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Her voice startles me. “Tug.”
“What?”
“Are you okay? I said your name a few times.”
“I’m fine.”
“You lieeeee.” Her smiles slides off her face when she sees my expression.
“Tell me your secrets,” I request quietly.
Her eyes pull sideways. “I don’t have any.”
“You lieeeee,” I say, hoping teasing her will soften her enough to trust me.
“I don’t have any I can share.”
I have to be honest with her. “That bothers me a great deal.”
“Hey, Mama. My teeth are brushed, and I’m ready for bed.” Javier hugs me tight. “Goodnight, Tug.”
“Goodnight, buddy.”
“I’ll be right back,” Maria whispers and takes Javier’s hand.
I watch them walk away, my mind racing with thoughts of her leaving me eventually. I’m attached, and separation is going to hurt.
Maria returns a few minutes later. She sits on the couch next to me and puts her feet on the table, tucking her hands between her knees. I feel the tension ripple between us. I’m at a loss for words to express how I feel about her, and how I don’t want to lose her, now or ever.
She sighs. “I wish I could tell you, but it could put you and your family in danger.”
“I figured you were hiding from something difficult, but I’m not sure I can do this if there are secrets between us.”
“Tug … I …”
“Let me explain.” She nods, her hands firmly on her lap. “Brady isn’t really my brother. He’s my cousin. My aunt died giving birth to him. My mother kept it a secret our entire lives.”
“I’m sure she thought of him as hers and didn’t think it mattered.”
“She hated him and her sister. I’m sure you saw the news.”
“I know she killed herself.”
I huffed, disgusted at what my mother got away with, my father left to take the fall. “That’s all most the public remembers. The media did a great job portraying her as a woman caving to the pressures of a corporate America still ruled by men. Most people forget the lengths she went through to be in charge of Gibson Capital. She sabotaged Brady’s bike to remain in control. Only Brady had a passenger. He walked away from the accident. His girlfriend didn’t make it, and my mother never told anyone she was responsible.”
Her hand flies to her chest. “I can’t imagine what your family went through.”
“To me and Liv, Brady will always be our brother.”
I fill her in on the rest of the lies my mother and my father perpetrated to launch my mother’s career, including how my mother’s secrets eventually backed her into a corner so full of lies the only choice she had was prison or death, so she killed herself in one final act of control, and how my father is serving the sentence for both of them.
“My life has been one big lie, a giant secret. Trust me, nothing good will come out of what you’re hiding.”
She shakes her head frantically. “I want to tell you, but I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be, please. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“It’s you I’m afraid will hurt me. I’m afraid you won’t want to be with me anymore, and the thought of that happening hurts.”
