“Why are you just now telling me this?”
“Hand over the vase, and I’ll tell you everything.”
She gazed down at it before giving it to me.
Needing her to feel my love, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward me. She stumbled a bit, catching her footing. With her hand on my chest, I gripped the back of her neck and kissed her senseless.
Holding her face in my hands, I rasped against her lips, “I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
“I’m going to give you guys some alone time,” Evie announced. “I’ll be at the hotel bar.”
I nodded, watching her leave. However, at the last second, Sophie spun to look.
She expressed, “I’m so sorry I called you a whore.”
Evie smiled, shrugging. “It’s fine. I can understand what it must look like. I mean, first you catch me in a towel coming out of his bathroom and now this? I’m surprised you didn’t throw the vase at my head instead.”
“I’m not going to lie, I almost did. But I’ve actually seen you three times. The last was when I flew out to tell Jax I was pregnant.”
“Oh no! I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“If you did throw the vase at my head, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I’m shocked that you didn’t.” Evie met my eyes. “You know where to find me.” She turned and left.
I didn’t waste any more time, leading Sophie to the couch where Evie and I were just sitting.
Once we were settled, I told her the truth. “I’ve thought about this moment for as long as I can remember, and now that it’s finally here, I don’t really know where to start.”
“How about the beginning? Where did you go that night before you moved to Miami?”
“My father’s office. He’s the one who called me.”
“Why?”
Taking a deep breath, I replied, “Evie showed up at his office, and he needed me to clean up his mess.”
“Did you know about her?”
“I was getting suspicious that something had been going on. After I moved out, he was home less and less. I knew work took up a lot of his time, but it was obvious that something else was going on. I just never expected that he would have a whole other family outside of us.”
“Family?”
“Yeah. Evie’s four years younger than me. He’s been with her mom since who the fuck knows at this point.”
“Is he still with her?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You don’t know?”
“Evie cut ties with her mom years ago. I’m all she has.”
“So what happened?”
“When I arrived at my father’s office, Evie was already there. At first, I thought she was just one of his fucks. She was only eighteen at the time, and I was disgusted he’d go that young. I called him out on it, but you see Evie’s personality. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. As I was screaming at my father that he was a piece of shit, she interrupted, saying she was my half-sister.”