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"Go to hell," I growled. "You left me with Levi and Noah, who hurt me every day. They forced me to do things I didn't want to do just to eat. You left your own flesh and blood beaten and hungry so that you could play mommy to someone else's kids." I willed myself to walk away and never look back, but I couldn't. "He shouldn't be worried about people like me around his kids; he should be worried about mothers like you."
"Harper," she said, reaching out for me. She was trying to pacify me, so I'd be quiet.
"Don't," I ordered, pulling away from her. "I'm going to walk away, and I don't ever want to see you again." I spun to storm off, pushing past Christian but stopped. I had one more question before I left and never saw her again, and only she could answer it. "Wait." I turned back to face her. "There's one thing I want to know, and then you can return to your perfect life."
"What's that?"
"Who is my father?" You owe me this much. Tell me who he is."
"I was a stripper at Showgirls before you were born," she said. "I drank a lot but hadn't gotten too deep into drugs yet."
"Just spit out," I ordered. I didn't want to hear her played-out back story. I wanted to know and leave.
"There are two possibilities," she said. "I had a boyfriend at the time, and the other was married."
"Names," I said, wiping away my tears.
"Dylan West or AJ Elliott," she muttered.
"As in Adam James Elliott?" Christian spoke up for the first time. Her gaze flicked to him, widening as if she'd just realized we weren't alone.
"Yes," she said.
"Let's go," I said, tangling my fingers in Christian's and pulling him toward the Jeep.
Christian opened my door and shut it before running around and climbing in on the driver's side.
"Do you know him?" I asked after he shut his door.
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. His gaze flashed to mine. Seriousness coated his expression. "It's Lincoln's dad."
My face dropped.
Lincoln could be my brother. The thought was oddly comforting. I'd never had any family, but I also knew the news could cause pain to others. Lincoln's mom and dad had been married for over twenty years.
"Are we going to tell Link?" My gaze scanning his facial expression, searching for any signs of what he was thinking. He shrugged. This was a shock for him, too. "And Dylan West, do you know him?"
"No, I have no idea who that is," Christian said, hitting the button to start the Jeep. "But we're going to find out."
Chapter 41
Harper
Staring aimlessly into the darkness, I shoved against the ground with my bare feet, forcing the large wooden swing back before pulling my feet out and letting it swing forward. A gust of wind wrapped around me, sending my hair flying off my shoulders and back as the swing fell back.
Christian was in the main house, running the day over with his mom. He was hoping she could help him figure out who Dylan West was. I sat outside in the silent darkness, letting the day process.
I was slowly making my way through the stages of grieving.
Even though she wasn't dead, she was dead to me. Today was probably the last time I would ever speak to her as my mother. If I ever saw her out in public, I would again see her in my eyes as my mother, just some woman I used to know. She had a new life, new children, and a new family, and she didn't want me to be a part of that.
"Hey," Lincoln said, strolling up his hands in his pocket. My chest tightened as my gaze flicked up to his. "Mind if I sit down?"
I dropped my feet to the ground, stopping the swing. I couldn't help but scan his face, looking for any feature that would give away that he was, in fact, my brother, but I saw nothing. Link dropped onto the swing beside me. I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.
"Christian said you found your mom today." My gaze blinked back out into the darkness as I aimlessly nodded. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said, forcing a smile. "Did Christian send you out here?"
