Page 85 of More than Need

“I came from you,” Riley said sternly. They’d raised him, taught him everything. His life had started with them, and it would end there too. He had no desire to make room for two people who hadn’t wanted him.

He pulled the photo from the inner pocket of his jacket. He’d stared at it for so long that he had it memorised now. Burned into his retinas. He could never unsee it. Couldn’t make himself throw it away either.

He handed it over and knew immediately that Theresa recognised it. He knew her face.She knew it.Heaviness settled in his stomach like acid.

She let out a long breath. “We have this, with your important documentation in our safe. I didn’t know there was another copy out there. Where did you get this?”

“From my sister.”

The photo slipped from Theresa’s fingers, fluttering onto the table, her green eyes wide in shock. She had the same colour eyes as Danny and Kellan. Their dad had brown. The twins, Parker and Peyton, and Lucas, had dark blue, which Theresa said came from her parents. Riley’s were blue as well, though nothing like theirs. Such a scattered array of colours that he’d never felt like the odd one out. They were all odd together.

Simon slid a plate in front of Riley. The omelette—stuffed with chicken, green capsicum, mushrooms, bacon, and tomato—covered the whole plate, still steaming. “Make sure you eat all that.”

“Yes, sir,” Riley responded automatically, the respect ingrained in him. Everything good in him he attributed to bothof his parents. He looked up to Simon and tried to conduct himself in a way that would make his father proud. Would he be proud now, knowing how many mistakes Riley had made lately?

“She came into the office, with this photo.” Best not to mention how long he’d been sitting on the information. “Claimed we were siblings.” He hadn’t really doubted it, not considering their similar features, similareyes, the photo—though he had no real way of knowing if that was him—and the randomness of it. Having it made concrete was like a swift kick to the gut.

He had a fucking sister.

He’d known. It hadn’t felt real. Now it did.

“And what happened?” Simon asked, delivering Theresa’s food to her. “When she came in to see you?”

This is where it got messy. “I told her to get out.” He couldn’t remember the exact words, but that had been the gist of it.

Theresa frowned. “Riley.”

“What was I supposed to say?” he asked defensively. He’d handled it the only way he’d been able to after she’d all but smacked him in the face with a two-by-four. “I didn’t ask for her to come in and—”

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Theresa said, holding his hands and squeezing. Her warmth sank deep into his bones. “It’s fine. It’s okay.”

It wasn’t. None of it. He couldn’t even say he wished he could go back and stop it from happening. That meant not meeting Dawson. He didn’t like how conflicted he felt about the whole situation.

“She’s pregnant,” he blurted. Fucking hell,she was pregnant.He’d be anuncle. Whether or not he claimed their connection, it wouldn’t change that fact. None of his brothers had kids; she would be the one that made him an uncle. “She found the photo, confronted her parents, and they told her about me. She trackedme down, wanted to talk to me. I had nothing to say to her.” Less than nothing. He didn’t know what he’d have done if Gideon hadn’t been there, like a knight in shining armour. When she’d left, he’d figured that would be the end of it. He could move on, and she could… continue living her life, whatever that meant for her.

Now he had no idea what would happen. Dawson complicated all of it, and Riley couldn’t let go of him, the same way he couldn’t let go of Gideon. Both mistakes he would make a thousand times over.

Simon took a bite out of his omelette before speaking. “Family’s hard, son. Good family, bad family, estranged family. You don’t want to know her? Don’t. You want to? That’s good too. You’re looking for an answer that we can’t give you.” He cut off a piece of the omelette with his fork. “Whatever you pick, we’ll be here for you.”

There had never been an instance in his entire life where he’d ever thought they wouldn’t catch him if he fell. He’d fallen headfirst into the rapids this time, and he’d suddenly forgotten how to tread water.

“You are our son ineveryway that matters,” Theresa said, squeezing his hands. “Nothing will ever change that. If you want to know your sister, and your parents, and have them be part of your life, we support that.”

“I don’t want them to be,” Riley said coldly. “Andyou’remy parents.” Why did he have to keep repeating that to everyone? Had everyone suddenly decided to start questioning it? “Or is that a lie?”

“Hey, now,” Simon said gruffly. “None of that.”

“None of your life has been a lie,” Theresa said fiercely. “I don’t want to hear that coming from your mouth ever again, or I swear, I’ll bring out the soap for the special occasion. I still have those ones you all got me for Christmas twelve years ago, withyour names carved in each one. Iwillget the Riley-shaped one out, don’t test me.”

It had been a coordinated effort: they’d each given her one with a different sibling’s name on it, in a special dark-wooden box that had “for when regular soap just won’t cut it” carved into the lid. They were on the mantlepiece, and he didn’t doubt she’d use it.

“She looks my age. Or close to.” After so many years on the force, he liked to think he could judge someone’s age at a glance, at least to a few years. She couldn’t have been more than three or four years younger than him, if that. Her parents had thrown him away like yesterday’s leftovers and then… what? Started the family they’d actually wanted?

“I’m sorry,” Theresa said softly.

“I’m not.” If he could reverse time and stay with them, he wouldn’t choose to. Wouldn’t give up his family for anything in the world, even answers he’d thought he’d given up on a long time ago. They weren’t worth losing for this.

“I’m sorry that it’s hurting you,” she amended. “Do you want to speak to your sister again?”

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