“They were coming to kill you,” Brooke says.
“Right.” Elise rolls her eyes, but her voice cracks at the edges. She is scared. She is trying not to show it.
“I’m not asking you to trust us yet,” Brooke leans forward slightly. “But I need you to listen.”
Elise glares at her. “Why?”
Brooke looks at me. Then back to them.
“Because Seth is your brother.”
Elise recoils. “What?”
Ryan’s eyes shift to me.
“Half-brother. Samantha was his mom too.”
“No.” Her voice is sharp and defensive. “My mom said her first son died in a fire.”
“She thought he did,” Brooke speaks gently. “His father made her think that. He took him and hid him.”
Elise blinks hard. “Do you know who killed my mom?”
“Yes,” Brooke answers.
Elise’s voice shakes. “Why would someone kill her?”
“To hurt Seth.”
I want to say I'm sorry. That I would've taken the bullet meant for her if I could. But I just stand there.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Elise says, tears welling up.
“I know.” Brooke holds her gaze. “But it’s the truth.”
Travis steps in. “They were coming after you two next. And we stopped them.”
Elise turns toward him, narrowing her eyes. “Why do you care about us?”
“Because you’re his family,” Brooke isn’t looking at me now. She is focused on Elise, talking like this is a bomb she doesn’t want to set off.
Elise looks at me with disbelief.
“He hasn’t even said anything to us.”
She isn’t wrong.
Brooke speaks up. “This is hard for him too.”
Elise snaps, “He didn’t even know her.”
I flinch.
“He did,” Brooke says firmly. “That was his mother too.”
Brooke glances at me. I step forward.
“I knew about you two,” I finally admit. “But I didn’t feel like it was my place to be in your lives.”
