Page 93 of Takedown

“You’re our brother, and now I know that I like you.” I’m taken aback and look at him, brows furrowed and confused by his admission. “Your reaction to Mellie’s confession. Any man who wants to protect his wife is okay with me. The way you were with Vincent and Ralph when you came here to kick my ass. And whether you like it or not, we’re family. We share a father, and I want you in my life.”

“Me too.” Elizabeth wraps her arms around mine and lays her head on my shoulder.

I ignore their confession, but I say, “Was he a good father to you two? He didn’t come around much, and when he did, he was never really interested in me. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized I was his dirty little secret.”

Ethan pours himself another glass of wine, drains it, and leans back in his chair. “You think that because we were his legitimate family, he was better to us?” When I nod, he continues. “He wasn’t. He was a philanderer, a gambler, and a liar. I will say that he had moments when he was a good businessman. He was a wizard with numbers and could smell a good investment from a mile away, but that’s it. In his personal life, he was selfish. The only person he was good to was himself. He viewed me as just an extension of him and not my own person. He never took Elizabeth seriously about her education or her career.”

Elizabeth lets out a sad laugh and says, “His advice to me was to find a rich husband. So, no. He wasn’t good to us either. Luckily, our mom was a good woman, but she couldn’t be mom and dad. He treated her horribly too.”

“I’m sorry.” Not knowing what else to say, I turn away from Ethan and look down at the table.

“Neither one of us grew up with a father, Adam, but I had my mother and sister. It sounds like you have a good mother too.”

“I do. And my ma has a big family, so I always had that, including my crazy Uncle Finn.”

“Yes. The procurer of snakes,” Ethan says.

“Of anything I wanted. Looking back, I think he tried to make up for me not having a father, but he went way overboard and spoiled me. I said I wanted a snake, so he went out and got me a snake. And Ma let me keep it because she felt guilty about me not having a father.” Ethan nods at me and seems to be pondering his next words, but I speak again. “When I was around nineteen, I got into some trouble. I got into a fight and was arrested. Ma called our father, and he sent a lawyer who made everything go away, but he never showed up. All I wanted was for him to show up for me. Just once.”

Elizabeth’s arms tighten around mine.

“I’m not him. Not at all. Neither is Elizabeth. Don’t judge us because of something he did. And we don’t blame your mother for anything. She’s not the only woman he cheated on our mother with. I wish I had known about you twenty years ago. I would have found your mother and begged her to let us know our brother. And had we known about your troubles, we would have come. We would have shown up,” Ethan says.

I look to the stairs, willing Mel to come down because I don’t know what to say to that. I’ve done everything to forget I had siblings, and when they found out about me, I made it clear I wasn’t interested, but they persisted. And they are nothing like I thought they would be.

“I think I would have liked that.” I can see my nine-year-old self being obsessed with my twenty-one-year-old brother. I clear my throat and look up at the ceiling to avoid looking at his face. “I wasn’t allowed at the funeral. We found out he died when a lawyer showed up on our doorstep a week later. He had already been buried. That’s the way he wanted it.”

Ethan sighs and rubs his face. He nods sadly and says, “I’m sorry.”

I open my mouth to tell him it’s not his job to apologize for our father, but I shut up when I hear laughter and footsteps coming down the stairs. When Mel sees me, she stops and looks into my eyes. It’s as if she’s trying to gauge my mood. I wave her over to me and smile at her. I pat my lap, and she sits and presses her warm lips to my temple.

“You okay?” she asks.

“He’s fine,” Ethan tells her. “I didn’t beat him up.”

“As if you could,” I snort.

“But I can. Remember what I told you,” Tara says, putting up one of her tiny fists.

“Okay, maybe you can,” I concede.

She smiles at me and reaches over to take Ethan’s hand.

The boys come running back, begging for more dessert. Ralph follows them this time and he puts his one front paw on Mel’s lap. When she scratches behind his ears, he puts his head on her knee.

“My dad already scored thirty points and it’s only halftime,” Evan says. Ethan grabs a remote and turns on a flat screen TV on the wall.

The announcers are talking, but the camera is on a young woman who is looking down at her phone texting.

“Did you know your sister was there?” Ethan asks Tara.

“I always know where my sister is.” Tara’s phone lights up as soon as the words leave her mouth. She picks it up and shakes it. “Guess who she’s texting?”

“My dad says Vickie drives him crazy,” Evan says.

“Yeah? Her sister drives me crazy too,” Ethan replies.

“We made the cookies,” Vincent says. He and his friend are both standing in front of me. “You look just like my dad.” He stares at me.

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