Page 45 of Broken

He was leaving, and he was going to take my world with him. I slid down onto my office floor. My legs weren't holding me up. "The next time I call, answer your fucking phone, Sinclair." He left, with my picture.

twenty-four

Kai

Ihadadaughter.She looked just like me. I had a fucking daughter, and I didn't even know her. For eleven, no twelve years now. If my math was correct, and it usually was, we conceived her right before we graduated high school. This meant that Sin was very pregnant and capable of telling me when I went to her college all those years ago.

Fuck! Why would she keep this from me? I needed to get out of that office, away from Sinclair and her mess of emotions. Seeing her fall apart like that made me want to let the anger go, forgive her, hold her and assure her everything would all be okay.

But none of this was okay. She fucking lied to me. She ran away, again. She cut me out, again. Like I meant nothing to her. I loved her, I still do love her.

I paced back and forth in my hotel room. My phone to my ear waiting for my mother to pick up. I needed to tell her first. I needed some clarity, I needed to understand why Sin would keep this from me. Why would she keep my own daughter from me?

"Hello, Kai." My mother greeted me. She was in her early fifties, and still hadn't started to go grey, and the few lines on her face were from the smiles and laughter over the years. Her chestnut brown hair matched mine and my brothers, but we got our blue eyes from our father.

After her died, mom lost a lot of her spark. She would laugh with us from time to time, but her real energy and joy died with him. She missed my father daily, and I can only imagine her pain.

They married when she was eighteen and him twenty. Highschool sweethearts. She supported him as he worked his way through college, and medical school, all while raising three boys. They did it all together and would still be together if not for a heart attack taking her husband away from her as her youngest son barely entered adulthood.

"Mom. I need to tell you something. I'm down in Southern California with Sinclair."

I cleared my throat, trying to find a way to break the news to her gently.

"Oh good. Did you meet my granddaughter yet?" What the hell? Well, I guess I don't need to break the news to her. Why would Sin tell my mother, and not tell me? Why didn't my mother tell me? Was I the last to find out? I needed to scream, I wanted to punch something.

"What the hell mom? She told you?"

"Of course. The minute Sinclair told me about her little girl and showed me a picture of her. I would recognize my own grandchild, Kai.

Besides whom else would be the father?"

"She kept her from me. For eleven years. I could've been there, helped her, I could've helped my daughter. She kept my own child from me."

"Kai, honey. Calm down. It's not like you to be this angry."

"No shit mom. Sin kept my daughter from me. After she had so many chances to tell me."

"Watch your tone, Kai. You may be a grown man, and angry, but I'm still your mother." She didn't say it, but she would kick my ass if she needed to. I didn't realize I yelled at her until she said something.

"I'm sorry mom. I don't know what to do. I am so fucking pissed and hurt. What did I do to Sinclair to make her think I hurt her or our daughter?"

I had no idea what I did. I've loved Sin since we were kids. I was there for her, with her through all the worst parts of her childhood. I snuck into her room at night, so she didn't feel alone.

When her mom would beat her, and send her to her room without food, sometimes for an entire day. I'd take snacks to her window.

When she came home after her mother died. It was a bad idea to see her. I knew it would break my heart all over again, but she needed me, as much as she needed Mia.

"Kai, I don't think you did anything wrong. Of all people, you know what she went through as a child." My mother was right. "You're her

best friend, maybe try asking her. Ask calmly, please."

"Alright, mom. Oh, she named her after you."

My mom laughed, light and happy, with a little bit of that old energy. "I spoke to little Aine. She reminds me a lot of you at that age.

Too smart for your own good."

I thanked her and told her I loved her before hanging up. I always knew my parents loved their sons. It was evident in how they treated us compared to the way Sinclair's parents treated her.

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