“Hello,” Noelle circles a finger in the air, “as if any of us haven’t kept our family secrets until we were ready to talk. You’ll tell us when you’re ready.”
“Fair point, Pembrooke,” I say as Nalani flushes, and I quickly take her place.
“But if your Dad’s sick?” Noelle says quieter. “You were there for me when Dad died.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, I will explain when I have my head wrapped around it all.” I wipe, flush, stand, and Noelle takes my place.
“Now, what are we going to do about the sister drama?” Nalani asks. “And by sisters, I mean KET verse Tri Gam.”
I rinse the soap from my hands, “I wanna send Elena a thank you card.”
“What?” Noelle asks as she flushes.
“For the tea about Emma wanting kids?” Nalani asks.
I nod my head, “Did you miss the part where she said she’s wanted them for years? She stopped, which tells me she may have a medical issue and knows she can’t have a child, and I’d have all the empathy in the world for her in those regards. But if my hunch is right, and instead of adopting and giving a child without parents a good home and all those things, Elena thinks will make her a better option for Savannah, she’s trying to take Savannah from Claudia, from us.”
“I have no idea how you figured that out, but —”
“Can you two have James take you and Deacon’s parents to Icehouse? I want to make sure Claudia didn’t miss it, and I want to do that without her feeling uncomfortable.”
“Of course.”
Nalani and Noelle take Deacon’s parents and head to Icehouse. Leaving Claudia, Savannah, who is sleeping on Deacon’s chest, Paul, Hugo, Aleks, Matteo, James, and the two other men, and me alone.
“I know there’s a bigger conversation to be had, but were they invited to this meeting?” Aleks asks of Matteo and James.
“There’s a bigger story there, too.” I rub my temple.
“They work together,” Paul answers Aleks.
Aleks’ eyes get huge.
“This is a lot,” I say as I look to Claudia, who walks over, and I know she’s going to try to comfort me, and all I want is to comfort her, and I no doubt will be after this.
I let her hug me and then step back, “I’d like a few minutes with my friends and lawyer.”
Matteo clears his throat, “Sofie, we have a lot to?—”
I cut my father’s closest ally off. “Look into any female employees who are Tri Gam, or anyone affiliated with them. And if any of you can pay someone to look into Emma Shaw’s medical records, I have a hunch that she may not be able to have kids.”
“Sofie,” he attempts again.
Aleks shakes his head, “You won’t follow us to my vehicle or the hotel.”
“Let’s give them space,” one of the men from the security company tells Matteo, and then looks at Aleks, “He’s not your enemy.”
Then they head out.
“I think you should all have a seat,” Aleks says. When we all do, he stands behind me, hands gently gripping my shoulders.
I clear my throat and turn to face Claudia, and begin, “Someone at Fairfax media leaked information to my sisters that our father,” I pause, feeling the strings of my strength stretching thin right now, “After I graduated college and came home, he’d been drinking a lot, he was never a drinker.”
“Explains that,” Paul states, in reference to me being so angry at him for drinking that first day we found him.
I nod, “He, um, he slapped me once early on,” a collective gasp fills the box, not Aleks though, I feel his grip on my shoulders tighten just a bit, and it doesn’t loosen. “The next morning, I was moving out, and Matteo showed up. The week following, I noticed he seemed confused, and Matteo agreed.Within a week, we were on a plane to see a doctor in Europe. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease with behavioral disturbance, and that’s where he’s been seeing a doctor since.”
“I’m sorry, Sofie,” Claudia says softly.
