My finger was poised to end the call when she blurted, “Dad’s sick, Finnian. Renal failure.”
Feckin’ hell.
Sloane was a daddy’s girl through and through. This would devastate her, for sure. The problem was, as much as I loved my sister, I loathed him more. She took my silence to mean I wanted the details. I’d listen to her, be there for her, but under no circumstances wouldheget anything from me.
“He needs a kidney.”
“No, Sloane.” I slammed my open palms against the top of the desk; the red haze of rage filling my vision. She didn’t need to say it; I knew her heart.
“What do you mean, no?”
“You arenotgiving that man a kidney.”
“I wasn’t a match anyway.”
“Jesus feckin’ Christ, Sloane.”
“Whoa.” Warm hands hit my shoulders, instantly lowering my blood pressure. I hadn’t even noticed Waverly come through the door, let alone see her walk right behind me. Joel would curse my lack of situational awareness. “Rein it in before you say something you can’t take back.”
“Hey, Way.” Sloane waved through the camera.
“Hey. Give me a minute with your brother.” She reached over, muting the call.
“How much did you hear?”
“I was already coming to check on you when Sloane mentioned your dad needing a kidney.”
“Then you missed the other news.” Spinning the chairaround, I pulled her into my lap sideways. “We have a sister out there we knew nothing about.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s…um, well…that’s unexpected.”
“Understatement, baby.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“What’s there to feel? It’s not this girl’s fault Dad didn’t know how to wrap it up.”
“Gross, but true.” She scrunched her nose.
“The rest will work out the way it’s supposed to, I guess.” I swiped my thumb across her bottom lip, following it with my lips. The kiss was brief, since we weren’t technically alone. Unmuting the call, I set about making things right with my sister. “Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.” She winked.
“Mama, come ’ere, quick. Ro found a buttery-fly.”
“It's a butterfly, Reagan,” Sloane corrected.
“Dat’s what I said.”
“Is that my little bean sprout?”
“Uncle Finn,” Reagan yelled, then turned to scream even louder for her brother. “Rogan. Uncle Finn’s on da ’puter.”
The two of them were spitting images of Sloane with their thick dark hair and olive-toned skin. Everything was her, except their pale blue eyes.
“How’s my girl? Do you miss me as much as I miss you?”
“Yup.”
