I raise an eyebrow in question. “Oh?” I can’t imagine what he would have to tell me that I don’t already know.
“Did Alex ever tell you about his parents?”
I have to say that I am surprised by the question, mostly because that was the last thing I’d expected him to ask me.
“Yes.”
Kyle’s eyes bug out of his head. I guess he didn’t expect that.
“He told me that his mother was a gold digger who trapped his father with a baby. I’m assuming that’s why Alex thinks I’m after his money?”
Kyle clears his throat a couple of times. “Is that all he told you?”
I shrug. “It’s pretty straightforward, wouldn’t you say?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” He lets out a long breath of air. “His mother did get pregnant on purpose, knowing that his father was a very wealthy man. After the baby was born…”
“Alex?” I ask just to make sure that I am following the story.
“Yes,” Kyle confirms. “After Alex was born, his mother didn’t want to have anything to do with him…”
My breath hitches in my throat.
“She didn’t want to have anything to do with her husband either, other than with his money. They divorced, she didn’t want any custody time with Alex, and she basically gave up her parental rights.”
I press my fingers to my lips, horrified to hear of such a thing. I didn’t have the easiest of childhoods, but I always knew my parents wanted me and loved me.
“I guess at some point, when Alex was older,” Kyle explains, “he begged his father to find his mother…”
“He missed her.”
My guess is confirmed when Kyle nods.
“Nothing came out of it. The mother had married some other rich dude, repeated the whole process again.”
I frown at hearing that. “What do you mean?”
“She had another son with this guy, then filed for divorce and took off with as much as she could, leaving the kid behind.”
“Alex has a brother?”
I am in shock. How did he never mention this to me? If I had any siblings, they’d be front and center in my life.
“A sister, too,” Kyle adds. “That woman ended up having another baby, a girl, after she abandoned kid number two. After that, she died. Car crash I believe.”
There is so much to unpack here, I don’t even know where to begin. And in all of this, I just can’t understand how Alex never mentioned any of this time. In four years of going back and forth, I really didn’t know him at all.
“I only found all this out recently,” Kyle informs me. It’s like he can read my mind. “He’s never talked about any of this withanyone. At least that I know of. I do know for a fact that the other guys are not aware of any of it.”
I swallow against the lump in the back of my throat. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Kyle’s eyes take on a glassy hue, like he’s getting a bit emotional.
“I’ve known him for a long time. He’s my best friend. He was there for me when I needed a boost to have financial security, and, despite the fact that he almost ruined my relationship with Zara…” He chuckles and shakes his head. “I now understand that it came from a good place.”
I look away, unable to make eye contact anymore. “This has nothing to do with me, Kyle. Just because he’s your best friend, it doesn’t mean that he’s mine as well. He hurt me, and…”
He interrupts me. “He loves you in ways that he never imagined he was capable of.”
