Blank. Heidi and Blake’s faces. Totally blank.
I got the words out, right?
Heidi frowns.
Blake twitches and sits forward. “What do you mean, Rock’s your father?”
“What are you talking about?” Heidi drops her gaze and absently twirls one finger through her long, brown hair, pulling it in front of her face and studying the ends. “How can Rock be your father?”
“Well, apparently DNA doesn’t give a shit what lies your family fed you.” The fake amusement I try to inject into my voice grates on my own nerves. Why am I acting like a victim here?
Heidi drops her hair and stares at me. “You’re serious? How long have you known?”
I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t cause Heidi any more pain. But I can’t tell her one more lie.
“For a while now.”
“Since when, bro?” Murphy asks in a deadly tone that suggests he already knows the answer. Of course he does. Why the fuck else would Rock and I have ever had our DNA tested? “When Inga sued the club?”
“Uh, yeah.” I glance at Rock, then Hope, but neither of them moves a muscle. “It came up. That’s why we had to get tested again—”
“You’ve known since then?” Heidi explodes. “That was…” Her gaze bounces around the room, stopping at Hope, then Charlotte, as if they’ll provide her with a timeframe. “Over a year ago!”
I shoot a glare at Murphy. Heidi shouldn’t be so involved in club business.
He scowls back, a fuck-you-I’ll-tell-my-wife-what-I-want face that I have no right to question.
Red-faced, Heidi turns on Blake. “Did you know, too?”
“No,” he answers, his voice tight with anger. “I didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” The inadequate apology tastes bitter on my tongue. “You were finishing school. Getting married. I didn’t want to…overshadow any of that, Heidi. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel.”
“I feel betrayed.” She chokes on a sob, then stabs Rock with an accusing glare. “You knew?” Her hurt eyes land on Hope. “You too?” Her voice breaks. “We were living in your house. Day after day. How could you lie to my face?”
Tears fill Hope’s eyes. Her lips part but I cut her off.
“It’s not their fault. I asked them not to say anything until I was ready to talk about it,” I explain.
Heidi’s glare softens for a fraction of a second. “Marcel,” she whispers.
My sister’s always been more compassionate than I deserve. But this time, I might’ve broken her faith in me completely.
The softness vanishes from her expression. She jumps out of her chair and grips the back of it, shoving it against the table. Murphy stands next to her, the two of them forming a wall of hurt and anger. “Ready to talk about what? That you won the Dad lottery? That we’re not even—”
“Don’t you dare,” I warn. “You’re one hundred percent my sister. Always will be. No matter what any test says.”
“Do you know how many times I wished Rock was my father?” A hopeful spark lights her eyes and my stomach spirals. “Wait.” She sends a pleading look in Rock’s direction. “Is there a chance I’m…?”
I swallow hard, hating to extinguish the thought before it spins out of control. All the things I could say that might let her down gently run through my head. But Rock steps up to shoulder this part of the emotional nightmare.
“No, Heidi.” Guilt coats his words, and I feel even worse.
Her eager expression turns bitter as her gaze lands on Charlotte. “You knew too?”
Charlotte’s long, deep breath is as good as a yes.
Heidi nods slowly but her shaky voice is less than accepting. “So, all that ‘you’re already like a sister to me’ crap you told me was a lie?”
“No, Heidi.” Charlotte stands and moves toward Heidi, opening her arms like she can hug the pain away. Heidi dodges the attempted embrace and curls herself around Murphy’s arm.
Everyone Heidi loves and respects the most has lied to her face for months and months.
Because of me.
Anger simmers in the air around Murphy. In one arm, he holds my niece; the other, he uses to protect my sister. But the fire in his eyes is aimed at me.
“You lied to me. In the hospital.” Hurt and hate turn his voice to a deadly rumble. “You threw your old lady under the bus, like that was the only deep, dark secret you had—”
“Blake,” I warn.
His gaze shifts to Charlotte, who’s frozen in place. No matter how furious he is with me, he won’t spill Charlotte’s secret.
He swallows hard and shifts gears, his angry eyes burning holes into my skin. “You claimed you were worried I was gonna die. But you still couldn’t come clean about this?”
Rock’s irritation with how I’ve handled this must finally reach its boiling point. In a hard voice, he orders, “Blake, sit down and—”
The rolling thunder of Blake’s anger picks up steam and spews Rock’s way. “I’m supposed to be your VP?” He skewers Rock with a furious scowl. “What was that? Some consolation prize?”
“Fuck no. Not at all. That’s got nothing to do with this.”
“Blake?” Heidi curls her fingers in his shirt, and he tears his murderous glare away from Rock. She whispers something but I only catch the word “go.”
He nods and turns them toward the door.
“Blake, wait.” Rock moves fast, skirting the corner of the table to reach for Blake’s shoulder.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” Blake jerks away.
“Stop. Let’s talk this out.” I’m practically begging, but I don’t make a move toward them.
“Now you want to talk?” Blake roars. “Fuck you, Marcel.”
“Daddeee!” Alexa wails, throwing her arms around his neck. “Nooo.”
“Shhh.” He releases Heidi to rub Alexa’s back and whisper something reassuring to her all while striding toward the exit. He and Heidi move together like a team that’s practiced running from heartbreak their entire lives. Heidi scoops up her purse and Alexa’s bag, then reaches for the doorknob.
“Heidi, please don’t leave like this,” Hope pleads.
Heidi chokes on a sob and shakes her head. Refuses to even look at Hope.
Chasing them down will only make it worse.
So I sit there and do what I do best.
Nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Murphy
Move.
Get out.
Run.
My heart pounds with fury as Heidi and I hustle through the woods to the garage.
“Do you want to stop at the house?” I ask Heidi.
“Nope.”
Glad we’re on the same page. We’d be like sitting ducks there. Waiting for Rock and Marcel to show up and demand forgiveness.
Fuck both of them.
The old truck that I loaned to Grinder is in the clubhouse parking lot. He’s nowhere in sight though.
Good.
No one needs to witness our family meltdown.
Our family betrayal.