Page 127 of A Violet Obsession

“Do you want to sit down?” I ask, then frown, realizing there isn’t a single piece of furniture left out that looks like it’ll fit him.

“I’ll take Hera in the bedroom,” Finn says. “Give you two a chance to talk.” Hera chooses that moment to come down off the bookshelf with an audible thud, and walks straight to Finn—who has apparently replaced me in her affections. She winds through his legs, chirping. He scoops her up, and she nuzzles under his chin.

“Why is there an orange bobcat in your apartment?” Callum deadpans. He looks at Finn and shakes his head. “You can stay. You’ve probably got the place bugged, anyway.”

“Not true.” Finn sinks onto the sofa, holding Hera to his chest, rubbing her ears. “No need. She hasn’t been back here. I am thinking about the new generation of subdermal trackers, though.”

Callum makes a face. “Not a bad idea.”

“I’m sorry, what? You are not putting a chip in me, you psycho.”

“Why not?”

My lips part. “What do you mean, why not? Because I’m not a pet.” I gesture at Hera.

“Oh, I see. You chipped her, but you’re too good for it?” Finn pretends to whisper into the cat’s ear. “I know. I heard it, too. The audacity.”

“Finn.”

Callum is staring at Finn like he’s grown a second head, but then he glances at me, and his face changes. “We all have them. Everyone at Elite. After what happened with Sera, Brady got touchy about being able to find us.” His green eyes meet mine for a second before they slide away. “Keeps you from losing people.”

Oh.

And just like that, the air goes thick.

“I know we don’t have the DNA results back ye⁠—”

“You’re my sister.” Callum says it almost angrily, as if he’s braced for a fight about it.

Finn straightens in his seat.

I give him a look, silently saying, “calm down,” before turning back to Callum. “I believe you. But you have to understand this is a little overwhelming.”

“Considering I thought you were dead for over two decades, I’d agree with you.” His accent comes in thicker now.

“You’re Scottish? Am I?”

Callum’s lips flatten. “You’re half.”

“Half?” I lift my eyebrows. “We don’t have the same parents?”

He shifts in his seat, and I can’t tell if it’s because he doesn’t fit in it or because he’s just uncomfortable. “We share the same mother, Aileen Brodie.”

I turn the name over in my mind. I don’t feel anything. No connection. No memory.

But it’s the first piece of my birth mother I’ve ever been handed, and so I’ll hold on to it.

I’m getting annoyed at the pace of this, though. “I know this is awkward as hell, but do you think you could offer a little more? Because at this rate we’ll be here for days.”

“I have a flight tomorrow.” I gape at him for a second, before I catch the slightest twitch of his lips.

“Is it a requirement for all of you to be uncommunicative and sarcastic to work there?”

“Not one in writing,” Callum says, deadpan.

“This might be new to the two of you, but you’ve already got the irritate the hell out of your little sister bit down pat.”

Callum smiles a little, and I’m surprised how much it transforms his rugged face. Then he sighs. “I’m sorry. I haven’t talked about any of this in over twenty years. I actively go out of my way not to think about it, so this is…” He swallows, and for the first time I see the pain he’s been holding. “Hard.”