“What if I let you hit me again?”
“I already promised Waverly and my sister I wouldn’t.”
“Then name your price, O’ Lachlan.”
“Don’t hurt her again,” he growled. “There’s always two sides to the story, but you don’t know hers. She almost died in the accident and when she woke up, the first thing she said was your name. Only it wasn’t your feckin’ name, was it?”
“That’s why we were going up the mountain the day of the accident. I was going to tell her.”
“After how many months of lying to her though?”
“Trust me, if I had to do it again, I’d do it differently.”
“Here's the kicker, Duncan. How do I know if I can trust you?”
Hearing him say those words both hurt and pissed me off, even though I understood. There were only a handful of people in the world I trusted implicitly. Finn made the short list after he took a bullet to protect Waverly.
“Not to be a dick, but it’s not your trust and forgiveness I’m looking for.”
“No, but you called me, not the other way around.”
“Touché.” I paused, taking a deep breath. “I love her, Finn. Never stopped. Never will.”
“Feck,” he spat. “Don’t make me regret helping you. Just keep in mind, I have enough money and clout to make a body disappear. Even a big-arse federal agent like you.”
“Understood.”
It was pushing two in the afternoon by the time we hung up. We had quite a few details to hash out before a reunion between Sloane and I could take place. My biggest concern was the twins. When Finn offered to babysit, my gut reaction was to tell him to kick rocks. I’d missed out on too much already, but I couldn’t argue with his logic. They didn’t know me. Decades later, I could still remember the fear of the unknown every time I was moved from one foster home to the next. Now I was the unknown, and I knew from experience, it could be scary. As desperate as I was to officially meet Rogan and Reagan, I wouldn’t risk traumatizing them because of my selfish needs. We had a lifetime to look forward to. In the long run, giving them an extra day or two before introductions wouldn’t make or break our future.
With a few hours to kill, I shot off a group text to my team. They all showed up at my house within thirty minutes of my request for a meeting, everyone except Waverly. She and I would catch up separately. In order to get the ball rolling, I had to face them alone to let them in on the past. We gathered in the living room and––not surprisingly––it was Lanie who started the conversation. And she didn’t bother pulling her punches.
“You’re a dad.”
It was a statement of fact, not a question. They’d all been at the party the night before, I just didn’t take intoconsideration how quickly word would’ve spread through the grapevine.
“I am.”
“Holy shit. And you had no idea?”
“Lanes.” Koen nudged her in the side with his elbow. “Remember what we talked about?”
“Yes, and I never agreed. Duncan wouldn’t walk on eggshells around us. I’m not doing it with him either.”
“Good,” I interjected. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re a family and it’s high-time I treated you like one.”
I started at the beginning with Erik Murray, then moved on to meeting Sloane and the three months which followed. When I got to the day of the accident, it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Shadows formed around my vision as I described every detail with painstaking clarity, up until the part where I pulled her from the car. My agents remained silent as I pushed through, eventually ending on my altercation with Niall yesterday and my new thoughts regarding who might be responsible for the accident.
“Motherfuckers,” Noah grumbled, the others adding their own versions of the same.
“What do you need from us?” Keaton asked.
“I want to know who did this and why. Obviously, any investigation will have to be kept on the down-low, otherwise we’ll risk tipping off the top players.”
“Got it. Officially unofficial it is.” Koen motioned to Nelson. “You’re going to have to keep Jett away from this. Jade will bury me six feet under if he gets involved.”
Jade was Koen’s wife. Jett was her computer genius teenage brother. The kid would hack with the best of them, but fell short when it came to choosing friends. He’d gottenhimself into a pickle a while back, which led to Nelson taking him under his wing.
“Henley has the shovel,” Lanie added with a smirk.