“Our Papá cheated on Mamá. And we have half-brothers.” I’m parroting her words back more for myself than anything else. No one else at the table is outwardly surprised, which tells me they’ve all known for a while.
“You knew?” My question is directed at Artemis. We’re twins and tell each other damn near everything. Everything, that is, except for this. “How long?”
“Don’t be pissy with him. We decided it was best not to tell you because of the accident and Edith.” Ares finally lifts his head and his eyes are red-rimmed.
They have no idea she had another surgery. They thought they were being kind waiting to drop this on me, but their timing is almost comical. My chest is being sucked into a vacuum, pressure building up inside my body. My brain is racing, frantically trying to come up with something, anything to refute their claims. But my heart knows they aren’t lying. It’s not some cruel joke.
“At the hospital.” I turn to Athena. “You said I didn’t need to know something then, right?”
That whole night is a little fuzzy, but I recall the heavy looks Ares and Athena shared. She nods. “We’d planned to tell you, but you really didn’t need to hear all of this that night.”
“You had enough on your plate, and we didn’t want to add to it. Now that Edith is out the other side and well on her way to recovery, well, you have a right to know.” Ares’s anger is thinly veiled. His muscles are tight, and his fists are clenched on his thighs. He looks more like Mamá every passing day.
My stomach sinks. Mamá. “Did you talk to Mamá?”
Three heads shake.
“We didn’t do anything. We haven’t reached out to the boys, we haven’t spoken to our parents. Nothing. We wanted you to know before we did anything.” Athena sounds like she’s deciding what to have for lunch, not telling me our father is a cheatingcabrón. But I appreciate they didn’t act without bringing me in first.
“At least three half-brothers?”
She nods. “A guy called Mathias found me a while back, we’ve been in touch a little for a few months. Thiago found Ares on campus one day. I hired a PI to do some digging, and that’s how we found Alejandro.”
My stomach churns so hard I might puke on my dining room table. What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information? I lean forward, forcing air into my body with a deep inhale. Raking my hands through my hair trying to make sense of what I’m hearing.
Cold, heart-stopping dread crashes into me and my body snaps upright. “Did he force himself on those women?” It’s out of left field but for some reason it’s where my mind goes. Papá is a lothario, sure, but a rapist? Just because I can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
Ares bolts up as though the thought hadn’t occurred to him.
Athena moves her chair closer to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know. I want to believe it was consensual, but we have no information,hermano.”
My gut is so heavy, I’m afraid it’s going to fall out of my body. For a beat I think she’s trembling, until I realize it’s me.
Does he talk to them? Or see them regularly? Or does he act as though they don’t exist? Acid scratches the back of my throat. If he raped those women...Puta madre. I slam my fist on the table, making the water in the barely touched glasses slosh over the rims.
Athena pulls me to her, closing her arms around me as I fall apart. I may not have wanted to take over the family business, but the man was kind of my fucking hero. The only one I had. I was proud to work for his thriving empire, for our family name, to be a well-respected family above reproach. He has marred all of us by his actions.
It’s like the stitching holding me together has come loose. Between this escalation in family drama and the unexpected second surgery my girlfriend went through alone, Athena’s grasp is the only thing keeping me from being completely undone.
I don’t know how long we sit there, my brothers silent, Athena holding me, and I wish I could say I feel better when I finally pull back from my sister’s embrace.
“Edith had another surgery while we were gone.” My voice is raw, thick grief. Athena gasps while Artemis groans.
“No.Carajo! Is she okay?” Athena grips both my shoulders, forcing me to look at her.
Shaking my head I fight the sob building in my chest. “She’s not. They put metal in her foot. I don’t think she’s going to dance again, Hen. I really, really don’t. And she won’t let me take time out from playing hockey.”
“All that’s left is the Frozen Four. A couple more weeks and you can spend the summer helping her rehab.” Artemis, ever the voice of reason.
I nod. Rationally speaking I know this. But the first two weeks post-surgery were the hardest for her last time and our next three games are all away. I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to fucking leave her.
As if she can read my mind, Athena speaks up. “I’ll sit with her. Whatever you need. We’re all here for you. Fuck. I’m sorry we dropped this on you. We thought she was home and dry.”
“So did I. I went to see her this morning, and she’s starting over, ground zero. New surgery, new cast, new timeline. Fuck! I could have been with her.”
Ares shakes his head. “She knew you’d get into shit if you missed all our extra training sessions this week,cabrón. She was protecting you.”
I don’t need lessons on Edith from my kid brother, but I don’t have it in me to retaliate. I’m spent.
