Page 104 of A Love Like That

But then it dawned on me. “Hereditary?” I glanced up at her. “But you’re adopted.”

She gave me a lopsided smile. “Sort of.”

I furrowed my brow, and she used her finger to smooth it. “What does ‘sort of’ mean?”

She let out a deep sigh, then said, “Dan is my biological father. My biological mom, Sicily, died in a car crash when I was three.”

“What?” I shook my head. “Wait.” I tried to piece it together. To understand.

“Yeah. I know, right?” she smiled, stroking her hand over my skin. “Dan had an affair, and he didn’t know about me until my birth mom died. Sicily had named Dan as my guardian, and I was sent to live with him.”

My eyes widened. “Holy shit. Did Tessa know?”

She shook her head. “Gloria and Dan told me when I turned eighteen but made me promise to tell no one. As far as I know, Tessa never knew.”

I gnashed my teeth. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit.

How the hell was that supposed to make Elle feel? Likeshe’dsomehow done something wrong? Like she was a shameful secret to be kept from everyone, even her own sister?

Yet here I was, asking the same thing of her. Asking for silence and secrecy. It made me feel even shittier.

Elle and I both understood the reasons for it. And I’d even apologized. But I could only imagine how it made her feel.

Less than, as she’d said the night of her disastrous birthday dinner.

That phrase had haunted me ever since. Someone as incredible and loving as Elle should never feel less than. It made my heart sick to think I was responsible for compounding her feelings of being inadequate or unworthy.

She massaged my temples, her focus always on helping others. “What are you thinking about in that big, beautiful brain of yours? Hmm?”

“Just…wow,” I said, still reeling from everything. “How did you feel about that?”

She frowned. “Surprised. Hurt. Angry. So many things.”

“I’ll bet. Still, I’m surprised you didn’t tell your sister.”

She lifted a shoulder. “Sometimes I wish I had, but it doesn’t really matter now.”

I gave her a squeeze. “I’m glad you told me.”

She kissed my forehead. “Me too. Sicily is actually part of the reason I applied for the JET Program?”

“Really?” I asked. “Why’s that?”

“She spent a semester abroad in Japan. And I guess, I don’t know…” Her smile was both sad and wistful. “It probably sounds silly, but I hoped it would help me feel somehow closer to her.”

I rested my chin on her shoulder. “I don’t think it’s silly at all.”

We were quiet a moment then she said, “I’m sorry if I wasn’t as sensitive as I could’ve been about the headache thing. I didn’t even—”

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” I said, but I still felt off-kilter.

After losing Tessa, I’d never expected to fall in love again. And I certainly wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Elle. To know they were sisters…to realize there was even a remote chance of her being afflicted like Tessa was…

“Tristan?” She kissed my temple, her breasts pressed against me. Distracting me.

“Hm?” I asked, sliding my hands up her hips. Wanting nothing more than to get lost in the feel of her.

“I’m sorry.”

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