There was no way.“Please don’t lie to me.I know I don’t match either blood type, so don’t fucking lie to me.”
He swallowed. “I’mtellingyou the truth.I’m your biological father, but Melinda…sheisn’t your biological mother.”
I sat back, shocked. “But… my birth certificate lists her as…”
He nodded.“I know. I only agreed to marry her if she adopted you.” He looked at me with tired eyes full of tears. “We should have told both of you a long time ago.”
My head was spinning as the pain surfaced. Was he telling me the truth, or was this another lie? Leaning over, I thought I might be sick.“That’s why she took her anger out on me. I wasn’t her fucking kid.”
He looked at the floor, but nodded his head.
“What about Axel? Who adopted him? You have more money than you know what to do with, and you let someone else take my brother? How could you do that to him?”
He lifted his head, butlooked like he was going to be ill. He stood and held up his hands to calm me, but I didn’t think I’d ever be the same person again. “Mason, it’s not like that. I promise. Your brother stayed with your mother. He wasn’t adopted by anyone. She kept him.”
His words almost took the breath from my lungs.If he had hit me, it would have hurt less. “But not me.”I fell back against the chair and scrubbed my hands over my face. Hot tears sprang to the surface as I tried to make sense of this. I wanted to yell and scream, but I held it in. Pushed it down with the other lies I’d been told. With all the memories of the hell inflicted by the woman who I thought was my mother. Her snubs, her vile remarks, her anger at him deflected on me. And he let me take it. Let me endure her punishments that were meant for him.
My father put his hand on my shoulder. “Son, I’m sorry.”
Iclenched my fists and gritted my teeth before Ipushed his hand away. “Don’t.”
Heimmediatelystepped away. I’d never rebuffed his touch. He was the one constant in my life other than my sisters. And nowI learn he betrayed me and my brother, for what reason. What was a good enough reason to do this to us?
Glaring at him, my hurt was beginning to morph into rage.“How much older is Axel?”
He stared wide-eyed at me, and for the first time in my life, I saw fear in his eyes. How could this get any worse? “Mason,” he pleaded.
“How much older?” I yelled, as tears sprang to my eyes.
His face crumpled once again. “Three minutes,” he whispered.
Three minutes. Three minutes. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my twin.
The rage I thought I held boiled into a fury I wasn’t sure I could stop.I got to my feet, butI didn’t know what to do with all the pain. I had to vent this somewhere before I hurt him, and for the first time in my life, I was afraid of what I might do. So I stepped forward and,with one sweep, I sent everything on his desk crashing to the floor.
My father jumped up, not knowing how to deal with me. But it wasn’t enough to vent my rage. Eyeing the desk, it was going to be next untilstrong arms wrappedaround me like iron bands.His scent soothed me as he whispered in my ear.“It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.”
My body shook violently as his words sank in. Sobs ripped from my chest and burst through the surface. My heart and my head hurt as Igripped onto his armsand cried.He stayed with me asI lost track of time and where my father was. I knew it was a matter of time before someone called security, but I didn’t care. “He’s my twin, Thomas. Axel is my twin.”
He hugged me tighter, giving me the support I needed. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m here. I’m here,” he whispered.Thomasheld me as the fight drainedaway and the pain set in. When I began to sag, he spoke again. “Sit down and get your answers. Then we’ll go.”
I released a shuddered breath as Thomas guided me back to my chair. He spoke to my father, but I didn’t pay attention to what was said. My brain was close to overload, but I knew I had to hear it all. Wiping my hands over my eyes wouldn’t make it go away, and there was a possibility I may not ever get another chance after he kicked me out of his life.
When I lifted my head, my father had taken his seat behind his desk. Pale and visibly shaken, that was probably safer for him.God, I hated this. Every second of it.
Thomas stepped out to speak to my father’s assistant, then pulled the other chair over to me. I stared into space, waiting for security to come through the door. He could have me arrested, but at the moment, I didn’t care. All I cared about was Axel and all my unanswered questions.
“Can I explain?”he whispered.
My eyesimmediately found his. “How could you do this to us?”
My father looked down at histremblinghands. His voice was thick with emotion when he answered. “It’s not what I wanted. If I could go back, I’d change it all. But I was young, and I didn’t have much of a choice.”
I gritted my teeth to keep from losing control. Clenching and unclenching my fists wasn’t enough of an outlet, so my knee began to bounce.
“You need to know your brotherand your motherweretaken care of financially.I didn’t leave them alone.”
Like pieces of a puzzle snapping into place, thingsbeganto make sense. Weeks of traveland her rage when he returned. She must have known where he was.“Were you part of his life?”
