Page 151 of Into These Eyes
My stomach drops to my feet and flops to the floor, my mind swirling so fast, I can’t figure out if it means what I hope the fuck itdoesn’tmean.
Recognising my stricken expression, Jamie leans across the counter and clutches my hand in hers. “It’s okay. It freaked me out, too. But it’s not what you’re thinking.” My hand grips onto hers, clinging to her words, desperate to understand. She smiles through her tears. “We don’t share any parents, Gavin. Anika’s the only one who does.”
I slump forward and rest my forehead on our entwined hands. The relief coursing through my body weakens my muscles and relaxes the vice around my heart. For a few terrifying seconds,I thought I’d lost her. And I couldn’t even comprehend how I’d survive.
“Hey,” Anika pipes up, “what am I? Chopped liver?”
“Ank, give him a chance to absorb,” Jamie says softly.
Raising my head, I meet my sister’s eyes. And suddenly I know why she seems familiar. Although I have my mother’s eyes, she has our father’s.
And I’m lost. What do I say to this young woman I’ve only just met? What do Ido?I have no fucking idea.
Just as uncertain, Anika stares at me. She glances at Jamie, then me again, and I can’t read her expression.
“Right, then,” she says, slapping an open palm on the counter before pushing past Jamie and coming around to my side to stand in front of me. “Get up.”
To my surprise, I grin as I stand. “Bossy little devil.”
“Too fucking right,” she shoots back.
Then she flies at me, wraps her arms around my middle and grips me like she’s drowning. When I glance at Jamie, she’s holding a hand over her mouth, her eyes shining with happiness and tears.
Fuck. This is insane, and so fucking amazing.
I wrap my arms around Anika and squeeze her as tightly as she’s holding me.
“Hey,” I mumble, as if I’m greeting her for the first time. And in a way, I guess I am. I’m meeting the little sister I never knew I had.
“Hey,” she replies, her voice breaking on the syllable.
This is just as huge for her as it is for me. She has a brother. And now she knows that the man who withheld his affection from her isn’t her father. If nothing else, I hope that knowledge gives her some closure.
After a long moment, the tension leaves her body, and she takes a step back.
“This is so fucking brilliant!” she almost squeals as she swipes the last tears from her face. “Now I can give you even more shit,bro. Youhaveto put up with me, whether you like it or not.”
I chuckle. “You realise that goes both ways, right?”
“Well, shit.” She places her hands on her hips and wrinkles her nose, but her eyes remain bright. “I suppose I’ll just have to learn to live with that little fact.”
She goes back into the kitchen, places the sandwiches on the breakfast bar and scoffs one down.
Overwhelmed, I meet Jamie’s eyes, allowing myself the thought that I’ve always known in my bones. Jamie Evans is connected to me. And had been well before I went to prison.
When she picks up a sandwich, she mouths,you okay?
I nod and give her a wink. I should be asking the same of her. There’s a lot to digest when it comes to her mother’s letter. It’s not all about me and Anika being siblings. It’s aboutwhywe’re siblings in the first place.
I shift my gaze to Anika. My sister.That’s going to take some getting used to.
She catches my eye and asks, “So, I’ve only got tomorrow left, then I’m leaving the next day. I wanna to meet my father before I go.”
My jaw clenches, every muscle in my body knotting with tension.
“Maybe we should allow this to sink in for a while,” Jamie says, clearly understanding why I’m now a concrete statue.
“Yeah,” Anika says, her eyes flicking from me to Jamie. “That’s not fucking happening.” Her gaze skates back to me, taking in my frozen state. “What? Please tell me he’s not dead.”
