Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Her eyebrows pinched together. “You saw me tonight too?”
“Apparently, so did the council.” He winked at her. “You’re welcome for whatever time I did buy you.”
Her face softened as she carefully leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Come on, sir,” James chimed in, grabbing hold of him.
Hennessy locked eyes with Alfred. “You knew this whole time, didn’t you?”
He winked at her too before helping Caspian leave with him. When they were out of sight, my father and her uncle appeared in the banquet hall. We hadn’t had a second alone since everything came to light, and I expected there was only more to come.
My father and her uncle didn’t walk in here to say good night and tuck us in.
She didn’t waver, not that I expected her to. Looking up at her uncle, she interrogated, “Am I allowed to ask questions now?”
Her uncle nodded, answering her question from earlier, “Yes, mi niña. Deja’s your half sister. She’s the product of a love affair between your father and their mother.”
Our gazes shifted to my father, who was standing below our last family portrait, staring up at it, lost in memories that would forever haunt him. The irony was not lost on me.
The only reason I knew the truth was that they needed me to watch her, and they were aware of how much loyalty I had to my sister. I wasn’t surprised my mother had an affair. My father was a difficult man to love. I didn’t involve myself in things that didn’t concern me, and this sure as hell didn’t.
Nothing changed about how I viewed Deja. She’d forever be my sister. Who gave a fuck who her biological father was? Mine was the one who raised her, and that was all that mattered to me. I never blamed Hennessy for her father's sins. I was just protective of my sister, and I wasn’t sure what she remembered about the day her mother confronted them on our estate.
The only thing I remembered was the screaming, but how much could you truly recall when you’re that young? My mother often yelled at my father. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for them to be fighting about something. It all made sense once I found out the truth.
Without looking at us, my old man openly shared, “Your father and I grew up together like most legacy children. My wife and I had an arranged marriage. Except she didn’t fall in love with me as I did with her.” He faced Hennessy now. “She fell in love with your father instead. I wasn’t… I’m not…” He gathered his words. “I’ve never been a loving man. I just wasn’t raised like that, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t love her. She was my weakness, and she knew that too.”
I watched him carefully as he slid his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
“Their affair started before we got married. I met her when she turned twenty-one, and I was twenty-five. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was the daughter of another Brotherhood member, not a legacy child, but a higher elder. They started their affair shortly after we met. The council, of course, found out, and they were warned that she was already promised to me.” He paused, allowing his words to sink in. “Your father vowed to stay away from her. We were due to marry that summer, and your father fled to the Peruvian Amazon to forget. It’s where he met your mother. He stayed at your lodge for the next year and a half, and when he returned home, Onyx had just been born.” He paused again. This time, it was from the pain he was obviously feeling.
I stood, making my way over to him.
“I think you know what happened next…”
I gripped his shoulder, trying to give him any strength I could muster.
“Less than a year later, I thought I was the father of a beautiful baby girl, and for the next five years, I raised her as such. It wasn’t until the council needed her blood work for her arranged marriage that we found out her DNA didn’t match mine, but your father's instead.” He bowed his head, shaking off the emotions. “I plead mercy for my family, but it didn’t matter… your mother showed up shortly after and…”
Her uncle took over. “The council had already made their decision. Eye for an eye. They wanted you, Hennessy. Your life for his sins, but your father sacrificed himself, and since he was a legacy child, they allowed it. With the exception that your mother would take you away from the Graves Academy and you’d never find out the truth of your legacy.”
She stood, walking over to him. “Then how am I here now?”
“Because this is your home, mi niña.”