That I didn’t just yellbullshitwas more because Mom was a powder keg and I was already pushing it. She threatened violence with her eyes even if she fought to deny it with her posture. So I did what I could.
“No,” I snapped back. “You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want to disruptyourperfect little ecosystem. Your secrets. Yourmen. Yourimage.”
That hit. Her whole face hardened. Her fingers curled into her fist. “I did what I thought was right.”
“Foryou. Not for me.” That she hadn’t slapped me yet was a miracle. But I wasn’t backing down. This wasn’t a simple,did I want to eat in or out tonight,dilemma. There wasnothingso easy or straightforward about this.
The silence between us stretched until it frayed. I could almost feel the crackle of her anger beginning to burn through her control.
Then, quietly, almost barely perceptible, the worst of it sank into my bones. “Archie’s mybrother?” I turned back to Eddie, numbness creeping into my limbs. “Is that even—how?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. You and Archie are half-siblings. We—we didn’t know when you two first met.”
“Youletus become friends,” I said, the realization crashing in. “You let us getclose. And you saidnothing.”
Maddy opened her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.
“Did you two eventalkabout this? Or were you just going to let me find out when one of you slipped up?”
“She wanted to wait,” Eddie admitted quietly. “I didn’t.”
I turned to Mom. “So you let me walk around this summer thinking Archie was—” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t want to. “All those times, all thenightsI spent at their house, you didn’t think for a second that I had the right to know?”
Her lips tightened. “You didn’t spend the nightwithArchie. You were friends.”
“And you were always sosurethat was all it was?” Because the guys had other ideas. Archie had made that clear… Archie had… had…
“I raised you to havestandards, Francesca. And I trust that you did.”
My breath caught. “You don’t get to hide behindparentingwhen you barelyparentedat all. Youtrustedme?Youtrusted meso muchyou couldn’t even give me the truth aboutmy own father?”
“I did what I thought was best?—”
“Foryou,” I shouted. “That’s all this ever is! What’s best foryou. God, you’re so selfish.”
Maddy’s eyes flashed and her hand struck, the slap cracked against my face. The heat burned all the way to my bones. Tears filled my eyes at the sting. The pain couldn’t compete with the vicious wound she’d left on my heart.
Anger, cold and vicious, filled her voice. “Don’t speak to me that way.”
“Or what?” I shot back, not remotely cowed. It wasn’t the first time she’d hit me. “You’ll disappear for another three weeks with some lie about a ‘conference’? You’ll show up later with a smile and pretend like nothing happened, again?”
Eddie stepped in then, finally trying to bridge the canyon. “Please,” he said gently, putting his hands up. “Let’s all just breathe, okay? This is—this is a lot for all of us. But Frankie, I want to know you. If you’ll let me.”
His voice broke.
That caught me off guard.
But I couldn’t say anything. My throat was tight, rage and sorrow clawing at each other. I wasn’t ready to look at him. I wasn’t ready to look at either of them. Everything inside me felt like it had been flipped, set on fire, then kicked down a flight of stairs.
My fingers twitched toward my phone.
I didn’t want to be here.
Not withthem.
Not after this.
“I need to go,” I said, already heading for the door.
