Page 131 of Starting Over

“The day you were born was incredible. I was almost thirteen years old and hadn’t even seen a naked woman yet.”

I heard him snort next to me, and I chuckled.

“I was there you know. I watched you come into the world. I didn’t lie when I said you were born at home with a midwife. Darcy was amazing. I wish you could have known her. I wish she could have raised you. She loved you.”

I stole a glance at King. His face was a blank mask as he stared at the table.

“She stayed for three months. Mom convinced her to stay until she healed up, but she stayed three months because she was breastfeeding you. The day she left, I had never seen anyone cry as hard as she did. Mom tried to convince her to take you with her. But she was so afraid of what Eamon would do if he found out.”

I took a deep breath before I continued. I wasn’t sure where his head was at or how he would react to what I wanted to tell him.

“Darcy named you. She wanted your name to be something you could aspire to. And who was greater than a king? She said she knew you were destined for great things and you needed a strong name to get you there.”

“Do you know where she is?”

I almost didn’t hear his question. It was so quiet and filled with so much emotion.

“I don’t. Duane said he was close, but then he was killed. Duncan plans to go over everything he learned and see if he can figure out where she is and who killed Duane.”

He simply nodded, acknowledging he’d heard me.

“What we did, Darcy, Mom, Dad and me. It was never to hurt you.”

“He wants to get to know me. Sal, I mean.”

“I know. He came to see me before he left.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to deal with this shit?”

“One day at a time.”

King turned to look at me. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

I threw my head back and laughed. King just shook his head and stood. I followed behind him and grabbed his elbow before he walked out.

“Are we good?”

King turned back to me. He studied me for a moment before asking, “Why did you send the information to Sal? Did you want him to kill that woman?”

I struggled to find the words to make him understand. Hell, I didn’t understand myself. At least that’s what I told myself.

“Sal was my brother for twelve years. I saw him every day of my life until the day we left, and then he was gone. I looked up to him. I missed him.”

I pulled in a ragged breath and sat down on the edge of the table before continuing.

“When Mom and Dad died, I almost reached out to him. Even if I didn’t tell him you were his son, I thought at least we could be a family. Then, I had a friend at work look into him. He already had a record. All I could hear was Dad’s voice in my head, telling me I needed to protect you. You were my responsibility now, and I had a duty to keep you safe.”

“So why send it to him? Why did you reach out at all?”

“I wanted him to know what happened. He deserved to know. He didn’t choose to stay in Boston, Eamon made that choice for him.”

“Were you hoping he would have the woman killed?”

“No.” I looked at my brother. No more lies. “I knew it was a possibility though.”

King pulled me into a hug. And I held him tight.

“I love you, brother. But if you ever fucking lie to me again.”

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