Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Come with me,” she said softly.
The other voices in the room became clearer now that I’d been snapped back to the present.
“What the actual fuck, Dad?!” I heard Locke’s voice.
“There is no way this could be wrong?” Linc asked.
“No,” the doctor replied. “If I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, I’d have never brought this to you.”
“Fucking hell,” another male voice said.
“I’m taking her out of here,” Jayda told them, and no one replied.
I went with her, too tired to fight. Unsure what to do. How would my father react to this? No one was to ever know. But…he wasn’t my father. How could that be?
The voices faded, and I walked numbly to where Jayda took me. We were going back to the room I had been in before. I said nothing, but I had no words.
My life had just exploded, and along with it had come truths I hadn’t known about.
“The only good thing your mother ever did was give birth to your sister, and you ruined her, just like you killed your mother!” My father’s hateful words replayed in my head.
Jayda opened the bedroom door and led me inside. The sunshine that spread throughout the room made the shades of navy and gray that decorated it appear brighter. More cheerful. So at odds with my inner turmoil.
I sank down onto the bed, facing the large window overlooking the backyard. A glass of water appeared in front of me.
“Here, drink,” Jayda urged, and I did.
When I had enough, I handed it back to her and continued to stare straight ahead.
“You know I love you most,” my mother’s singsong voice said when she tucked me into bed. “You’re my beautiful girl.”
The ache that came with that memory was a familiar pang.
“Why don’t you lie down?” Jayda said.
And like the water, I obeyed, tucking my knees up until I was almost in the fetal position. A blanket was draped over me, and while I knew I should thank her, I still didn’t have the will to speak. I could only stare.
Thirteen
Luther
With hell breaking loose in the great room, I was still very aware of Jayda taking Lace out of here. My eyes followed her until they were no longer in view.
That was all kinds of fucked up. Mal’s daughter?
Was it wrong that my thoughts instantly went to, Well, Locke can’t fuck her now? Eh, probably, but, damn, it was a little funny.
“SHUT UP!” Linc’s shout carried over the other voices.
I watched Mal as he stood there, reading over the paperwork that Doc had brought with him. He looked fucking dumbstruck. Couldn’t say I blamed him. Truth was, we might all have some by-blows out there we didn’t know about, being raised by other men as their own. Hell, Stevie had almost gotten raised by the man Branwen was going to marry when she showed up here, demanding Linc sign the divorce papers when he hadn’t even known he was married.
But having one show up like this? Well, it was dramatic.
“Thaddeus will be here soon,” Linc said to Mal. “What do you want to do? Let her go? She’s an adult. We aren’t dealing with a child. She’s gone almost thirty years with him as her father. At this point, I don’t think biological matters.”
Mal lifted his head and looked at Linc, and then his gaze swung to me. I hadn’t expected that.
“Do you think she’s in danger with him?” he asked, his voice sounding hoarse.
I nodded. “I fucking know she is. Too many things point to it that Linc wants to ignore. But he knows the truth,” I said, not looking at Linc. Let him stew on that. “My guess is that Alpheus Halsten knows she’s not his. And he’s used her for reasons we don’t know—yet.”
Mal’s normally tanned complexion was pale. He looked like he might be sick, and then he nodded. “I can’t…I can’t let her go back if she’s being abused.”
“That’s Luther’s opinion. We don’t know that. She can tell you the truth,” Linc said. “Do you even remember her mother?”
As if that made a difference. She was his biological daughter, and for some fucking reason, she was going by her younger sister’s name. I wanted the reason behind it, and I was going to get it, but right now, I had to deal with keeping her here.
“Yeah,” he said solemnly. “And I knew she was engaged. I just didn’t know to who. I also didn’t care.”
That sounded like twenty-one-year-old Mal.
“I…I have a picture I took of her. It’s tucked away, but I know where. I’ll get it and ask her to be sure.”
Okay, again, why the fuck did this matter?
“And if that’s not her momma, you’re gonna what?” I asked him. “Ship her back to the man who’s been abusing her and doing shady shit, like having her go by her sister’s name?”