Page 115 of Time to Bounce

“I wasn’t supposed to be dragged into it…” I shook my head incredulously. “What the hell, Mother? Did Dad know? Gavrel?”

“No,” she stated firmly. “They didn’t know.”

“Why would you keep something like this from us? Why not just tell us? Why? What was all this for?” I was reeling.

“My affair partner hated that your father was a senator and always putting us in danger, and I agreed with him. But I loved your father with all of my heart, and I couldn’t leave him. Leave you and Gavrel.” She looked away. “You don’t understand how dangerous your father’s job was. He had a lot of enemies, and we were getting death threats all the time. We got shot, for Christ’s sake!”

They had.

But that didn’t mean she had to take my sister away and let me think that she was suffering all this time.

“She’s happily married, Athena. How could I have taken that away from her?” she asked.

I didn’t know what to say.

This was all overwhelming.

In the end, I decided that I was done.

I needed to go home.

I needed to talk to Gable or Maven.

I needed out of here.

Now.

I started heading for the door, the letter still clenched in my fist.

My mom stopped me when my hand was on the doorknob to leave.

“She wants to meet you. Get to know you.”

I heard the lie in her voice.

There was more to it than that.

I turned on shaky legs to face her.

“Why now?” I asked. “Why are you finally filling me in now?”

Her eyes shifted slightly to the left as she started speaking.

“Mary Beth needs a kidney,” she blurted out.

I blinked.

“And we know you’re a match,” she continued.

Still, I waited.

“I know this is a shock, and I’m sorry to even have to ask, but would you mind donating a kidney to your sister? She could die without it,” she pushed.

“How would you know that I’m a match?” I asked carefully. “We’re not even blood related.”

Her words surprised me, even though at this point they shouldn’t have.

“Because we had your blood tested.” She looked slightly ill. “When you were at the hospital last week.”

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