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“I want to see it.”
Taking her hand, I led her to our home office and handed over a manila folder. Inside it were all the documents and photos I’d printed out. She pulled her chair over so she could sit next to me and went through it, reading each page carefully.
She left the photos until last. Emilia studied them, taking in their faces, looking for similarities. “She’s definitely my mother.”
“It would appear that way, yes.”
“The daughter, though…she doesn’t look much like me.”
I noted that she hadn’t referred to Helena as her sister. “I don’t think so, either. She has the same color hair and eyes as you, and the same shaped face, but there’s not much of a resemblance.”
“No.” Throwing the photos on top of the documents, she breathed out heavily. “I suppose I should be excited to know I have a sister.”
I placed a hand on top of hers. “You can feel however you want to about it, sweetheart. You don’t owe them a damn thing.”
A sigh, and then she was in my lap, my arms tightly around her. “I don’t know if I want to see them.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I told Janet I would tell you she had turned up, but it would be entirely your call if you wanted to make contact. If you didn’t, she would have to respect that and leave us alone.”
Emilia didn’t respond at first, instead pressing her lips to my cheek. “She was okay with that?”
“Honestly? I don’t give a fuck if she wasn’t. That’s just how it is.”
More silence as she snuggled into me. “It’s the what-ifs that are killing me, Jase. What if she really does want a relationship with me? What if you’re right and she’s just after money? What if she’s been looking for me for ages?”
I couldn’t help but snort at the last question. “Em, it’s not as though you’re hard to find. We’ve been featured in the media often enough for anyone googling your name to instantly learn you live here in New York. A bit of research would tell her you are an incredibly successful businesswoman who’s wealthy.”
“Why now, though? As you rightly pointed out, we’ve been in the media for years. Why is she coming forward now?”
“My guess? The money the dead husband left her is gone and the train has run out of gravy, so she’s looking for a cash injection to keep her going until she can latch on to the next poor sucker.”
“You don’t think she wants to get to know me at all.”
I curled my hand around her neck and pulled her close enough to brush my lips against hers. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry, sweetheart. If that was truly her goal, she would have come forward years ago, when she was married and didn’t need any of your money.”
“You’re probably right.”
Didn’t mean I loved it. I hated hearing the defeat in her tone. When we’d been living with the Johnsons, she’d let slip a few times in the beginning that she hoped her mom would come get her.
Janet never had. Never once even checked on her to make sure she was being fed and cared for.
Emilia gave up hoping and concentrated on surviving until she turned eighteen, so we could get the fuck out of there and move to New York to make our wildest dreams come true.
They had, because we’d worked hard to achieve them. And I sure as fuck wasn’t letting some old grifter sink her claws into my fiancée because they shared a bloodline.
“We’ll play this however you want to, Em. You don’t have to make a decision right now. Think about it. If you do want to meet her—them—we can make that happen. We can arrange a meeting in the office with Connor in attendance, and you can hear her out. Decide what you want to do from there. I’ll support you, whatever your decision is.”
“Even if I decide I want to form a relationship with her?”
My jaw tightened. My instinct was to scream a big, fat no, but I knew I couldn’t. It had to be Emilia’s choice. “If that’s what you want, I’ll support you.”
“I love you so much, Jase.” Her lips found mine and I kissed her slowly, deeply, infusing my love for her in the kiss. Telling her without words I would do anything for her.
When it ended, she closed the file. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“Take all the time you need. And, Em?”
“Yes?”
