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“No,” Coda said to Spencer. “I wanted to put your mind at ease.” She turned her attention back to Tyler. “I thought if I could find out about Sammy and where she came from, Spencer would leave you two alone.”
“Spencer was right.” He snickered. “Isn’t it annoying that he’s always right?”
“My mother told me that she knew of the Falcones from the neighborhood. My father had multiple affairs.” She sat down next to Tyler. “My mother suspected there was a child, but she had no proof. She had her own problems after my dad died, so she dismissed the neighborhood chatter as gossip.”
Coda and her mother had struggled on a daily basis to survive. When her mother was diagnosed with MS, things got even harder. By the time Coda met Spencer, she was in a desperate situation.
“She’d debated telling me for years, but she didn’t want to stir the pot, especially when she had no proof,” Coda continued. “It looks like the rumors were more than gossip.”
“So Sammy could be your sister?” Tyler asked. “Unbelievable.”
“I showed my mother a picture of her. She thinks she has my dad’s eyes.”
“That’s not proof,” Spencer said. “We’ll need a DNA test.”
“Slow down, handsome.” Coda smiled at her husband. “We’ll figure all of that out afterward. Right now, Tyler needs us.”
“I don’t,” he said, shrugging. He didn’t need pity. He’d spent months in a relationship with a woman he thought could be the one, only to find out everything was all about Coda. “I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. You guys don’t need to be here.”
“Don’t do that.” Coda put her arm around his shoulder. “I know you like her.”
I love her...“It doesn’t matter.” That wasn’t true, but he wouldn’t admit it out loud. Sammy mattered more than anything in his life. He’d never felt anything close to the emotions he experienced when they were together. That was why her betrayal had crippled him. He never saw it coming. “You should do whatever you need to regarding her, but I’m done.”
“You don’t mean that,” Spencer said. “She hurt you, but she had her reasons.”
“Now you’re on her side?” Tyler shook his head. He couldn’t keep up. The alcohol may have been impairing his senses, but he was emotionally drained. “You did nothing but doubt her.”
“I’m onyourside,” Spencer said. “I look out for my own.”
The doorbell chimed, breaking the tension in the room.
“God!” Tyler groaned. “Did you call Mom and Grandfather too? I need another drink.”
Spencer ignored him as he answered the door.
“Don’t you think she must have been afraid to tell you?” Coda asked Tyler. “She’s young and alone. Try to put yourself in her position. I know where she’s coming from.”
“She should have told us from the beginning.” He finished his drink, feeling numb all over as the liquid slid down his throat. It was working. He didn’t want to feel anything anymore. “We could have avoided most of this mess.”
“I don’t think you should be here right now,” Spencer said from the foyer. “It’s not a good time.”
“I wanted to check on him,” Sammy said. “He’s not answering his phone.”
“Let her in, Spencer. She should join the party. I’m sure Coda has so many questions for hersister.”
“Tyler, don’t do that.” Coda stood from the couch as Spencer came into the room.
“Don’t do what? Call her out for the liar she is?”
He watched as Sammy made her way into the room. She stopped in the doorway when her eyes connected with his.Damn her.As mad as he was, he was still so taken with her. All he wanted to do was hold her and make her tell him they were wrong about everything. She’d never lied to him. She trusted him as much as he had her. But that wasn’t going to happen. Nothing was the same now.
He’d give anything for things to be right between them. Why couldn’t she have trusted him? How could she have let it get this far?
* * * *
SAMMY WAITED IN THEarchway as Spencer stood by his wife’s side. The awkwardness of the situation set in. As much as she wanted to explain things to Coda, Tyler was her main priority at the moment.
“What do you want?” Tyler asked.
