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I glanced up, eyes itchy, face hot. My tongue felt thick in my mouth, and with as dry as my throat was, I didn’t know whether speaking would result in speech or tears. I blinked down one. “Factors?”
Maybe it’d been more than one tear. Maybe it’d been a river. Because next thing I knew, my brother was helping me to sit, and Callum was giving me his handkerchief.
God…
I sobbed against my brother, my body shaking, and I was sure I was fucking ugly-crying. I couldn’t stop.
“It’s okay,” Bru kept saying, his hand covering my head. He moved my hair out of my face, his big arms wrapped around me as if shielding me from the fucking world. Maybe he was.
“What factors, Callum?” Bru continued, but our guardian didn’t say anything. He appeared pained when I looked at him, Callum. He was always such a serious man, albeit kind. He’d always been so good to us.
I could always rely on him.
I had always been able to, a rock for my brother and me. He took care of us, did that and in more ways than either of us could have ever believed. Godfrey had been his friend, and he stood up. He did something when others… well, others could have remained quiet.
The fact that he took care of us financially only drove the point in more, the man coming forward. He lifted a hand, and when he waved it, Lucas came back into the room.
I pulled apart from my brother when he did, and Callum’s expression turned grave.
“I have to tell you kids something, and once I do, I’m going to be handing you off to Lucas here,” Callum said, his security standing by the door. “He’ll oversee anything you need and aid with the reunification process regarding Sloane and the Mallicks.”
I didn’t understand, letting go of Bru.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you children. Honest about myself and who I am to this town.” Callum’s hand rubbed his cane. “I haven’t, and because of that, I don’t expect you to want any further contact with me. Especially you, Sloane, and you’ll understand when I tell you. That’s why Lucas is here. He’ll be taking over for me after what I have to tell you both.”
Bru’s mouth opened, and my brow lifted.
“I hoped to shield you children from who I was. I didn’t want my history to be any part of the horrible ordeal you kids have already had…”
“Callum?” My voice rocked, wavering on the end.
“But I know now that was weak of me. Selfish.” He shook his head, his hair a graying blond. He was a lot older than he appeared. I would have said late fifties, but I knew him to be older. His head tilted. “I was protecting myself as much as I was trying to protect you kids, and that wasn’t right. In any case, it’s moot because I’ll be making a statement to the press regarding my role in your lives. It’s time I stop hiding and let everyone know the truth. I’m not who you kids think I am.”
My fingers bit into my arms, my hands gripping them. “Who are you?”
I heard myself speak the words, ask the question. I thought I’d be prepared for the answer. I mean, I’d asked it…
I’d asked for it.
Chapter Two
24 hours before the news broke…
Dorian
“What do you mean you found her?” Ramses’s voice drifted into the air, and I think it gave us all pause.
And froze the shit out of Wolf.
He’d been the one to call him. Well, I’d been the one to call my god dad for him.
Wolf was on my phone.
I’d connected my buddy to the person he needed to speak to, and right now, he wasn’t speaking. He started to and actually had done pretty well.
Wells, Thatcher, and I coached him on. Thatcher had his hand braced on Wolf’s shoulder, his expression grim, serious. He kept squeezing Wolf’s shoulder, his elbow hooked across the top of Wells’s beside him. Wells stood tall in front of Wolf, hands buried deep in his coveralls. He pulled one out and touched Wolf’s other shoulder.
I held the last position, the one where I was taking Wolf’s hand and making him physically bring that phone speaker to his mouth.
