Page 34 of Sinful Skulls
“Is that a bad thing?”
“My biological father. I’m adopted.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were adopted,” he says, but confusion still pulls at his brow.
“Yeah, I didn’t either.”
His face falls as understanding sets in. My head drops and tears begin to slide down my cheeks at an alarming pace.
He jumps from his chair and pulls me from mine, holding me tight. “Daisy.”
“The dean is my biological uncle. He had DNA papers and everything.”
Brody sits on the bed, holding me on his lap.
“He said my father recently passed away, but he had planned on introducing himself in Paris.”
“Oh, Daiz, I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“I was so angry that no one told me. If they had, maybe I would have understood myself a little better.”
I pause, because now that I know where my darkness comes from, I wish I didn’t.
“I come from a long line of artists,” I say quietly again, looking away from him. “My father was a teacher.”
I close my eyes, picturing the portrait of my mother. At least she was warm and alive. It’s the cold, stiff models that keep me up at night.
“My mother was his student.”
Brody releases a loud puff of air. “Wow, I’m really sorry.”
“Anyway, it didn’t feel right there, and I wasn’t sleeping at night. So, I had my roommate drop me off at the airport. I booked the first flight out, and that’s how I ended up here.”
His hand brushes down my hair. “Well, that sounds like a sign if there ever was one.”
I chuckle and finally turn to look at him. “I don’t remember texting you. By the time I got here, I was a mess, and then I spent days searching for my mother online.”
“You know her name?”
“No. I just started searching through his students. I thought I’d found her. I spoke with her husband, but he says it’s not her. They think they can help me, though. He asked if I could meet them this Saturday.”
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s safe. If you want to meet these people, I’m going to be there with you.”
I don’t want to tell him I gave Anthony my hotel information. He would be so unhappy with me and rightfully so.
“I don’t want to meet them. Maybe someday, but right now I just need to process the idea of being adopted.”
He nods in agreement. “I think that’s wise.”
“Honestly, I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” I stare at him. “I’m planning to take cash out of my account and disappear from the world for a while.”
“You want to hide from your family?”
“Yes.”
“They’ll worry.”
“They kept me in the dark for twenty-two years.”
