Page 226 of The Bluffing Game

“There’s something I need to tell you, and I just don’t want you to hate me.”

“I could never hate you. What is it, Sage?”

“So, you know how, when I was doing research, I said the reason I wanted us to move to Santa Capinari was that they had the most billionaires in town?”

“Yeah, I remember. That was so cool and ingenious.”

“And there was another reason,” I say.

“Oh, well, what was it? Don’t tell me that you looked Dalton up and you came to find him.”

“No, of course not. I’d never heard of Dalton before in my life, but there was another reason why I chose this town.”

“What is it?” She sits next to me, looking confused.

“A couple of months ago, Mom came to me with a secret.”

“She did?” Rosie tilts her head to the side. “What was it?”

“She told me something that had been weighing on her mind for a long time, and she thought I deserved to know.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Rosie looks hurt.

“Because it didn’t have to do with you,” I say. “Dad isn’t my dad.”

“What do you mean, Dad isn’t your dad? Of course he’s your dad. He’s been our dad for our entire lives.”

“He’s your dad, he’s your birth father, but he’s not mine.”

“What?” Rosie wrinkles her nose. “I don’t understand.”

“I guess Mom met a guy in New York, had a fling, and that was that. She wound up pregnant, met Dad while she was pregnant, and they got together, but he was never my biological dad.” I take a deep breath.

“Is that why my hair’s so much curlier than yours? I always wondered.” She smiles and then stops. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be jokey at a time like this.” She leans forward and grabs my hand. “But I still don’t understand. What does that have to do with Santa Capinari?”

“She told me all she could remember about the guy she’d met. He was some good-looking young guy with a bunch of friends; he talked about a bar they always used to frequent called the Kettle King, and that he was from this really rich town, and that he wanted to keep it at first names. Both of them knew it was just sort of a fling. Well, guess which town has a Kettle King.”

“Is that why we stopped there that day?” She looks at me thoughtfully. “You had a napkin in your hand, and you looked at it when we were in the car before we went inside. It had the name Kettle King, right?”

“You saw that?”

“Yeah.” She nods slowly. “I didn’t know what to think of it at the time, but I thought maybe you’d just heard of it and wanted to check it out because a lot of billionaires went there or something. So, you’re looking for your dad, your birth dad?”

“Yeah,” I say. “If he’s around, if I can find him. In fact, Dalton is helping me find him. Well, Brett is, but Dalton asked him to.”

“So, Dalton and Brett know about this?” Rosie looks hurt. “You told them before me.” She looks away from me, and her lip trembles. “You didn’t trust me.”

“It’s not that. Rosie, you know that more than anything. It’s just, you know, Dad has always favored you, whether or not you want to admit it. And you’re my best friend, you’re my sister, and I didn’t want you to think any differently about me.”

“Oh my gosh, Sage.” Her head whips around. “I would never think differently about you. You’re my sister. And we still have the same mom, unless she’s lying about that as well. Hell, I don’t care if we don’t have any of the same parents. You are my sister, Sage. You’re the closest person to me in the world. You know everything about me, and up until five minutes ago, I thought I knew everything about you.”

“Can you forgive me?” I ask her softly. “I know this is a lot, and I should have told you. It’s been really painful, and I don’t want you to think differently about Dad. It just answers a lot of questions for me as to why I didn’t feel like he loved me as much.”

My breath catches, and she rises from her chair and heads over to me. She kneels in front of me and wraps her arms around me.

“I love you, Sage, and I understand, and I’m sorry that Dad made you feel that way. I’m here for you, and I really hope that Brett can find your dad and that he’s amazing. Maybe he’s a billionaire, and he’ll shower you with love and affection, and I’ll be your poor sister⁠—”

“Shut up, Rosie,” I cut her off, and she starts giggling.