Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

AMARA

We arrive by private jet to an airport on the outskirts of Boston, where my father apparently is. I guess it was easier to jump from one family to another when he lived near each one.

My pulse races, my jaw clenched.

I hate him. Hate what he did. Hate that I wondered why he left, missing him even when I never really knew him at all.

And most of all, I hate that I let him do this to me—make me angry. He shouldn’t matter, because no good parent worth a damn would ever purposely leave their child.

If he never loved me, why should I even care?

“You ready?” Fionn asks, clasping my hand in his while I stare at the white colonial home.

Floral design and manicured shrubs line both sides of the front yard, the wooden fence and powder-blue shutters making the home even more inviting. So while we lived in the crappiest part of town in a home that was falling apart, he was living here, enjoying a nice, cushy life.

The more I think about it, the madder I become.

“Let’s go,” I tell him, opening the car door before he does.

As soon as I step out, my knees buckle. No matter what I tell myself, I’m nervous beyond belief.

“I’ve got you, baby.” Fionn’s a blend of strength and kindness that I fully fall into, holding on to his hand as we walk up the driveway, my heart knocking in my rib cage the closer we get. He glances at me. “I’m right here. Not going anywhere.”

I nod and he takes it as permission to ring the bell.

Immediately, we both register a set of hard footsteps drawing nearer. My gut churns, shivers spreading down my arms just as the door opens. I expect to see my father; instead, standing before me is a guy not much older than me with brown eyes and even darker auburn hair.

He smiles tentatively, glancing between us. “Can I help you?”

It’s in this moment I realize…

This is my brother. Julius.

He’s twenty-six. That’s what the file Fionn gave me said. His mother is Soraya, and she’s been married to my father for over thirty years.

“We’re here to see Lloyd.” Fionn’s clipped tone has him staring at us curiously now.

“What’s this about?”

“It’s a private matter. Please get your father.”

“Uh, okay. Dad!” he calls over his shoulder. “Someone’s at the door to see you.”

“Well, who the hell is it?”

His mouth thins. “Who are you, exactly? The old man is a bit cranky with strangers.”

“Oh, she’s not a stranger.” A ruthless smirk tugs at Fionn’s mouth. “She’s his daughter.”

The color instantly drains from Julius’s face. “Umm, Dad, you’d better come and talk to these people. Now .”

A groan echoes before footfalls pound in the distance, mounting nearer.

“What’s the meaning of this?” He practically shoves his son out of the way, giving me and Fionn an irritated look. “Who the hell are you two? And what do you want?”

Nausea swirls, rising up my throat. My mouth refuses to move. I’m unable to do anything but stare at the man with a full head of gray hair, his brows sprinkled with a bit of dark strands.

His eyes are hazel like mine, though his are a bit deeper.

“What do you people want?”

I practically shake, every cell in my body trembling. Fionn holds my hand tighter, as though in tune with me.

“May we come in?” he asks.

“No.” He gives him an icy once-over. “Tell me why you’re here or get lost.”

When I peer over at Fionn, his nostrils flare, and I can tell he’s barely holding on to his patience.

“Do you remember Desdemona?” he asks.

In an instant, his face turns ashen, every trace of anger turning into absolute fear.

“Who the hell is Desdemona?” A woman appears behind him, glaring at us and her husband. She plants a hand on her hip, moving toward his right. “Well?”

“Uh…honey, it’s nothing.” His mouth quivers.

“Didn’t sound like nothing to me, Lloyd.” She flicks her black strands away from her thin brows.

She seems to be around the same age as Mom, though much prettier. Probably because she doesn’t do drugs.

A wrinkle deepens between her brows.

“Julius, why don’t you take your mom away so I can talk to these people?”

She scoffs. “I’m staying right here, and so is our son.” Her eyes zero in on us. “Maybe you two can tell me what the hell is actually going on.”

“My mother…” I clear my throat, needing to be the one to say this, while I use Fionn’s hand as my strength. “My mother’s name is Desdemona, and your husband is my father.”

“WHAT?!” She almost trips, lurching back a step. “Is this true?” She balls her hands. “Tell me you didn’t get some woman pregnant!”

Julius stares at me—really stares, like he’s trying to find a similarity. But I don’t really see much.

“How old are you?” he asks.

“Twenty-four.”

“Jesus.” He slaps a hand over his forehead.

“You son of a bitch!” she roars, smacking my father on the chest over and over. “I knew you were fucking around back then! I just knew, but you denied it.”

She continues to hit him while he covers himself with his arms.

“She’s lying! I don’t know a Desdemona!”

Fionn laughs, a cold, brutal sound. He takes a step closer to him, right past the threshold, his face nearing my father’s.

“Not only are you a deadbeat, but you’re a fucking liar too.” A vein in his neck bulges out. “You left my wife when she was just two. What kind of man are you?”

Lloyd blinks faster, terror filling his gaze. “I…I made a mistake. I never loved her. I?—”

Soraya cries, and her son comforts her, giving his father a dirty look.

“What the hell do you want, huh?” There’s a tightness in the lines of his forehead, a flush to his skin. “Did you come here to destroy my family? To get back at me?” His disgust for me is so evident in his features, it hurts. “Are you happy now? You got what you came for.”

Tears fill my eyes. “I never destroyed your family, Dad . You did that all on your own.” I shake my head in disgust. “I don’t know what I expected from you. Maybe an ‘I’m sorry,’ but I can see now you’re nothing more than a pathetic old man who never quite knew how to be a father.”

He releases a short breath of laughter. “Maybe not to you, but I was a damn good father to my boy. Your mother was nothing but a cheap whore who hung on to me for every dime she could, and when I got sick of her—sick of both of you—I stopped playing pretend.”

It takes a few seconds to register what happens next.

Fionn’s blow hits him straight in the nose, blood spilling, shrieks and chaos ensuing as he hits him again and again, forcing himself further into the house.

“Stop!” Soraya hollers, while Fionn shoves Julius off of him easily.

“Don’t do this!” I call out, grabbing him by the shoulder.

As soon as I do, he stops, fist still clasped around Lloyd’s shirt. Tears drip down my cheeks as he gazes at me, brows bending with pain.

“Let’s just go,” I tell him. “There’s nothing for me here. Let’s go home to our daughter.”

At the mention of her, his grip loosens until my father falls to the ground. Fionn hits them each with a grim stare.

“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, and I mean anyone, I will know about it and I’ll come back and kill every one of you.”

Soraya nods, eyes popping wide, fingers trembling as they shiver across her mouth.

Without giving them any more attention, he takes my hand and leads me back to the car. Their door shuts, but just as we’re about to take off, Julius comes running out.

“What the hell does he want?” Fionn mutters, rolling the window down as he appears before it. “What are you doing here?”

“Look.” He shakes his head, exhaling sharply. “What my father said to you isn’t right. I’m sorry.” His attention bounces to Fionn. “No hard feelings about what you did back there. I would’ve wanted answers too if I were you. Hell, I want them myself. None of this is right.”

“No, it isn’t.” I muster a reply.

He pauses, staring between us like he wants to say something else. “Uh, maybe this is stupid, but would you be interested in getting lunch sometime? I don’t know where you live, but maybe you can take my number and we can, I don’t know…” He shrugs. “Get to know each other?”

Hope springs. To have a sibling, to have some family, it means something to me.

I glance at Fionn, and I can tell by his intense expression that he doesn’t want me to say yes. But I want this. I want to get to know my brother. Just because my father is an asshole, that doesn’t mean he is.

“I’d like that. We’re in West Sherwood.”

“Great.” Julius’s lips thin. “Take down my number.”

“Sure.” I grab my cell from my bag, and he shoots off his number. “Got it. Let me go ahead and give you mine too.”

He smiles as he retrieves his phone and saves it. “Well, I’ll let you guys get going. It was nice to meet you. Geez, I didn’t even get your name.”

“Amara.” I let out a sigh. “Amara Quinn.”

Fionn’s palm lands warmly on my thigh, like he enjoyed hearing me say that.

“Well, Amara, I look forward to getting to know you. And I’m sorry again.”

“It’s not your fault.”

He nods, releasing a rough exhale. “Anyway, get home safe.”

“It was good to meet you, Julius.”

He disappears in the rearview as our car pulls down the road.

When we’re a safe distance away, I let out a quick breath, reliving the painful minutes of meeting the man I wanted to meet all these years. Instead, he was just as bad as my mother. Just as cold and cruel. No wonder they got together.

Fury boils inside me. How could he treat me like that?

Curling a fist at my side to steady my emotions, I notice Fionn’s bloody knuckles. When I see him this way, it’s like a reminder of who he is and how he’d do anything to protect me.

And right now, that doesn’t scare me as much as it should.