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Oscar’s blunt words make my teeth grind. He talks as though he’s discussing a transaction at a store, not people’s lives. He’s devoid of any emotion, and that’s coming from someone like me. “You eventually ended up in the same foster home as Jace, with Martin as your foster father.” Tia shivers at the mention of his name. “His mother had him at a young age and brought disgrace to his family. She, herself, placed him in foster care but did see him regularly. When she was older, she married into a political family, her husband becoming Senator Lancaster, and to keep Martin a secret, they disguised her age, knowing her new agewould not allow for her to have a son of his age.” I nod along to Oscar’s breakdown, impressed at everything he’s uncovered.
“Her original birth certificate, along with information about a previous investigation into the trafficking of women and children, were kept in a vault within the FBI. The Lancasters, along with Bratva members and a well-known Mafia family named the Carreras are named in those files. It also gave us numerous locations to their warehouses, clubs, and safe houses.”
Jace sits forward in his chair, and his eyes glimmer with vengeance. “When the fuck do we take them out?”
Oscar chokes on a sardonic laugh and shakes his head. “Wedon’t.”
“This is a part of our lives, and I want to fucking end it. All of it,” he spits back with venom.
“If you’d just allow me to finish before rudely interrupting.” Oscar glares at Jace, until he sits back in his chair with a heavy huff, and the sound of his teeth grinding grates on my nerves. “From what I can gather, Martin barely saw his mother, but when she did, she saw an opening for vulnerable children, and with the knowledge of her husband’s preferences, she used her son and their power to wield a web of protection around them, exploiting children.”
Tia turns to face me, the sadness in her eyes unmistakable, and I want to slay the sick fucks all over again. “I don’t remember seeing her there. Do you?”
“No,” I answer truthfully.
Oscar cuts off our conversation. “When the Lancasters discovered the arrest of Martin and subsequently the birth of Harper, they wanted custody of her, assuming she was their maternal granddaughter. Obviously, they weren’t prepared to outright admit that they’re blood related to a rapist, so they tried other tactics to gain custody of her.”
Tia’s face pales, and Cole draws circles on her hand in a reassuring motion, while Oscar continues on with his breakdown of events.
“Of course, your relationships”—he waves a hand out toward us—“probably made her question Martin’s sudden disappearance. She wanted to take Harper and punish you in the process.” His eyes lock with Tia’s, and the intensity behind them makes me want to pluck them out with my knife. I find my hand in my pocket, stroking over the wood grain for reassurance.
“But Harper’s blood results came back proving she’s mine. How could she not know this?” Jace asks, and I can’t help but be impressed by his quick thinking.
Oscar shrugs. “She could have known and not cared. Maybe in her own head she felt something toward Harper. Or maybe, somehow, she just didn’t know. She’s dead, so we can’t torture an answer from her.” He comments as if we weren’t aware of her death, making my eyebrows knit together and my teeth grind, just how dumb does he think we are? He actually considers himself intelligently superior to us all yet forgets the basics? I’m about to open my mouth and point out we were there, that Tia actually did the deed, but she cuts in.
“So, she was definitely selling me to traffickers?”
“She was, she had a very good deal.” He confirms as if it’s nothing. “A doctor uploaded your certifications of good health to the dark web along with the confirmation of your pregnancy, they were fetching a very good price for both of you.”
My mind whirls with what he said, and Tia’s mouth falls open, her eyes widen. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
Oscar sucks in a sharp breath and grinds his jaw from side to side, as if annoyed, while I sit darting my eyes between them both in some out-of-body experience. Euphoria consumes me.
“Did you say she’s pregnant?” Cole asks before Oscar has the chance to repeat his shitty deliverance of news again.
He slowly sits forward, his calculating eyes land on Tia’s. “Let me guess, you don’t know which one is the father?”
She blinks, still in a stunned-like state. Then she blinks again.
“You’re fucking pregnant, baby!” Jace declares, pulling her into his arms and planting a kiss on the top of her head, while she remains frozen in shock.
Slowly the news filters through my bloodstream; she’s pregnant. We did it.
I did it.
“You’re pregnant,” I repeat, a smile graces my lips as I see the joy on my brothers’ faces.
“Oh, how wonderful!” Sky claps her hands together and springs up from her seat. “We’re going to have our babies in the same year!” She rushes toward Tia and almost knocks her out of her chair.
Tia pulls back from Sky, overwhelmed.
“Sky, give Tia some space to process, she clearly didn’t know she was pregnant,” Cal asserts, and I’m thankful for it.
Sky practically bounces on her tiptoes in glee back to her chair, giving me the perfect opportunity to take Tia in. A soft smile plays on her lips, and I lean forward and place my own against them, the lack of control in public something that’s new to me, but I don’t have it in me to care. I pull back and search her face, my eyes convey everything I want to say,I love you. Thank you. Devoted. Tears brim her eyes, and she nods as if understanding every word I didn’t voice.
Oscar clears his throat. “It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Fucking multiple men, it’s inevitable you were going to end up pregnant again sooner or later. Perhaps if you weren’t so promiscuous.” Jace flies across the table before I can blink. The papers go flying, as does the glasses of water provided for us. Luckily, Cole grabs him by his neck and deposits his seethingform back in his seat. The rage radiates from him, and he bites into his lip while glaring at Oscar, who seems completely unperturbed by his outburst. I’m not sure which one of them is more deranged in that moment.
Cal pinches the bridge of his nose. “Oscar, can you try and think before speaking?”
