Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
When I had thought he was hiding something, I’d assumed it was his background. I’d imagined that he was some god that had been around for a very long time who wanted to live in peace—still a sketchy, secretive MFer, but not this.
I had never, ever, not for a second, expected him to say he was my fucking uncle.
I was so damn surprised not even my jaw could manage to drop.
No part of me knew what to do with itself.
“You smell similar to him, the sweet note you must get from your mother, but your magic feels very strongly like my brother’s. I struggled to comprehend it at first, how he could have had a child at his age, but….” His shrug was almost delicate, but still wary. “My main focus when I left shortly after your arrival was locating information on the pup. It was sheer coincidence that I could handle both situations at the same place.”
I took Duncan’s ear between my fingers and let the softness of it ground me when it felt like I’d just been emotionally sucker punched. No matter what happened, what this man said, my relationship to my boy would never change. He wouldn’t love me less. I would always have him, and there was a foundation to that knowledge that kept the world from spinning out of control.
“Nina’s biological father lives in Alaska?” It was Henri who asked.
“Her father, yes—”
“My dad who matters lives on a farm in Mexico,” I butted in through stiff lips.
Franklin nodded slowly. “Correct, I understand. I’ll refer to him as my brother, if that works for you, but his blood runs through your veins.”
“Love,” Duncan told me again, and I sank off the chair completely to crouch over him and give him a hug. My boy tucked his head under my chin and nuzzled it.
“Love, love, love.”
“Love you too,” I murmured, taking in his reminder for what it was. Proof of real love. A titanium infusion into my spine that said I could handle this conversation. It was all those things that allowed me to sit back up and manage to ask, pretty dang professionally, “Did he try and claim he didn’t know about me either?”
Franklin’s fingers fidgeted again on his legs. “I didn’t know about you. Before this trip, I hadn’t seen my brother since… the Chicago World Fair,” he answered almost casually. “That was in August 1893, give or take. We kept in touch with letters for the most part, a few calls here and there. We don’t tend to move often, and not now at this stage in our lives. He’s even more of an isolated homebody than I am.”
“He left his house long enough to get someone pregnant thirty years ago, so he’s not that much of a homebody,” I muttered under my breath.
Henri snickered, and I glanced at him. A corner of his mouth twitched, and he winked at me. Hadn’t we just been arguing half an hour ago?
We had, but he was still more on my team than this secret keeper was. Just like I’d told him, he would always have my loyalty no matter what. I could never forget that.
“I agree.” Franklin grimaced. “Initially, when I confronted him….” His fingers started tapping faster, and he was beginning to look even more uncomfortable by the second. He seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle. “I don’t want to hurt you more than you’ve already been, Nina.”
That was surprisingly thoughtful. “I’ve known my entire life that I wasn’t wanted. I don’t think you can hurt my feelings much more than they’ve already been,” I said with a shrug.
Henri grumbled.
Franklin winced. “I see—”
“Choose your words wisely,” Henri murmured from where he continued standing, except now his arms were crossed over his wide chest.
The elder nodded. “My brother attempted to claim that he wasn’t aware of you at the beginning. He insisted that I didn’t know what I was talking about, but I’ve known him my entire life. I would recognize an essence of him anywhere, and I decided that I wouldn’t leave until he admitted the truth. It took longer to wear him down than it did to find out what I was able to about Duncan, but eventually, he confessed.”
“He knew about me,” I deadpanned.
“He knew about you,” Franklin confirmed, his eyes flicking toward Henri briefly, then returning to me. “Would you like to hear what I learned?”
I nodded, a small part of me appreciating the fact he was asking me for permission.
“My brother met your….” He raised his eyebrows.
“DNA donor,” Henri suggested before I could, and I smiled at him weakly before shrugging at Franklin.
“He met your DNA donor when she was visiting the area on a cruise ship. There’s a fishing town a few hours from their settlement that gets tourism, and he happened to be visiting when he came across one of our kind. A very strong, very bright, beautiful woman.”