Page 75 of Can't Be Love

I couldn’t say no to her, so I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, then nodded my head and turned to leave without another word.

“Wait,” Maddie said just before I left the room. I slowly turned to face her.

“I’m just nervous. Come back. It’s still kind of weirding me out a little seeing the two of you together, but Lily’s right. You’re her mate. You’re my brother, and while this isn’t necessarily any of your business, I know she’d never ask me to keep anything from Liam, and it’s not fair to ask her to keep this from you.”

“Maddie, it’s okay. Whatever it is, I’m sure you have your reasons,” I told her, turning to leave again.

“Thomas?” she said softly, and I turned to meet her eyes. There were tears in them and my instincts were split between turn and run, and go and comfort my sister.

“Ah Mad, it can’t be that bad. Come here,” I said, crossing the room and wrapping her into a big hug. I hadn’t really had much contact with her. We’d made baby steps on eggshells back home, but this felt like the start of a new phase in life for us.

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she said with her face buried in my chest. I gave her a few minutes to gather herself together before pulling away. She wiped a tear from her cheek and motioned for me to sit, so I joined Lily on the couch.

“This really isn’t easy for me to talk about,” she started. “How much do you know about what happened to me the night I disappeared and why I never came home?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Enough,” I said.

She nodded. “And do you know that Oscar is half wolf, half tiger?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“Last year I helped rescue some shifters, and in the process, I inadvertently let loose the tiger pack that attacked me that night. I know it was stupid, but I didn’t know they were there. Anyway, last spring they showed up at Chase and Jenna’s place. The bad ones are back in custody, but I let the youngest of them go free.”

I already knew most of that from what I’d pieced together from Kyle. “Why?” I asked, trying to keep judgement out of my voice.

“Because it was the right thing to do. He was just as much a victim to his brothers as I was. Yes, he acted that night too, but they got him really drunk, possibly drugged, and basically forced him on me. I have it from reliable sources that he really isn’t a threat and I was willing to give him a second chance at life, in exchange for a blood sample. I had samples taken from each of the tigers and”—she waved an envelope in her hand—“I have the results in.”

“It’s the DNA results to identify exactly which one of them fathered Oscar,” Lily added. “We were just about to open it when you came in.”

“I see,” I said. “Are you sure it matters?”

“It really doesn’t matter, but I need to know for closure. Oscar may have questions about his biological father someday, and the answers are here in this envelope.”

I nodded. “Would you like me to open it for you?” I offered, surprising both the girls.

Maddie stared at me for a moment, then she nodded as she handed the envelope to me with shaky hands, and I slid over so she could sit next to Lily. The two girls hugged.

“Are we rooting for anyone in particular?” I joked.

“Jack,” they both said in unison.

I opened the envelope and quickly read through it. “The results read by 99.9998 percent probability of paternity, Jack Simpson is Oscar’s biological father.”

Both girls started crying. Maddie grabbed the results and they looked them over for themselves.

“Shouldn’t Liam be here for this?” I finally asked.

“He didn’t want to know,” Maddie confessed. “Says it doesn’t matter because he is Oscar’s father, his only father. He’s not wrong, but what if Oscar turns out to be a tiger shifter? He may need someone to talk to. He may want to know his biological father. And I can’t tell you how relieved I am it’s Jack.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Lily asked, seriously.

Maddie shook her head, then shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe someday. I’m just relieved it’s him and not one of his brothers. I won’t go behind Liam’s back, or invite him into our lives unless Oscar asks us to. I’m not real sure what to do with the news exactly, but I’ll talk to Liam and we’ll decide together.”

Lily hugged her tighter. “I know you’re relieved it’s him. In some really messed up way, I’m happy for you. Not that it’s something to be happy about, but well, you know what I mean.”

The girls both laughed. There were tears still in their eyes. Maddie reached across the space between us and squeezed my hand.

“Thank you for being here and reading the results, Thomas. I know things have been really strained between us, but I hope that we can find some common ground again. I mean, you mated my best friend, and maybe I don’t deserve it, but we are still family.”

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