16. Confessions
Confessions
Wyatt
For once, Tom is silent.
While it wasn’t as satisfying as punching him, watching Sara tell Tom off definitely made me want to carry her like a caveman back to our cave, strip her naked and have her begging for release. But I have to talk to her first.
Natasha’s eyes are apologetic as she and Tom leave the room.
Tom storms off, unhappy that Sara is finally standing up to him.
Natasha and Tom both knew better. They knew what we’d be up against and left us woefully unprepared.
We knew to be cautious and protect her, but if she’d known she could have been kidnapped off our street, she never would have gone out alone at night.
They could have taken her at any point when she was in the townhouse. They proved that by slipping in and searching Tom’s and Sara’s rooms. It may not have made us feel better, but we figured Sara wasn’t the ultimate goal.
And she hadn’t been.
Finn tips Sara’s face his way and kisses her. She melts into his touch.
“What are we going to do for the rest of the day?” Drew kisses Sara’s neck.
When she turns to face us, her pale green eyes have darkened. The need I feel for her is reflected in her gaze as she meets mine. She swallows.
“We should probably talk?” she says. It’s a question, but she says it more like she doesn’t want to ask it. She wants to fuck. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips. Her pupils are blown. If I touched her pussy, I’d probably find her wet and aching for relief.
My cock twitches, ready to be reunited with her again.
But we need to discuss things. She needs to know about my shit before we go any further. Before Tom can swoop in and destroy everything.
“Yes, we should talk, trouble.”
Her eyes lock with mine as I stand. I hold my hand out to her, so she knows I’m in. If that’s what she still wants, I’m all in. After. She rises and takes my hand and a piece of my heart shifts into place. I don’t know that she’ll still want me after I tell her, but I won’t ever stop wanting her.
I draw her into my arms and lean in to take her mouth. She rises on her toes to meet me halfway. When our lips meet, sparks light throughout me. I could have her one more time before this all ends.
Sink into her warmth and feel her come around me. But that’s not fair.
This would have been the end if everything stayed the same. If my feelings hadn’t grown and deepened. It still could be if she decides it’s over.
My chest aches but I pull away. Her eyes search mine, and I let her see how much she tears me apart inside. She touches my jaw.
“Let’s go talk.” She turns to the others. “All of us.”
They rise and everyone takes care of the dishes in silence. It’s like someone made a rule, but when we finish, Sara returns to me and takes my hand.
I lead her back to our bedroom. The others follow. This is our make-or-break moment. She may decide she doesn’t want all of us or any of us. I don’t think that will be the case. Drew, Finn, and Dante won’t make that decision easy.
But if she doesn’t want me…
I rub at the pain in my heart. If she doesn’t want me, I have to let her go. I’ll stay to protect her, but I won’t force her to be with me. Once she’s safe, I’ll leave.
She looks up at me through her lashes as I release her hand.
She goes to the unmade bed and sits on the edge.
Every inch of her is perfect. The robe splits as she crosses her legs, tempting me to worship on my knees before her.
Part her legs and inhale that delicious scent of her before tasting and rediscovering every inch.
Make her cry out my name one last time.
Instead, I sit on the couch facing her. She cocks an eyebrow, but doesn’t move. The others join me on the couch and in the chairs. She has our full attention.
“There’s something you don’t know about me.” I run a hand through my hair.
“I know enough.” Sara sighs, and before I can dig in, she says, “I don’t want this to end.
I know Tom is back and that was supposed to be our date, but fuck that.
Fuck Tom. I don’t owe him a damn thing. He’s my brother, and he might have something to say about this, but I don’t give a fuck.
I want to be with all of you. Not just fucking you in secret while dating Drew, but actually be with each of you fully. ”
Her gaze flows over us before landing on me, and that’s where her confidence dies a little. I drop my gaze to my hands. I hate that I can still do that to her.
“I’m all in.” Drew straightens. “I’ve been all in from the first time you called me to ask me out. I knew you wanted a fuckboy, but I didn’t want to be that. Not for you.”
Her smile is soft as she meets Drew’s eyes. For once, that rage of jealousy is quiet. Drew’s a good guy and she deserves someone like him. Drew doesn’t stop talking, but that’s nothing new.
“You want me. I’m in. You want them too. I’m in. We’ll figure this mess out. We’ll make it work.” Drew fake punches me in the arm. “Even this guy.”
Before Sara can say anything, Dante stands. “It may not be conventional, but I think we’ve all been waiting for you to be ready for this. I’m not going anywhere, pip.”
Her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she smiles up at him.
“You know where I stand, flower.” Finn runs a hand through his hair and gives her a crooked grin. “You’re mine. I’m not letting you go. You want them too? I’ll make them stay even if I have to tie them to the bed for you.”
A sudden, bright laugh comes out of Sara and her gaze returns to me.
“You have to know the truth before you can decide on me, trouble.” I swallow that bitter pill.
“I—” Clearing my throat, I meet those eyes that want me, maybe even fucking love me, but it’s an illusion that’s easily shattered.
“I love you. I always have. I always will. But you may not feel the same after…”
And that’s what’s tearing me apart inside.
“Do you want us to leave?” Drew asks. He puts his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
I shake my head. “No. If Tom is going to use it against me, you should all be made aware of what I did.”
Sara presses her lips together like she’s keeping herself from saying something. Maybe it’s better that she never says those words to me. Maybe it’s better if I just leave right now.
But if it means I can hold her in my arms forever, it will be worth it.
But if I never get to kiss her again. I press my fingers to my lips, still feeling the kiss we shared.
I could live on the memory of her touch.
The softness of her body. The ragged breaths of her climax. The whisper of my name on her lips.
Everyone settles in their chairs, waiting for me, but I don’t want to change that look in her eyes.
Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out. “Christopher Hawkins isn’t my biological father. My mother was pregnant when he married her.”
Finn and Dante know this part of the story. Shoving to my feet to pace, I can’t watch when her love turns to hate.
“I always knew Hawkins wasn’t my real father, but he played the doting father role well in public.
My mother wanted me to know why he was cold to me at home.
She wanted me to know I’m not biologically his and why, when he dies someday, I won’t have the same privileges as my siblings. Even though I have his name.”
I run my hand through my hair, remembering how I didn’t belong even though I was the oldest. How my brother and sister got love that I didn’t.
In public, Christopher made sure I was one of his, and society thought he loved me just as much.
But behind closed doors, I was a second-class citizen.
Someone he had to deal with to have my mom.
“My mother’s family set up a trust fund for me years ago. So I didn’t really care about the money that wouldn’t be mine. But I felt like there was something missing from my life and thought my real father might be the key.”
I pace to the window. “Your father knew I was looking for my biological father. Our families have been friends for a long time. My mom and your mom were besties. It’s why Tom and I played together from a young age.”
I stare into the sunlit field surrounding the house, seeing bits of color from flowers growing wild in the grass. That’s Sara for me, those bits of color in the grass, drawing my eye and making me wonder how I can keep it pretty and mine.
“I figured out my father’s name from a paper in my mother’s office. That and the argument my mother had with Christopher. When I was eight, she told my biological father about me at an event. Christopher yelled at her for doing that. Saying my father would no doubt hold it over Christopher’s head.”
I clasp my hands behind my back and focus on my reflection in the glass, wavy and transparent.
“I was nine the first and last time I saw my real father. He looked just like me. It was a soccer match your father took all of us to. Even if I hadn’t already known he was my father, I would have been able to pick him out in the crowd.
I pointed him out to Tom, Finn, and Dante.
” That day was a great day with Tom’s dad.
“It wasn’t long after that the news came out.” Dante sits with his hands clasped between his knees. “There were allegations being made, but Gerald Wyatt claimed his innocence.”
“What allegations?” Sara asks.
I brace myself and turn to meet her questioning gaze. “Ponzi schemes. He took a lot of people’s money. If this estate hadn’t been left to his heir, it would have been claimed when he went missing.”
“Missing?” Sara touches her neck.
“When I was eleven, my father reached out and wanted to meet.”
“Wait. What? Why didn’t I know this?” Finn glances at Dante, who shakes his head.
“I only told Tom.” I turn back to my reflection in the window, hazy.
“My dad was being hard on me because my grades were slipping. I spent too much time trying to figure out what was happening with my biological dad. Reading the news clippings. Following the social media buzz around him, but he hadn’t been arrested.
So I figured it was all bullshit. Maybe even something Christopher did to get Gerald out of our lives completely. ”
Thoughts of my real dad consumed me to the point that I didn’t really care about anything else. “In my mind, Gerald was going to save me from this horrible life I thought I had. I didn’t really know what I had until I almost lost it all.”
I put my hand against the glass and hang my head. This is the part only Tom knows. The part that will destroy what she feels for me. I’ve never forgiven myself. How could she?
I blow out my breath. “Gerald wanted to meet me at midnight on the dock. I wasn’t a complete moron, so I told Tom what I was doing. He told me not to go, but this was my chance. Maybe my dad would take me away, and I’d be part of a real family.”
“Wyatt.” My name is soft from her lips, coaxing, comforting. I have to keep going.
“I went out in the middle of the night to meet a stranger. I told my parents I was staying at Tom’s. No one questioned it. Most of the time I stayed at Tom’s because your parents loved you both and by extension they cared for us. They gave us a home.”
I turn and meet Finn’s eyes. “The rebellious heir of a questionable man.” I meet Dante’s. “The unwanted son of a working man.” I meet Sara’s. “The bastard son of a crook.”
She shakes her head, but I turn away.
“But that’s where my plan fell short. I forgot that some people actually cared about me.
I forgot that Tom is a good son and best friend.
” Resting my head against the glass, I close my eyes remembering that night.
“I went to Gerald. I showed up and he said all the things I wanted to hear. How much like him I was. How if he’d known he never would have let me go.
I didn’t find out until later that the only reason he’d been with my mother was because she was wealthy and he’d wanted an in.
He wanted to use me to get more money from her. ”
I hear her gasp but I need to continue.
“Tom told your father where I went. Tom came with your dad to the dock.” I shiver, remembering. “Gerald grabbed me and pulled me toward the boat, but your dad tackled him and told me to run. I went back to Tom, so fucking confused. Why would his dad not want me to have my dad?”
I rub the bridge of my nose.
“I didn’t understand that your dad was trying to save me. My dad never really wanted me. He wanted the estate that was in my name and my mother’s trust fund for me. Your dad and mine fought. Your dad was on the way back to us after telling Gerald he couldn’t take me.”
I can almost smell the ocean air, hear the waves crashing. That realization in my heart that I didn’t need another dad, because Tom and Sara’s dad counted me as one of them. That I had a family. It just wasn’t the one I was born into.
The sharp crack of the gun going off in the silence. The shock on Tom’s dad’s face. His last words, Go home.
My heart rips all over again for the man who would have loved me like a father should. Who did love me. Who died to save me.
“Gerald Wyatt killed your father because of me.”