Page 76 of Destiny

“That’s my working theory,” Ryan says. “But I need to talk to my brother.”

“Talon?” I ask.

Ryan shakes his head. “No. Jonah. He’s the only one who knew that our grandfather had a half brother. He didn’t tell us, and I never quite understood why. Now I really want to know. Joe may know something else that he hasn’t told us.”

“Don’t keep Ava in the dark about this,” I say. “Whatever you talk to your brother about, please let her in.”

“I have every intention of taking Ava with me,” Ryan says. “My mother wants her involved. For what reason, I have no idea. But I won’t leave her out. She knows everything now anyway.”

“I agree,” Ruby says. “And I’ll be going with you to talk to Joe as well. Melanie is my best friend.”

“All right,” I say. “Now…I need to talk to Wendy.”

“She doesn’t know who you are,” Ryan says.

“She reached out to Ava. And she reached out to my family. She knows.”

“I agree,” Ruby says. “She kept your great-uncle’s sperm for some reason. My theory on that is that the future lawmakers all those years ago might’ve seen some money in cryotherapy and sperm freezing.”

Ryan nods.

“It was fairly new at that time. That would make sense. But of course, there was much more money in human trafficking.” Ruby shakes her head. “It’s just all too much.”

“Come on.” Ryan rises. “Let’s go, Brendan. Time for you to meet my mother.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ava

The contractor canceled, so I find myself pacing around my apartment, thinking.

My gaze falls on my tarot deck.

The wheel of fortune card.

What is my destiny?

Does it lie with Brendan? In my bakery? With my family?

Or is there even such a thing as destiny?

Perhaps I make myowndestiny.

In which case… What the fuck does the card tell me then?

The fact that all three cards are in the major arcana is in itself odd. Those cards tend to show up when something is pulling a person toward something.

I can’t deny that I feel pulled toward Wendy Madigan.

It frightens my father. This whole thing has frightened him, but not because he’s frightened of his mother.

He’s frightened about what this may mean for his family.

The gold bracelets from my grandmother clink against my wrist.

And I feel very strongly…

I feel very strongly that they have some kind of significance.

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