Page 46 of Twelve of a Kind

She shrugged. “A girl’s gotta do what she has to.” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass.

“Why not just tell him you weren’t feeling it and call it quits? Why go through all that trouble with the hope he’d cheat?”

“Enough about Quinton. I want to hear about your family.”

“Let’s get in the hot tub, and we’ll talk. I’ll get us some wine.”

“I didn’t bring my swimsuit,” she said.

“We don’t need swimsuits.” I winked as I stood up and walked over to the bar area.

“Excuse me, but people will see us.” She followed me.

“Look around, Zoey. Do you see anyone around? If you're worried, our towels will be right next to the hot tub. Go down to the cabin and strip out of those clothes. There are robes hanging in the closet.”

“I’m not sure I feel comfortable doing that,” she said.

“You’re a liar.” I smiled. “Now, go. I’ll set our drinks by the hot tub.”

CHAPTER 17

Carter

I’d only known this woman briefly, yet I showed her something personal my family didn’t know about. I wasn’t sure why I brought her on the boat. All I knew was that I wanted to share it with her, which had me overly concerned. After stripping out of my clothes, I climbed into the hot tub and waited for her. The sun was about to set, making it a perfect moment. A smile crossed my lips as she walked toward me, looking sexy in the robe she wore. Knowing what was underneath made my cock spasm. As soon as she removed her robe, I held out my hand and helped her in.

“Oh my God, this feels so good,” she said.

“It really does.” I chuckled. “Look over there.” I pointed at the sunset.

“It’s beautiful tonight.” She smiled. “Spill the tea, Kind.” She picked up her wine glass.

“When my mother found out she was pregnant, she also learned that my father had gotten another woman pregnant, and she was carrying twins. The woman who told her about it said that he had no intention of sticking around for the twins, and he wouldn’t for me either. She was furious because she loved him, even though they only knew each other for three months. She went over to his place one night to confront him about the other woman, and when she got there, he was sitting on the couch as high as a kite with a syringe next to him.”

“Your father was a drug addict?”

“Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, she knew she couldn’t stick around and that he’d be a shit father, so she packed up and moved to North Carolina, where her best friend lived, my Auntie Fran. As I grew up, my mother told me that my father was killed in a terrible car accident right before I was born. She kept the truth from me because she never wanted me to find him. When I got sick and needed the bone marrow transplant, my Auntie Fran had no choice but to tell me about my siblings. She didn’t know anything about them, their gender, nothing. All she knew was my father’s name and that he lived in Hawaii. I hired a private investigator, and that’s how I found Grayson and Gabriel.”

“So, you haven’t known them that long? You all seem so close.”

“We are. Family is in our blood. I moved myself and my company to Los Angeles a few months ago because I wanted to be with my family. This is where I belong.”

“What about your father?”

“He passed away a couple of years ago. After my brother’s mother killed herself by overdosing on heroin, our father saw it as a wakeup call, got clean, and raised them.”

“Oh, gee, Carter. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. As angry as I was at first that my mother lied to me all those years, I knew she did it to protect me. But, there’s still a part of me that’s pissed she kept the fact hidden that I had siblings.”

“I’d be pissed too. But, with that said, you need to be grateful that you grew up with a mother who loved and protected you.”

I stared at her and brought my hand up to her cheek. “You said before that your relationship with your mother is complicated. Why is that?”

“It may have something to do with the fact that she didn’t want me in the first place.”

“What?” My brows furrowed.

“She and my dad met while he was in the army. They fell in love within a month of getting to know each other. She got pregnant and was going to get an abortion, but he talked her out of it and married her. She’s a hard person to get along with anyway. The relationship between her and my grandparents was always strained. She would leave me with them for weeks at a time and disappear. She never wanted to be married or have a kid, and she always reminded me of that.”

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