him ask it.
Maxton leaned closer now.
Close enough that Luca couldn’t mistake the seriousness in his expression.
“Yeah,” he said firmly. “This one does.”
Luca searched his face carefully.
Like he was testing the strength of the promise.
Looking for cracks.
For uncertainty.
But Maxton didn’t look away.
Didn’t soften it.
Didn’t hesitate.
And finally—
Luca nodded once.
“Okay.”
This time the word sounded different.
Safer.
Settled.
He picked up another toy car and pushed it across the table.
Then said casually—
“You can help me build a garage.”
Maxton blinked.
“A garage?”
“Yeah.” Luca pointed seriously at the growing collection of cars. “For all of them.”
A pause.
Then quieter—
“If you’re staying.”
God.
That nearly destroyed him.
Because Luca said it like hope was still something fragile.
Something that could disappear if he held it too tightly.
Maxton’s chest tightened painfully.
But underneath the ache—
something steadier settled into place.
Something fierce.
Protective.
Certain.
“I’m staying,” he said again.
And this time it wasn’t just reassurance.
It was a vow.
Luca nodded like that was enough.
Like children somehow always knew when someone meant it.
Then he scooted over on the rug.
Making space beside him automatically.
Not nervous.
Not unsure.
Just… making room for his father.
Like some part of him had already decided.
Maxton stared at the empty spot beside him for one suspended second.
Then crossed the room and sat down next to his son.
And the moment Luca immediately shoved three cars into his hands—
something inside Maxton settled for the very first time in years.
Not business.
Not power.
Not control.
Home.
And upstairs, completely unaware—
Parker was still trying to convince herself this arrangement was temporary.
While downstairs—
the two people she loved most were already becoming something neither of them would ever survive losing.
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