“No.” I shook my head, cutting him off . “Viviane wanted to tell her. A few days before she died.”
“Do you think she jumped?”
“Viviane was anything but suicidal.” My brows pulled together as I looked at him. “I promised her I’d stay with Helena while she went off to see the world. That’s all she ever wanted. Travel, come back, and then tell Helena the truth. That she was her mother. That she didn’t die.”
“I still don’t get it,” he said, exhaling. “People don’t just fall off cliffs.”
“I have my suspicions,” I said. “But I’m not saying anything until I know for sure.”
I leaned back, dragging a hand over my face. “Now it’s just me and her. And I promised myself I wouldn’t tell Helena anything until she’s old enough to understand what it means to be left.” My voice dropped. “I made sure she has everything. And I still have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
His eyes started to glisten. He sniffed, then nodded once. “I’ve got five more years in here. Do you think she’d want to know her real dad?”
My eyes widened, the question catching me off guard. For a second, I just stared at him.
I had raised her as my own. I never let myself think about the day that might change. The day she might look at me and see someone else but her dad. I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t sure I would ever be.
But I couldn’t take that choice from her.
I learned enough from their mistakes. Secrets had a way of breaking things. I wanted her to have the chance to choose. To know everything and still decide if I was the one she wanted to call Dad.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice quieter now. “Sure.”
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said, glancing down at his hands before looking back at me. “Being in here… Rebecca divorcing me… I want to start fresh when I get out.”
“You’ll always have a place to stay,” I said without hesitation.
He nodded.
“I’ll always be grateful,” he continued. “For you sticking by me. For believing I would never…” He cleared his throat. “You know. Hurt her.”
“I know.” I reached across the table, my hand closing around his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “I know.”
He never told me the full story about that night. All I knew was that he caught Rebecca with another man, and something in him snapped. He beat the guy until there was nothing left.
It was ironic. A part of me knew I would have done the same if it had been my wife. But he was the one cheating first. That was the part I couldn’t make sense of. Maybe itwas pride. Maybe he just wanted to feel like a man again.
I loved my brother.
I just never loved the choices he made.
We said our goodbyes, promised there would be a next time, even if we both knew how long that wait would be.
And then it was just me again.
Time to go back to California. Time to stand in front of Lilibeth and say my vows.
Even though my heart still belonged to someone else.
Present day, April, 1993.
I watch her lying in bed, sleeping so peacefully. I lie beside her. It’s past midnight. I should check on Daniel in the basement, but I don’t care if he dies. Not as long as she remembers now.
I slide the sheet off her. She lies on her side, legs slightly parted, back curved, her ass lifted just enough to expose her swollen pussy.
A low groan catches in my throat. I bite my fist, eyes fixed on her.
My hand moves toward her, hovering first, feeling the warmth before I touch her. She shifts in her sleep, then spreads her legs a little more.
