Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

Matteo doesn’t answer me. Instead, he lets out a sob as he breaks down. His body shakes as he hunches over and shields his face from me.

What the hell? With wobbly legs and a racing heart, I move to sit beside him on the couch and wrap my arm around his shoulder. I can’t stand by and watch him lose it without offering some kind of support.

“What’s the matter? You’re scaring me.”

He sniffles. “I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry. I didn’t want to tell you, but Santiago told me it’s the right thing, and he’s probably right. But I still don’t know how to do this, so give me a second.”

“Santiago?” I hiss.

Something ugly and dark bubbles within me, begging to be let out. What is happening, and what the hell has Santiago been hiding from me?

Matteo nods, wiping away a stray tear.

“Are you talking about another Santiago by chance?”

He shakes his head from side to side.

My stomach churns, and acid crawls up my throat. I swallow it back.

I don’t know what to ask about first. Why would Matteo and Santiago talk in the first place? What is upsetting Matteo enough to the point that he would cry?

Matteo doesn’t give me a choice in the matter. He steamrolls on, clearly gaining some kind of courage after his outburst. “Chloe, it kills me to do this to you. Shit, it kills me to have lied to you in the first place.”

My body feels like all the warmth was sucked out of me, replacing blood with icy water. “What do you mean by you lied?”

“There’s no easy way to tell you this, but...God. I’m not your father, Chloe.”

I laugh in a

way that says I’m everything but mentally okay. Are we seriously going through this cycle again? With Matteo, it’s as if I take two steps forward before running a mile backward. “Yes, you are.”

He moves away from me, giving him enough space to stare me straight in the eyes. “No. My identical twin brother was your father. I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re actually my niece. I can’t be your dad. I swear on my son’s and my lives.”

I might not have a college degree, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand twin genetics and DNA.

Like a dam bursting, tears spring free from my eyes, coating my lashes. “How can you be sure?” Please, don’t be sure. I can’t handle this level of deception.

The irony is not lost on me. I prefer the lie to the truth any day right now.

“I have only been with a handful of women in my life, and none of them were from America. I was faithful to my ex-wife—well girlfriend at the time. But my brother…he was different. Riskier.” His voice cracks. “My brother would have loved you. You remind me of him with your humor and your smile. He even got the same look as you in his eyes when he had an idea or got overly excited.”

Matteo continues to talk, but I struggle to process anything he says. Nothing matters except for that fact that he speaks about his brother in the past tense.

“Why are you talking about him like he’s dead?”

Matteo looks down at his lap. “He passed away the summer after you were born.”

The few tears I shed earlier become a waterfall, trickling down my face before landing on my lap. I can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it. After all these years waiting and wishing... After Matteo pretended to be my father and told me stories. None of it matters. This whole damn trip was pointless. My father isn’t even here, let alone alive.

God, how does my life continue to get worse as the years go by? I don’t bother brushing away my tears. They fall in a continuous stream down my face, disappearing into the fabric of my custom embroidered jeans.

My father really is dead. Gone before I ever had a chance to meet him. My lungs burn as I inhale deep breaths, trying to ease the ache building inside of my chest.

“Say something. Please,” Matteo’s voice rasps.

“What do you want me to say? You lied.”

Fuck, it hurts. And worse, I should’ve expected it. Instead, I let my guard down around the one person I expected to be there for me.