Page 60 of Badges

---

I sit bolt upright and pace to the kitchen.

Why didn’t Maria tell me?

The first beer goes down so fast I can’t even taste it.

Elena pads in, barefoot and naked by the time I’m halfway through the second.

“Wade? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” Her dark eyes tighten and her arms cross her chest, hiding those beautiful breasts as worry pinches her brows.

I set the bottle down a little harder than I wanted to.

But I need to.

Moving to her, I pull her to me and drop my lips to the top of her head.

“No, you’re perfect. I don’t think I know how to say this.” Hell, I don’t even want to admit it to myself.

“Just tell me.” Her arms wrap my waist, pressing her bare skin against mine.

Should I? Can I deny it?

Do I want to?

“I think your sister might be—” I take a deep breath, struggling to get past the constriction in my throat.

If I speak it, will it make it true?

“—my daughter.”

Yes it does

Elena

My fingers freeze wherethey touch his skin.

Maybe I didn’t hear him correctly?

Daughter?

No. Nuh uh.

Like a balloon losing its air, I feel myself deflating, drawing in.

Pulling my arms away, I slump into the kitchen chair. “You’re serious?”

It comes out as a squeak.

He leans against the counter in all of his naked glory and nods. “I’m sorry. I had no clue. But everything lines up…” Distracted, he picks up his half-empty beer and finishes it.

“That means, I mean, you and—” I can’t even complete the sentence. Somehow verbalizing it would make it more real.

“Yea. Me and your mom.” His chest expands and contracts with a long breath.

Funny how he can’t meet my eyes now.

I’m suddenly bare and vulnerable.

And such an idiot.

---