I wet my dry lips and exhale heavily before admitting the truth. “Reeve Lancaster is my twin brother.”
Ash gawks at me. Jamie’s mouth hangs open, and Ro’s expression conveys shock. Silence descends for about three point five seconds before my brother, my sister, and my best friend all explode, talking over one another, as they fight to get the first word in.
“I fucking knew it!” Ash thumps me repeatedly in the arm. “You fucking laughed when I said you looked uncannily like Reeve after you removed the contacts and returned to your natural roots.”
“Jesus Christ.” Ro glares at me from the front passenger seat. “You knew all along, didn’t you? I remember your reaction to Viv that night we first met her. You knew who she was, and you said nothing!”
I nod, and Ash thumps me again. “Stop fucking hitting me. I know you’ve got a shit ton of questions, and I promise I’ll answer them, but not now.” My throat clogs with emotion. I take a shuddering breath, clamping my hand over my mouth as the seriousness of the situation hits me full force. “If anything happens to her—” I croak, horrified when tears stab my eyes. “She’s got to make it. She’s got to pull through.” I cannot imagine a world without Vivien in it. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been separated for so long. She still means everything to me.
Ash’s pretty features soften. “Oh, Dil. It’s still her, isn’t it? Even after everything.”
I nod, locking eyes with Jamie as he indicates to turn right. My best friend is the only one who knows I’ve been pining for her all these years. He knows she’s the love of my life and how badly I wish I could change the events of our last few days together.
But Jamie doesn’t know the rest of it. I purposely didn’t tell anyone so they weren’t accomplices. Shame crashes over me as I think of the stress I’ve put Vivien under these past couple of weeks. If my actions have caused this, in any way, I will never forgive myself.
“Does he know?” Ro asks. “Does Reeve know you’re twins?”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth. My feelings toward my twin are a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I hate him. He represents everything that was denied to me, and he has everything I want, but I have never wished him dead. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, no matter how much I despised them.
“The reporter said he died,” Ash whispers, clutching my arm. “If it’s true, it will devastate Viv.”
“Let’s not second-guess anything until we get to the hospital and find out what’s going on,” Jamie supplies.
“I have a son,” I blurt, my gaze bouncing between my siblings and my best mate. “Easton. Vivien’s son. He’s mine. I only found out earlier tonight.”
“What. The. Actual. Fuck?” My brother’s shell-shocked expression drills a hole in my skull. His face pales. “I can’t believe you’ve kept all this from us.” Hurt and some indecipherable emotion glimmer in his eyes, and I feel like a total shithead.
Jamie glances back at me, his eyes showcasing his disbelief.
“Keep your eyes on the bleeding road, Jay.” Ro glares at our bandmate and soon-to-be brother-in-law. “We don’t want a second accident tonight.”
The weather is still shite, but the rain isn’t as heavy as it was earlier, showing signs it might be stopping soon.
“That’s why Viv blanked me after she returned to L.A.,” Ash muses, staring off into space. “She got pregnant and didn’t know if the baby was yours or Reeve’s.” My sister is as sharp as ever.
I nod again, rubbing the back of my neck. None of it seems to matter now. What good was me loving her and her loving him if they both end up dead? Pain pierces me through the heart at that thought, and I bury my head in my hands, struggling to keep my composure. Viv can’t die believing I hate her when the truth is the complete opposite.
Ash stares at me, as if she’s looking through me, and there is nothing as scary as a quiet Aisling O’Donoghue. “I’m so fucking mad at you, Dillon,” she says, a few beats later, as Jamie turns off the road toward the entrance to the hospital. “How could you keep all of this a secret?”
“I had my reasons, and I was planning on telling you. I was waiting for the paternity results.”
“When did you find out Reeve was your twin, and did you deliberately target Viv?” she asks, working hard to keep anger from her tone.
“Our bio dad found me when I was seventeen. He offered me a million bucks to sign an NDA so I wouldn’t come forward and ruin Reeve’s movie career.” Ash sucks in a sharp gasp, and I know she’ll make the connection with the timing. “As for Viv, it was a pure coincidence she showed up in Dublin. I did go after her with an agenda, at first, but she got to me, and by the end, I was crazy in love with her.” I peer deep into my sister’s eyes. “You know that. You’ve seen what losing her has done to me.”
Ash quietly nods, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“You didn’t win that money in the US lottery, did you?” Jamie inquires.
Shit. I really don’t want to get into this now, so I give them an abbreviated version. “I renegotiated with that asshole Simon Lancaster when I found myself in a tricky situation after I chased Viv to America. I signed his damn NDA and pocketed the five mil, using it to fund our relocation to L.A.”
“Fucking hell.” Ro drags his hands through his messy brown hair. “I feel like I don’t know you at all.” He shakes his head. “I’m your brother. We’re your family, and you didn’t say a fucking word to any of us!”
“I’m sorry.” It’s pretty pathetic, but it’s all I’ve got right now.
“Do Ma and Da know?” Ash asks.
“No. I didn’t say anything to them either,” I admit as we turn left into the hospital entrance. I poke my head through the gap between the front seats, watching the commotion up ahead. Thank God, my car has dark tinted windows and no one can see in.
Hordes of photographers swarm the front of the hospital, and several policemen are herding them behind a barricade. “I hate those fucking bloodsucking leeches.” I crack my knuckles, wishing I could be let loose on them. With the amount of turmoil swirling in my veins, I reckon I could easily take a bunch of those dickheads out.
“Take that turn to the left up ahead,” Ash instructs Jamie. “My contact said there’s a side door we can enter. He has arranged for someone to meet us there.”
Thank fuck for my sister and her connections. She’s a kickass manager, and I know we wouldn’t have achieved half of our success without her stellar management skills.
Jamie drops the three of us off before leaving to park my car.
As arranged, some PR jerk in a charcoal suit is waiting for us inside the door. He asks some loaded questions, and it’s pretty clear we won’t be getting near Vivien unless we have a justifiable reason. Reluctantly, I confess I’m her brother-in-law. The dude looks suspicious until Ash pulls up a picture of Reeve on her mobile phone, shoving it in his face. He looks between me and the photo, scrubbing his smooth jawline. After a few beats, he nods, mumbling a feeble apology, spouting shit about procedure and policy as we follow behind him.