Page 18 of We're One

“Focus, this is serious,” Callan says.

Blaze looks at me with suspicion, his radar being activated. “You were with Sia weren’t you?” He doesn’t give me time to answer as his eyes widen. “You had sex!” It comes out as an accusation. I’m not a man who blushes, but I feel my cheeks warm. I turn away from my brothers as I add a touch of cream to my coffee and stir.

“He was with her,” Blaze says as if my silence is all the confirmation he needs. I turn back and see Callan looking at me with the same curiosity. It seems as if our emergency isn’t as big a deal as my sex life.

“Yes, I was with her, and yes it was great, and yes, she’s Alessia, the girl I was with in Seaville almost a decade ago. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize her right away. No, I don’t know what it means or where it’s going.” I figure if I preemptively answer any questions that might be coming my way, the subject will be dropped.

“How in the world could you forget about her? Now that you bring up Seaville, I remember how smitten you were that summer,” Blaze says.

“It seems that town keeps drawing us all in,” Callan says.

I give a chuckle. “What seems true is that Gramps is still pulling our strings even from the grave.” He has to be involved with these boxes. I don’t know how, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. He had a special connection with Seaville. And it seems, both Callan and I had our first loves there. No, not love, I assure myself. But it was certainly more than lust. That much I’ll admit.

They both nod before Callan looks at the papers in front of him, his face once again going serious. “Look guys, this might be nothing, but it’s worrying me.”

I’m happy to get away from more questions about Sia I don’t have answers for. Plus, I want to get this done and over with so I can get back to her. We opened a door I refuse to allow to be shut again. We need to talk.

“There’s a man claiming to be Gramps’s son,” Callan says.

This stops me in my tracks. “What do you mean?” I demand. “Dad was an only child.”

“Not according to this lawsuit. He says he’s a rightful heir to the property.”

I give a smirk. “Of course this man’s saying that. Gramps was worth billions. We’ve had these types of claims before,” I say.

“He says he has proof,” Blaze says.

“He has to say that to be listened to,” I say, but I’m a bit shook up about this as well.

“Don’t you want to know if we have more relatives out there?” Blaze asks.

I think on this a moment. “I have no desire to know a so-called uncle who’s only coming into our lives because of money.”

“I agree, but what if he has kids? What if we have cousins?”

“What if we do and they’re as awful as this man?” I ask.

“We won’t know unless we get on this,” Blaze says.

“Well, then get on it. I don’t see how this is an emergency. I could still be with Sia right now.”

Callan shakes his head. “Had we known you were with Sia we could’ve waited, but it seemed pretty important to me.”

“It’s important, but there’s nothing we’re going to do today. This will take time,” I tell them.

“We need to make some calls before you take off again. Sia isn’t going anywhere,” Blaze says.

I worry he’s wrong about this. If I wait too long to get back to her she might sink back into herself. I don’t want that to happen. We’ve opened a new door and there’s no way I’m letting it close again. I reluctantly sit down with my brothers as we hash out what we need to do to figure out this situation, but I’m only half with them. The other half is back with Sia at her place.

The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can get back to her, to where I really want to be right now. We were together nine years ago, and now that I’m with her again, I don’t know if I want to let her get away. I’m older and wiser now, and I’d much rather be having a deep talk with her than trying to figure out if I have lost relatives or not.

It takes hours, but finally my brothers decide to put a lid on this for now. I practically run out the door. I’ve sent a few messages to Sia in the past couple of hours but haven’t gotten a reply. This worries me far more than a lawsuit does. I’m praying it’s because she’s still sleeping. I put Honey in her play area and rush from my house. I’m hoping to bring Sia back home with me. We need a whole night together, hell, we need a week or more together to make up for lost time. I smile as I speed my way back to her.

Chapter Nine

Sia

I wake feeling warm and content with a little ache flooding my body. It takes a moment for the fog to lift from my mind. When it does, I sit up straight in bed as I look around. I listen for a moment and realize Zach isn’t here. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or want to cry. Just like Seaville, I was well loved... and now I’m all alone.

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