Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 132332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
He sets the glass on the counter with a soft clink and jerks his chin toward our kitchen table.
My hard wooden chair scrapes against the tile as I pull it out and slide onto its unforgiving seat. “You’re scaring me, Marcel.”
“Sorry.” He leans over and kisses my forehead. “I’m a bit rattled.”
“I can see that. Talk to me.”
Instead of sitting at the table, he curls his fingers over the back of his chair and leans on it like a crutch. “I don’t even know where to start. It’s so absurd.”
Marcel’s stood by my side through some of my darkest moments. There is nothing we can’t handle together. “I’m right here,” I say.
Finally, he turns his troubled teal eyes my way. Someone or something hurt him. My inner demon prepares to come out swinging. To decimate whoever caused the man I love an ounce of pain.
“Rock is my father.”
Individually, I know what all those words mean. Lined up in that order, they don’t make any sense. “Says who?”
“The lab. Well, Hope read the lab results to us.”
“How is that even possible?”
His lips quirk again. “That’s what I said.”
“No, Marcel. Seriously, how is that even possible? He’s not…old enough to be your father.” Is he?
“Well, apparently all those jokes Grinder used to make about Rock trying to romance every fucking woman he met as a kid were based in truth.” A hint of anger seeps into Marcel’s voice as he recounts the bits and pieces he learned from Rock.
“Whoa.” When he finishes, I sit back and blow out a breath. My temples throb. “Your mother—”
“Is even more of a foul bitch than I’d thought,” he finishes, aiming his glare at the wall.
“Uh, not that I don’t agree, but someone who would…do that with a kid she was babysitting…” I suppress a shudder of revulsion. “Combined with how cavalier you told me she was about Heidi’s safety, it’s possible she was abused herself.”
He slowly slides his gaze my way. “I’m not real interested in defending her right now.”
“I’m not defending her. I’m trying to make sense of the situation.”
“There’s no making sense of this.”
“What did Heidi say?”
He stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “I didn’t tell her. I’m not going to tell her. Or Murphy. No one can know. Not right now.”
I stare right back. “How exactly is that going to work?” I cross my fingers in front of my face. “You and Murphy are tight. I’m pretty sure the two of you communicate by telepathy sometimes. And Heidi? You have to tell her—”
“No. She’s so close to finally graduating. She’s supposed to be planning her wedding. This will… I don’t know how it will land with her. I won’t be responsible for ruining things when she’s finally on the right track.”
Heidi’s much more resilient than he gives her credit for. But the secrets I’m hiding from my own brother resurface. Out of love and my desire to protect him at all costs, there are some truths I won’t ever share with him. I’m out of arguments. “Okay. I understand. What about Hope and Rock, though? Murphy and Heidi are living at their house. That’s going to be difficult.”
“Hope’s a lawyer. She’s used to keeping things confidential.”
“Yeah, client matters. Not family.”
“She promised me she won’t say anything until I’m ready. And I trust her.”
“All right. So what’s your plan? Announce it after Heidi’s wedding?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
Obviously. I don’t know how the hell Marcel thinks he can keep this quiet for so long. But in one afternoon, his entire world has been rocked. If he needs me to lie to get through this, I will.
“We’ll tuck this secret away and pretend nothing has changed.” I wince at how sarcastic that sounds.
But if Marcel caught the disbelief that crept into my voice, he doesn’t react. “Thank you.”
I’d walk through fire to ease Marcel’s suffering. But it still twists my heart in complicated ways. I love Heidi like she was my own little sister. Lying to her won’t be easy. Murphy too. Sometimes, I feel closer to him than my own brother.
It’s not my decision to make. For now, I’ll keep the truth hidden.
Even though I know secrets this painful can’t stay buried forever.
CHAPTER THREE
Teller
Miles and miles of highway stretch between everything I love and me. Charlotte, the eternal sunshine in my life, understood why I needed to get away. To clear my head. Or maybe find some answers.
The man I grew up believing was my father, the man who abandoned my family before I was a teenager, was nothing to me. No tie or connection at all.
In a strange, cruel twist of fate, the man I considered a surrogate dad and who I respect more than anyone else in the world is not only my MC president—he’s my father. Not family by choice, like I always thought. By blood.