“Yeah. So, you can see why we didn’t want to take you at your word.”
“But you hired a PI anyway?” Weston asked.
“Always better to get the truth,” Jordan said. “And now…we know.”
Weston blinked. “You’re ruthless.”
“That would be our father,” I drawled. “And I think it’s time that he’s in on this family bonding.”
“Wait…he’s here?” Weston asked.
“He’s here,” Jordan confirmed.
“Why? What did he tell you he was doing?”
Weston crossed his arms. “He…he works in Vancouver, like, every other weekend. He sits on boards and stuff. He was going to be up there. That’s why I figured it would be good to see you. I didn’t even know you were all still talking. He told us that he was divorced.”
“He is,” Jordan agreed. “But he doesn’t live in Vancouver anymore.”
I shrugged. “Or maybe he does. Why don’t we finally find out what’s a lie and what’s the truth?”
Then the three of us turned as one as Owen Wright—our father, resident liar—materialized out of the crowd to stand before us with terrified, wide eyes.
36
Jennifer
“West?” Owen said.
My stomach turned over at the sound of that voice. I’d been a silent witness to everything that had happened. I’d been rooted to the spot, unable to move or think or breathe. I certainly couldn’t walk away as it all came out. All the bullshit and lying that Owen had gotten away with for more than two decades.
He had another family. Three kids and a mistress at the very least. He’d told Jordan and Julian that it wasn’t true. He’d spun some believable tale, thinking the boys would sweep it under the rug. But the problem with lying was that, eventually, the truth always came out.
“Dad,” Weston said, his voice uncertain.
“What are you doing here?”
“I keep getting that question,” he said. “I think by now it’s obvious.”
“You lied,” Jordan snarled. “You lied about everything.”
“I didn’t.”
Julian shook his head. There was fire in his eyes. “Don’t try to deny it. We hired a PI, and now, we know the truth.”
Owen Wright paled to translucent paper. His veins were visible. His skin leeched of color. “You hired a PI?” he said, as if it were inconceivable.
“I did,” Jordan said. “And I’m fucking glad I did since you’re a lying bastard.”
“Jordan—”
“I trusted you! I put my neck out for you. I told Julian that we should give you another chance. And you spit on that.”
People were definitely watching now. We were a spectacle. Something I hated, but I wasn’t the center of it. I was standing in the spotlight as they tore into Owen Wright. Who fucking deserved it as far as I was concerned.
Wrights got to their feet. Jensen took a few steps forward, Austin and Landon at his back. As if they’d step in if necessary. Morgan’s eyes were storm clouds as she crossed her arms and stared daggers into the back of Owen’s head. This had been another chance for her, too. She’d believed Jordan when he asked for Owen to come here. That he wasn’t going to cause more trouble.
Owen was a tornado. You always thought you were fine one block over until it twisted in your direction and bowled your house down to the foundation.
“How could you look us in the eye and say that Weston wasn’t our brother?” Julian asked. His calm was lethal, the eye of the storm. “How could you lie when we came to you for the truth?”
“Julian, it wasn’t…”
“You told them I wasn’t their brother?” Weston asked.
“I…”
“Yes, and he didn’t mention that you had a twin or a sister either,” Julian added.
Owen gulped. “You know about Whitt and Harley?”
“Private investigators are thorough, it turns out,” Jordan drawled, crossing his arms.
“We could have forgiven you if you’d told the truth,” Julian said. “I wanted to believe you.”
“We both did,” Jordan said.
“But you cheated on Mom. You said you loved her, and you had a family behind her back.”
“Boys, this is…it’s all a misunderstanding,” Owen said, trying to spin the situation. But his days of spinning were over. There was no out for him here. And as he looked between his three sons, he saw no remedy to his solution. It was over. It was all over.
Jensen dropped a heavy hand onto Owen’s shoulder. Austin took up the other side.
“It’s time for you to leave,” Jensen said as calm and collected as ever. But he wasn’t a man to be fucked with. Not on a good day, and Jensen never forgave people who hurt his family.
“Jensen,” Owen said, straightening. “Surely, there’s no need for that.”
Jensen looked at him flatly. “On Morgan’s orders, you were allowed to attend this event as long as you didn’t cause trouble. To be honest, I voted against it. Said you weren’t worth it. It’s disappointing to be proven right.”
Then Zach was inside, pushing through the lot of them. He actually looked eager. It had to be boring to stand outside the door all night with nothing to do. Now, he got to throw someone out. Excellent.
Jensen handed him off to Zach, and then Owen was dragged toward the boys.
“Please, let me explain.”
“There’s nothing left to explain,” Julian said with sorrow in his voice.
“You’ve done enough damage,” Jordan growled.
Weston crossed his arms and looked away. As if he couldn’t even look at his dad. Was that because disappointment was too keen or because he hadn’t expected it from his dad? He’d obviously had questions if he’d emailed Julian and Jordan to begin with.
Suddenly, a voice cleared over a microphone at the other end of the room. Morgan stood on the stage, drawing all eyes toward her and away from the commotion at the back of the room.
“Hello, and thank you for showing up for our annual summer event. It’s a great pleasure to see all of you here and enjoying the evening. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I’m supposed to give a speech, so here I am.”
Some people laughed softly, and just like that, Morgan had broken the tension. Everyone stayed focused on her while she gave her short speech and then announced a special treat—Campbell Abbey would be performing an acoustic set. That won everyone over as they cheered, and Campbell walked out with an acoustic guitar around his neck.
“Outside,” Jordan ordered.
And no one argued as Weston and Julian trailed after him. Jensen and Austin nodded their way and then went back to their table. I wanted to go after them, but Campbell was playing, and clearly, I needed to be taking pictures of this. I wavered to see the three brothers together, wanting to be there for Julian. But I could also see that he needed a minute. Beyond the immediate anger, he had a much bigger family than he’d ever known, and he was going to need to figure it all out. So, I left the boys outside and went back to photographing Campbell. Annie and Sutton slid to my side. Piper and Blaire not far behind them.