Page 15 of Secrets and Ruin

“Exactly.”

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CHAPTER SEVEN

Istared at my phone, knowing Dirk would be calling any second. He’d promised. After Heath and I did the house visits and dealt with our pack of teenagers, we got to work on things around the house, going our separate ways. It was life stuff. I budgeted for the next two weeks, handled payroll Oliver had left for me, and answered emails, one from Zuri, wondering if she could tell Jabari yet.

Soon, Zuri. Just waiting on Dirk’s call.

I knew why she was anxious. She wanted to prepare him for the fallout as quickly as possible. I knew she would stand by Dirk, and if she trusted Jabari, I would, too. There may not be any fallout, but we prepared for the worst-case scenario, not the best.

I woke up my computer to see the flight’s estimated arrival time in Berlin, hoping everything was still on track and the plane hadn’t crashed or anything crazy like that. During his layover, I texted Dirk to tell him that Niko would be there, and he’d replied, but I needed to hear from him once he landed, not only for Zuri but for me. I needed to know if he was still okay doing this by himself. I needed to know if Niko followed through and arrived to pick him up. If he didn’t, I would bring Dirk home, and Niko would never see him again.

“Any word?” Heath asked as he peeked into the office.

“Not yet, but his flight is ten minutes away from landing. Soon,” I answered, putting my phone down and looking away from the computer. “He’s been flying or dealing with layovers for fourteen hours, so it probably won’t be a long conversation, but….”

“I know,” he said gently. “Want me to leave you to it, or would you like me here in case he wants to talk to me?”

“He’ll reach out to you if he needs you,” I said, smiling. “But you can sit in here with me all you want.”

Smiling, he closed us in the office and sat down in the armchair near my windows. He grabbed a book, one I believed he had already read, and focused on it, leaving me with silent comfort. There was no expectation on me for conversation. He would be there if I needed him.

The minutes ticked by slowly, but the moment my phone buzzed, I frantically grabbed it and answered, my mind barely registering that Dirk’s name was on my screen.

“Hey! How were the flights?” I asked before he could even say hello.

“Exhausting but I’m here. Walking towards luggage claim now. Let’s hope he didn’t convince himself not to show….”

“He’s your father. He’ll be there.” I wasn’t sure I believed my words or that I hid my trepidation well enough.

“He’s Niko,” Dirk said softly. “No matter how well you know him, he can still be a mystery.”

Coming from Dirk, that spoke volumes. I knew my brother in Germany was one of the most shadowy of my siblings. He hid a lot of his personal life from everyone, including the siblings he’d had for centuries. It was always like that with him. He didn’t offer much about himself, and what he usually explained to me was something the rest of the family already knew.

He got angry with me over secrets, but I bet he has hundreds…

“He loves you. Trust me. I already talked to him,” I said, sighing.

“Why don’t I like the way you said that?”

“Bad phrasing,” I said quickly. “Look, he’s going to be there. He’ll probably be at baggage claim. I wish I could give you advice, but I can’t. Are you still on board with me letting Zuri get Jabari up to speed?”

“Yeah, don’t change the plans with anyone else. Steps, right? Tell Niko, let Zuri tell Jabari, then we figure out how to… tell everyone else.” He paused, clearing his throat. “How’s Landon?”

“He’s missing you, but he’ll be fine. Call him next when you have the chance. If you want, tell him how your trip is going, and he’ll tell only me what you think I need to know or hear.”

“I might do that….” Dirk chuckled. “Since we both know you’re hovering right now,. I got to sleep on both flights, not a lot of sleep, but enough. You should probably get some yourself.”

“I’ll be fine. How far until baggage claim?”

“I’ll let you know when I’m there.”

We talked about airplane food until that moment.

“Okay… now I need to find—”

“When did you get such an American accent?” Niko asked, the phone picking it up.

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