Eyeing me, Isaac crossed his arms. He’d come directly from the firehouse and still wore his FDNY T-shirt. Stubble covered his face from a twelve-hour shift. “What’re you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?” I opened the pizza box, and even though I wasn’t hungry, I pulled out another slice. I knew exactly what Isaac meant.
“You’ve got a brother and sister who don’t know you exist. Are you gonna contact them? What did your mom say? Knowing Erica, she must’ve hit the roof.”
“I haven’t mentioned anything to her. I’m still trying to figure out what to do myself.”
Isaac shifted his focus to Ronan. “What do you think?”
“I want to support Gabriel no matter what he decides, but in my opinion, he needs to contact them. They don’t know anything and should understand Gabriel is as much a victim of their mother and father as they are. Even more so because he knew they existed and spent all these years thinking he was ignored and shut out and not wanted.”
I winced. That made me sound so weak and pathetic. And of course Ronan saw that, and being the perceptive bastard he was, said, “Listen. It’s not a slight to you. Anyone would feel that way. How could you have known they kept your existence a secret? But now that youdoknow…” He left the sentence hanging, and Isaac jumped.
“Yeah. What’re you going to do?”
“What do you think I should do? Don’t you think it’ll be weird for me to slide into their DMs and say,Hi! Guess who?”
Isaac rubbed his cheek, his eyes thoughtful. “Yeah. Maybe. But so what? Let’s say they ignore you. Then you’re no different than you were before. If they get angry and tell you to fuck off, then again, you’re not missing them because they were never in your life.”
My gaze found Ronan, and my heart twisted painfully at his pale face. I knew he still hadn’t come to terms with his sister’s betrayal, and we’d be having a conversation about that very soon.
“But,” Isaac continued, “if they want to meet you or have a conversation, wouldn’t it all be worth it?”
“I guess.”
Ronan said, “It sounds to me like you’re more worried about their feelings than yours. Why is that? Do you think they count more than you?”
Ronan’s words cut deeply. “No. But it’s going to be a shock.”
“I think Ronan hit it on the head. You’re always the softhearted one, the person who’d rather take the blow than let someone else get hurt.” Isaac held my gaze. “You deserve this. You need to know where you stand. Let them know.”
I huffed out a sigh. “You’re right, both of you.” I felt ineffective and helpless, emotions I disliked. I picked up my phone. “I’m going to DM them the same message on their Instagrams.”
Ronan moved behind my seat, and I welcomed his warmth pressing into me. “What’re you going to say?”
“What do you think of this?” I took a deep breath and began to read.“Hello. My name is Gabriel Sachs. Your father was once married to my mother, and while I knew I had a brother and sister, I just found out that neither of you knew of my existence. I know this is a shock, but I’m hoping we can have a conversation and maybe get to know each other. I understand you must have tons of questions, because I did, and I’d like to answer whatever I can. If you want to reach me, you can call me.” Anxious, I looked up from my phone to see Isaac’s gentle smile. “And then I give them my phone number and email. Do you think that’s okay?”
“It’s perfect. I think you should send it.”
Ronan’s chin rested on the top of my head, and he circled his arms around me. “I agree. It’s exactly right. Just copy and paste and hit the Send button.”
It was more nerve-racking to send this message than face down angry protesters or walk a dark, deserted street at night. But with Ronan holding me and Isaac there as he’d always been, I could do it. I chewed my lip for a moment, then without overthinking it, I sent them the message. I’d sweated through my T-shirt and my head pounded, but I’d done it.
“Now we wait.”
“No matter what, you’re the best,” Ronan said. “If they choose to ignore it, it’s their loss.”
I loved Ronan’s staunch defense of me. He was an all-in kind of guy, and I had no doubt he’d be by my side no matter what I decided. I wished I knew what it would be.
“And while we’re waiting…” Isaac grinned. “Let’s talk about what’s going on here. You two have obviously become…closer?” He raised a brow, and I felt the heat rush to my face. “Ooh, lookit you, Gaby, getting all red in the face. So it’s true?”
“Yeah,” Ronan jumped in. “We’re together. I never thought I’d be interested in anything permanent or even a boyfriend, but Gabriel’s different. Special.”
Isaac nodded with approval. “He is.”
“So I made my move because I knew if I didn’t, someone else would.” Ronan kissed my cheek.
This feeling of belonging, of rightness, was new to me. I’d never been in a real relationship, where I was on equal footing. “You made sure I wasn’t going anywhere else, huh?”
