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He kneels to gather the girl in his arms, giving her a hug that seems to make her more nervous at first, judging by the way she’s stiffens, her voice pleading as she hugs him. “Sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry.”
Keith pats her back and then meets her eyes, stroking her hair with a feather-soft caress that tells me that no matter what, he loves this girl . . . his daughter. He. Has. A. Daughter. My mind races, jumping from question to question . . . holy shit, how? I mean, I know the logistics. But with who? And why didn’t he tell me?
“It’s okay, honey. It’s fine. I’ll take care of everything.”
And I realize . . . this is the big secret.
With a frown that I can tell is as much fear as it is his being upset, he stands and introduces us. “Elise, this is Carsen and Sarah. Ladies, this is Elise.”
I move forward to shake Sarah’s hand first, figuring it’s the safe move for right now. Things are in a very precarious balance, that crystal lattice I felt earlier starting to strain . . . if I don’t want a disaster on my hands, I have to do things very carefully. “Keith’s sister, right? Shane mentioned you backstage, told a funny story about some chili dogs on tour.”
She smiles at me, but it’s tentative, especially as I move closer to Carsen and offer the girl my hand too. “Hi, Carsen. Nice to meet you.”
She looks at Keith, but at his nod of approval, she takes my hand and shakes. “Nice to meet you, too,” she says in a quiet voice. “Are you . . . the writer?”
I’ve never felt like this before, like everyone in the room is terrified . . . of me.
The girl who came barreling in, loud and vibrant, is now almost shivering as she clutches at Keith’s waist.
Keith looks at Sarah but talks to Carsen, the siblings communicating through some form of telepathy that only they share. “Honey, Aunt Sarah is going to take you out for a bit of lunch. Let me finish talking with Elise here. And when you get back, I can’t wait to hear all about your night out. Okay?”
She nods, silently moving over to Sarah and they walk back out the door, but as she goes, Carsen looks back once more. “Sorry, Dad.”
Sarah looks between Keith and me, and I can feel the threat in her eyes, warning me not to fuck with her family. Seems alphaness runs in the DNA around here.
The door closes, and Keith rubs at his head, growling softly, looking like he’s about to start head-butting the nearest hard surface to make the pain go away. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
He walks out of the kitchen to the living room, and I follow, perching on the edge of the couch as he paces back and forth in front of me. He pauses as he identifies the path he’s tracing in the plush rug and locks a stern gaze on me.
“Let’s get this clear up front. What you just saw, what you just heard . . . that is not for public consumption. You can’t include anything about it, not even a hint, in your articles.”
It’s an order, hard and fierce, but underneath the harsh tone, I can hear the pleading. It cuts me to the core, and I shiver. For a man like Keith to be reduced to begging for his daughter . . . she must mean the whole world to him. I know that no matter what, I can never do anything to hurt her. “I completely understand that, but . . . what the hell is going on? How does no one know that you’re a dad? You have a daughter, Keith.”
He starts pacing again, his right hand waving as if he’s trying to pluck the words he needs out of the air. “It’s a long story and not many people know it. But all of them are loyal to me. And they know that I would burn the world to ashes before I let anything happen to her. Promise me you won’t write about her.”
I’m torn because this is the dirt I’ve been tasked to find. This is my ticket to a ground-breaking interview series that could launch my career. But I know I didn’t come by it the way I should have, and whatever Keith’s story is, he has every right to keep Carsen a secret if he wants to. It’s not moral—hell, it’s not even right to expose Carsen. She’s just a little girl, and judging by the way he’s reacting, he definitely wants to keep her existence unknown.
I also hear the threat about burning the world, and I have no doubt that he’d do it in a heartbeat, me included in the flames.
