Page 4 of Remade

The rock in my stomach grew to the size of a mountain, and I had to get this out before I lost it again.

“His name was Jake Quinn, and I’m sorry I never got to meet him.” My vision became blurry once more, and I sniffled. “If you don’t believe me, I’m willing to do a DNA test or…”

He shook his head stiffly. “Don’t need it.” His jaw clenched, and he scrubbed a hand over his mouth and looked away.

Oh shit. He was gonna tell me to fuck off.

“I want you to know I’m not after anything,” I felt the need to say. “I, uh… My aunt helped me get enough details about him—but I was a coward. I’ve been sitting on this information for a few years now.”

Ryan blew out a heavy breath and turned around for a moment. He ran a hand through his hair and then shook his head before he faced me again.

Did he believe me? Was he gonna get angry?

“I understand it’s a lot, buddy,” Beckett murmured. “You wouldn’t happen to know why Jake would have a business card to Hillcroft, would you? Was he thinking about joining?”

Ryan shook his head again. “He flew out to keep an eye on Darius.” He shifted his stare to Beckett. “He got to know your brother. Vince told him to get his ass back to school, but Jake had this… He couldn’t let go of the possibility of joining the Army like our old man once did.”

“Oh,” I exhaled.

Beckett nodded slowly and let his arms fall to his sides. “If the Army was on the table, it makes perfect sense my brother wrote our dad’s name on that card. He worked at the Ranger School. Like an ‘If you enlist and end up at Benning, go see this guy’ kind of thing.”

Ryan didn’t respond. He was watching me, and his eyes were a little glassy.

I swallowed hard.

“Were you Army too?” he asked me.

I nodded hesitantly. “I wanted to, um… I didn’t know what to do with my life after Mom died, and I-I wanted to feel closer to him.”

His jaw ticked with tension, and he nodded with a dip of his chin. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He cleared his throat and rubbed at his face. “You look like him. Fuck me, you look like him.” Hecoughed into his fist and kept shaking his head. “He told us he’d met someone, you know. Before he shipped out the last time. He said he’d met someone in DC a few years back, and he was thinking about going to see her again when he rotated home. Was her name Brianna?”

Oh my God, Dad had actually spoken of her? I’d been born by then. Hell, I’d started school! I drew a breath, and tears spilled over. “Brynn.”

He nodded minutely and seemed to struggle to stop staring at me.

It was okay, so long as he didn’t tell me to go to hell.

“It’s a lot to take in.” He sniffled and let out a chuckle, one part disbelief and another part… I didn’t even know. “One second, I can’t believe it and wanna demand proof. And the next…” He gestured at me. “For chrissakes, I can see half my childhood in your face.”

Beckett dipped down and kissed my cheek. “I’m gonna give you two some privacy. You know where to find me.” He knocked two fingers against the helmet. “Don’t take this off.”

I didn’t want him to leave my side, but perhaps it was best? For a moment anyway.

I watched him walk off and wiped at my cheeks.

Before I really had to worry about who was going to carry the conversation now, with the obvious answer being Ryan, he readjusted his carbine to his back, walked over to me, and captured me in a tight hug.

I sucked in a breath and screwed my eyes shut, and something within me cracked.

“Your old man was my hero, Leighton,” he said thickly. “It breaks my heart that you didn’t get to meet each other. He would’ve loved you like crazy.”

That did it. I fucking shattered. I broke into a million pieces, and I squeezed him back as if my life depended on it. I managedto keep the sounds at bay for the most part, but it still mortified me to sob in this stranger’s arms. I mean, he was a stranger, and he wasn’t. He was family…? But it was the first time we’d met, and I’d struggled to express my emotions for most of my life. The past several years, I hadn’t had any emotions at all. Now it was all coming out.

The strangest part was that it had to be the most painless shattering in history. I could feel my heart racing, my chest rising and falling with each breath, elation frazzling my nerves, and my brain going into crisis mode to process everything, but I felt no pain whatsoever. No heavy weight sitting on my chest, no anxiety clawing at me from within, and no fear pulling me under.

Ryan eased back enough to look me in the eye, and he squeezed my shoulder. “This is fuckin’ incredible. Not only do I get a part of my brother back, but I’ll have a new nephew to get to know.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake! I whimpered and wiped at my face. “I’m trying to stop crying.”

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