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Their eyes were unblinking, accusing.
“Where’s Alastair?” I asked.
“Sit down, lass,” Callum said, his fist knocking on the kitchen island. Lea was holding his hand, and her eyes were… stunned? Angry?
I shook my head. “Where’s Alastair?”
“Jubilee.” This was Hugo now, his voice uncharacteristically soft and gentle. “Assieds-toi.Sit down.”
I took a seat on a bar stool across from everyone. They were staring at me like they were a jury, and I had committed a capital crime.
Lea and Leo looked at one another, and that strange communication happened between them. That twin-telepathy, spoken in breaths and eye twitches. They were in some kind of counsel.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lea finally asked.
“Tell you…?”
“Tell us you were our cousin.” Leo finished for her.
I was breathing hard. I should have suspected that Alastair would tell them. I didn’t swear him to secrecy. Was this a betrayal of my confidence? It seemed like it. But I couldn’t make myself mad at him. I wanted to be a little. But I wasn’t. Not when the taste of his mouth was still on my lips, and I could feel the warmth of his touch.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lea asked, gentler this time, pushing a piece of paper towards me. It was the results of a DNA test, stating that she and I were half siblings. Which was normal, since our fathers were genetically identical.
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to know,” I said. “I didn’t know my father well. What I knew was…” I sighed. “It wasn’t good. I didn’t know if you also thought—”
“I loved him,” Lea said, definitively, her head raising, shoulders squared. “And I will fight anyone to the death if they disparage him.”
I was surprised. I stared at this fierce woman. A woman that could have been my sister. Was she showing the same loyalty to my uncle that Brett did?
“I didn’t know him well.” I explained. “Not as a father.”
Lea’s hand turned into a fist on the table. Callum took her hand, and without looking at her, covered her fist with his hand.
“Tell us about Brett Bradley.” Leo added. “How did you end up with him?”
A tear came down my cheek. I took a deep breath and willed the words to spill from my mouth.
I told them the whole story from the beginning. The fight. The one where Alastair fought by my side. Hugo nodded along with this tale, agreeing with my version of events. Callum saw his nod and returned it. I spilled about my uncle, LeBlanc, and Jericho all knowing each other in the service. How Jericho took me in as his own daughter when I had no one.
Leo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, seemingly annoyed by this news.
“So Jericho knew about us the whole time,” he said, his head tilting towards his sister. She nodded, but said nothing back.
“He did.” I confirmed, though he hadn’t asked a question. “He was supposed to try to bring you into government contracts, or at least look out for you.”
“Why didn’t Jericho tell us about you?” Lea asked.
“I didn’t want him to.” I shrugged. “I didn’t know if you wanted a cousin.”
Lea brought a hand to her face, letting it settle in front of her mouth as she gazed at Leo.
“Ugh, are you kidding?” Leo rolled his eyes. “She’s been wanting a sister ever since she hit puberty.”
Lea kicked him under the table, and he jumped.
“Now,” Callum said, his eyes still menacing. They were green, like the leaves in summer. But they seemed to glow when angry, like the sickening glow of a poisonous gas. “Tell me why one of my men told me this morning that he was taking a sabbatical from Caledonia Security?”
He tapped an index finger on the table, to emphasize his question.
