28. Hartley
28
HARTLEY
In my pocket were the DNA results. Alton had collected samples from Lane and me and sent them off. I’d had the results for two days but had stared at the envelope instead of opening it.
This morning, Jordan handed me the envelope and told me to open it with my brother. Together, the two of us could tell Lane with no less than three guards present, when we were ready. I was hardly ready to see the results with my brother no less than with Lane. I must have licked my lips a dozen times with the nerves coursing through me. There were moments I had to give myself an internal shake to remind myself why I shouldn’t do it. Some habits were hard to break, no matter how old they were.
“I thought I was the jittery one,” Forest said as he handed me a glass of lemonade, the sugary powder kind. He didn’t like the real stuff, not that I blamed him.
“You are. There’s something I have to tell you.”
He paused, staring down at me from where he stood in front of the couch. Setting his glass on the end table, he gave me his full attention and sat. “And?”
“I’m engaged.”
Had I ever rendered my brother speechless before? He watched me like he was waiting for me to say gotcha, but I didn’t. I stayed where I was with my serious face and waited for his response.
I literally counted the seconds.
Two minutes and forty-five seconds later, he asked, “What about the DNA results?”
“Really? That’s all you have to say to me? No congratulations, Hartley? No I’m really happy for you? What the fuck, For?” I expected something more than whatever face he was making. “Are you constipated?”
His nose scrunched up. “Even if I was, which I’m not, I wouldn’t talk to you about it.”
“Then why aren’t you happy for me?” I yelled, unable to keep my emotion in. Tears stung my eyes, and my bottom lip began to tremble.
“I am!” He wrapped his arms around me. “I am,” he said softer. “I just didn’t expect you to say that. I figured the three of you would commit yourselves to each other. But when you said it, my mind immediately went to why you were telling me that instead of if we’re related to Lane. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spiraled.”
“No, you’re fine.” I leaned away and swiped under my eyes, collecting the few tears that fell. God, I was a fucking mess. This whole pile of shit with Lane had my emotions a wreck. “I have the results, by the way, and before you ask, I haven’t read them.”
“Okay. Okay, that’s good. We’ll read them together.”
I pulled the envelope out of my pocket and handed it to him. It was folded over three times and the edges were frayed. I’d been carrying it with me or leaving it on a table at home, staring at it. At least it didn’t look worse.
“How long have you had this?”
“Two days.”
“Two days!” he shouted and stood, pacing away from me. “You’ve had this for two fucking days and are only handing it to me now?” He paced back, his bare feet padding on the dark brown hardwood floor.
“I wasn’t ready.”
“You think I am?”
“You just yelled at me, so yeah, I think you fucking are.”
“Jesus, Hart.” Forest dropped onto the couch again and handed it back to me.
“Why do I have it?”
“I’m not going to open it?”
“You just yelled at me and won’t read the results?”
He shook his head, his hair swishing over his eyes. “You read it first.”
Instead of running my finger under the sealed flap in the back to lift it open, I sat it on the couch cushion separating us.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Yup. You want to know, you open it.”
Forest groaned and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He tapped away on the screen. When I leaned in to see who he just had to text right now, he moved away so I couldn’t look.
My eyes narrowed. “What are you up to?”
“You’ll see. So, are you going to have a ceremony? Do I get to be a best man? You’re my brother, but Vail is my best friend. How will you two choose?”
“Easy,” I told him with a straight face. “Hazel will stand up with me since my brother can’t open a fucking envelope!” My voice got louder toward the end of the sentence until I yelled.
Forest turned his nose up and looked away. Grumpy fucker. It was my own fault for bringing up the engagement when I really wanted to talk about the results. If only I could, and hadn’t, brought up that I’d be committing my life to Vail and Jordan instead. Forest needed to know, and Vail said I should be the one to tell him. He was my brother after all. Although, depending on what the results said, I might have a new relative. One whose family tried to kill one of the men I loved and his son.
“We’re going to be on one of those movies where they have to bring in the really smart detectives to try to figure out our fucked-up lives.” I put on my best commentator voice and said, “A mafia boss, a chef, and a fashion designer. Their lives shouldn’t fit, but one by one the pieces slotted into place. An obsessed ex, a rival out for blood, and a relative no one knew about.” I rolled my eyes.
Forest scoffed. “Like Jordan would let a company make a movie about your lives.” He wasn’t wrong.
The door to the apartment opened, cutting off our conversation. Sheldon didn’t even look my way. His eyes stayed on Forest. Of course, my brother texted him. Sheldon would come for whatever Forest needed. He toed the door shut behind him.
Blond hair fell past Sheldon’s chin as he dipped his head and pointed at the envelope on the cushion. “Is that it?”
I nodded.
“Can I open it for you two?” It was why he was here. Neither Forest nor I could seem to do it. I should have just asked Rory, who stood outside, to do it. He would have.
My voice was rough when I said, “Yeah. ”
Sheldon reached for it then sat on the floor in front of us. He brought his legs under him, his dark gray athletic shorts and white T-shirt said he was working out when Forest contacted him. Sheldon carefully tore open the envelope, withdrawing a single sheet of paper that he quickly read over. “You’re related to Lane.” His eyes that sometimes were more gray than blue were darker tonight in the low light of the living room. Sympathy swam in them, but I didn’t want that.
“No,” I told him firmly. “You’re not going to feel sorry for us. Pop obviously cared about Lane’s mother or maybe he just slept with her once, who the hell knows.” I really didn’t want to think about what my grandfather did back then. The result was still the same. Lane was related to us. “For?”
“I’m not surprised. After Lane looked at the photos and the resemblance became clear, I had a gut feeling it was true. I just… I didn’t want to believe Pop would sleep with a married woman, a mafia wife.”
“She wasn’t happy,” Sheldon added softly. “We heard that much from Lane. It’s no wonder she stepped away from her husband to seek out someone who was caring and didn’t hurt her with his words or hands. She might not have told him who she really was.”
“Pop would have been kind to her.”
“He was lonely,” I whispered. “I hope she was good to him. He deserved more than a fling.”
“Pop knew he had a child. There’s no other way to explain the debt he incurred. He would have wanted to do the right thing and support his child.”
“Except Edison Everhart wouldn’t have let him have contact, which explains why Lane didn’t know and why you didn’t either,” Sheldon said. “It’s the best guess. We’ll never know for certain unless we ask Edison. Even then, would you trust anything that came from his mouth? I sure as hell wouldn’t.”
“No.” I sighed, feeling sad and yet a bit of a relief now that we knew. “We should tell Lane.”
“Raiden was outside his room last I checked.”
“Jordan said no less than three guards with us.”
Sheldon nodded and stood. “With Rory and me plus Raiden, we’re good.”
I followed him and stood as well. My joints were stiff, as if I was much older than I really was. Maybe that was what happened when you felt like you aged ten years in the span of a week. I guessed it was my turn for my life to be turned upside down. There were worse things that could have happened. Finding out I had another relative wasn’t so bad, except the part where he was a family member of Jordan’s rival.
We drove down the block to the building I called home and took the elevator up to where Lane was staying. Raiden stood outside the door, stoic as ever.
“You know,” he said. It was a statement, not a question.
I nodded. “Why are you down here anyway? If Reghan’s with Jordan, shouldn’t you be off the clock?”
“I wanted to put in some extra hours.” He put in those hours daily. Something else was going on.
“Uh huh. Sure, you did. I have three guards. We’d like to see him.” Jordan knew we’d come here and wanted one of his top men with us.
Raiden nodded and knocked on the door.
Lane opened it moments later. His gaze bounced from Sheldon to Forest to me. “You know.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Can we come in?”
He held the door wider and walked to the couch where he sat and muted the TV. “I thought you would have been here sooner. Thanks for keeping me in suspense.”
“That wasn’t my intention. I couldn’t open it.”
“I get it. I’m not the family member of your dreams.” He sounded so dejected. He knew the results without asking.
Taking the seat next to him, I put my hand on his arm. “It’s not that. It’s wrapping my head around what my grandfather was doing and trying to piece together the events. But I don’t regret knowing. We’re family now. You’re a Weathers.” I nodded once, solidifying that fact. He was one of us, no longer an Everhart.
“Yeah?”
“Yup. Get used to us. Just remember, Forest is the jittery one and I’m the talented one.”
“Oh, whatever,” Forest said as he shoved my head and took a seat on my other side. “I’m the attractive brother. Hart has to make his clothes nice to take away from his… problem areas.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Really? God, why do I like you?” I punched him in the arm just to put some distance between us and because he was being a dick.
“You love me, Hart.” He put his arm around me, pulling me into a tight embrace while I pushed at him. With his free hand, he squeezed my cheeks, pursing my lips in the process. “Look at this face, Lane? You can’t resist him.”
I twisted out of my brother’s grip and shoved him away. “Let me go, fucker.” In the process of trying to put distance between my brother and me, I accidentally elbowed Lane, who let out a little yelp. Turning, I saw him holding his arm. What was more interesting was the way Raiden rushed over to make sure he was okay.
“Oooohhh,” I said with a smile. “Now I get it.”
Raiden didn’t acknowledge me, but he did clench his jaw, a move he learned from his boss. So, Raiden had a thing for Lane. I wondered what Alton would think about that.