Chapter Six
Charles led the way down the hall to another room, holding the door open for them all. Pierce, Dane, and Tess all filed inside. Nick went last, all his senses fired up. His blood pulsed in his veins, his hands were a little clammy, and his breaths were shallow. He hadn’t felt like this since his last undercover op was about to end.
They were in a den now, with comfortable couches and plush armchairs, a wide love seat by the bay window. Lots of big windows in this house. Nick knew they must let in lots of natural light during the day, but the sky was growing darker now, a deep navy mixed in with the cloud cover. Charles closed the door behind him as the others stood together, staring at Nick like he was a scientific specimen.
“Everyone sit,” Charles said.
“I’m more comfortable standing,” Nick said plainly.
Charles got close, right in his face, and glared at him. “You came to my home, came near me and my son, my children . . . knowing this—this—what you know. I told you I trusted you!”
“Yes,” Nick said. “But calm yourself. I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m here to help someone, remember?”
Charles blinked, but didn’t move. The mixture of cold fury and wild disbelief in his gaze was fascinating to Nick.
“Why don’t we hear what he has to say,” Pierce suggested, “before we think of beating him up, huh?”
At that, Nick looked away from Charles to Pierce. The youngest sibling was . . . flippant. Not outraged or boiling over, like the other three. Surprised, but not ready to spring into action. More curious, or even amused. Interesting.
Charles, however, looked downright lethal. “What do you want from us?”
Nick’s eyes snapped back to his as he spat low, “Not a damn thing.”
“Stand down, Charles,” Pierce said. “Let him talk.”
Nick and Charles stood toe to toe, eyes locked, jaws clenched.
“What do you know?” Tess asked calmly. “What can you tell us?”
“Why doesn’t he start with exactly how he’s related to us?” Dane asked.
At that, Nick drew a long breath and stepped back from Charles. He looked from one face to the next. They all were so alike. He didn’t look like them. He wasn’t like them at all. This whole thing was crazy. “Apparently, I’m the accidental result of a brief secret affair between my mother, Maria Sanchez, and your father, Charles Harrison the second. So . . .” He huffed out a breath. “That makes me your half brother.”
Tess slowly sank to sit on the couch, eyes wide. Dane’s mouth formed a little O of shock. Pierce nodded slowly, then almost grinned as he said, “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Charles didn’t move, but still stared at Nick. “When were you born?”
“March 28, 1989.” Nick added, “In Miami. You want to check?”
“Oh, believe me, I will,” Charles vowed.
“Go right ahead. You should. God knows I’ve been doing research on all of you since my mom dropped the bomb on me.”
“Have you now,” Charles said. Anger radiated off him in palpable waves.
“Of course I have. Just like you would if someone turned your world upside down with news like this,” Nick said, unblinking. He looked to the others. “I didn’t know. I never knew. She only told me last week, and she didn’t want to even then.”
“Why did she, then?” Charles asked, almost a challenge.
“Because when I told my parents I’d been tagged as a match for Myles, and spoken to you,” he said pointedly to Charles, “when I told them your name, she passed out. Literally, she fainted when she heard your name. She knew she had to tell me the truth then, and she did.”
The room was silent. The air was alive and thick, crackling with electricity, like a summer lightning storm.
“Your father seduced my mother when she was working for him,” Nick said. “I think they were only involved for a couple of months. But my mother took off when she realized she was pregnant. Quit the job, left New York, and went to stay with her family in Miami. She was only twenty years old. She hid and kept me away from here—and, knowing my uncles and aunts, took the shame and the stigma—rather than tell the truth. You get that?”
He watched as the four of them absorbed his words.
“She never told your father. She didn’t want anyone to know. She never told anyone the truth except my grandmother and my . . .” He paused. “My father. The man who married my mom and adopted me when I was five. He is my father. But on my original birth certificate? She was so determined no one ever find out the truth, she left the father’s name blank. Go look it up for yourself.”
“Your adoptive father’s name is Martell?” Dane asked.
“No. My father’s name is Martell.” A burst of proud defensiveness surged through Nick. “Funny thing. He’s white too. Coincidence.” The side of his mouth curved a drop as he added, “But I bet when you look at me, you just see a Latino.”
“I looked at you,” Tess said quietly, “and all I saw was my father.”
Nick paused to glance at her. She was pale, with spots of high color on her cheeks. Hell, this was a shock to all of them. He wasn’t totally thoughtless. But he had to tread carefully, not let any emotion get the best of him. He was calling on every bit of academy training he had to keep his head in the game and stay cool.
But the way Charles kept glaring at him, with such open challenge, had his back up. “Pretty astute sister you’ve got there,” Nick said to Charles. “You looked right at me, sat next to me for an hour, and didn’t see it. My mother warned me if I came here, someone would look at me and know right away.” He arched a brow at Charles, unable to hold back. “Wasn’t you, though.”
Charles’s jaw set so hard a muscle jumped. “I told you to your face you seemed familiar. I fucking joked you could be a long-lost cousin. You think this is funny? You’re amused by my not figuring it out?”
“Nothing about this is amusing,” Nick said. “Believe me, I’m not laughing. Everything I thought I knew about my life just got turned on its head.”
“When was this, again?” Dane asked. “That she told you?”
“Went to dinner at my parents’ on Sunday to tell them I’d be going to New York and why. That’s when I found out. Got on the plane yesterday morning and came here.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Been a hell of a week.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe you,” Charles said in a hard tone.
Nick shrugged. “Well . . . I am the bone marrow match. That’s how any of this even came to light. It’s the only reason my mother finally told me—and she begged me not to come here, by the way. Didn’t want me having anything to do with any of you.” He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension while he paused to let that tidbit sink in with the four of them. “Your sister knew I was a Harrison the second she saw me. You tell me if you’re supposed to believe me or not.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Dane breathed, taking a seat beside Tess. “He’s telling the truth. He’s our brother. Jesus.”
Pierce, on the other hand, moved to Charles’s side and put a hand on his shoulder. “Stand. Down.”
But Charles kept watching Nick. “You should have told me,” he said.
“I was trying to figure out how to tell you,” Nick said, his temper straining. “I was trying to be delicate about it, believe it or not. I was going to try to talk to you after dinner. I wasn’t going to draw this out. But . . . how the hell do you tell someone something like this? Much less four of you?”
“Makes sense to me,” Pierce said. He tugged on Charles’s arm. “Let’s all sit down. Talk about this.”
“There’s not much else to talk about,” Nick said. “Actually, I think I’m going to leave now.” Everything in him itched for escape. The way Charles kept glaring at him, he knew he’d end up losing his temper, and he didn’t want to do that.
“So just drop the bomb and run?” Charles said, almost a sneer. “Yeah. Delicate.”
Nick grit his teeth and stepped close. “You’re not the one whose world just got blown apart. That’d be me.”
“I’m sure this has been a tremendous shock for you,” Tess said, clearly trying to placate and soothe.
“Understatement of the decade,” Nick said.
Charles kept watching him. “I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop here.”
“What?” It hit him suddenly, and though he was outraged, he laughed. “You’re standing there worried I’m here to shake you down for money, aren’t you?”
“Are you?” Charles asked flatly.
“Fuck you,” Nick spat. Yup, he was done. “You go to hell.”
“Charles, dammit, shut up,” Pierce said. “You’re not even giving him a chance to—”
“To what?” Charles asked. “Blackmail the family?”
“Are you serious?” Nick shouted. “Blackmail you? How? For what?”
“Keeping the family’s secret. Getting what you think is rightfully yours,” Charles listed. “Maybe some payback for your mother for all her years of—”
“Let’s get something straight, right fucking now.” Nick’s cool was gone. Muscles tight, blood racing, he got so close he could feel Charles’s breath. He glared right into his big brother’s blue eyes. “First of all, don’t you ever talk about my mother again. Ever. And second, remember something here: I don’t need you,” he snarled, low and deliberate. “You need me.”
Charles blinked, and his features froze.
Nick flung out his words like razor blades. “I’m a cop. Which means I uphold the law, I don’t break it. I don’t want your money. I don’t give a shit about your family’s reputation. I don’t want to be part of your family. I have a family. So, again, you go straight to hell, you pompous asshole.”
Charles’s face darkened. Nick could see his pulse pounding in his neck.
Tess sprang to her feet and cried, “This is going so wrong.”
“I’m only here to help Myles,” Nick said. “Which I was going to do as soon as the registry called because I’m a decent human, not because you called and offered to pay my expenses. But then, when my mother told me who I really am? I realized I’m trying to help my nephew. He’s my goddamn nephew. Believe it or not, that means something to me.”
Charles took a jerky step back, as if Nick had pushed him.
“So fuck you and your blackmail theories,” Nick seethed. His heart thumped, but any prior nervousness was gone, the uncertainty replaced by searing-hot, indignant anger. “I’m here to do what I can, stay out of everyone’s way, and then I’m leaving. Going right back to my life, a thousand miles away, thank God. And it’s a pretty good life, thank you very much. So don’t worry, your half – Puerto Rican blue-collar sibling won’t dirty your doorstep, much less the family name. I want nothing from you.” His blood raced through him, his heartbeat pulsed in his ears. “Hell, right now I don’t even want to look at you. I’m out of here.”
He turned to leave, but Charles grabbed his arm. Nick shook it off with a forceful sweep and pointed a finger in his face. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
Pierce quickly stepped forward, between them. “Guys. No.” Dane shot to his feet as Tess gasped hard.
Charles held up his hands. “I jumped to conclusions,” he said. “Don’t leave yet. Hear me out.”
Every muscle in Nick’s body was coiled now, poised to strike. His fists were clenched tight, and his breath came a little hard as his heart raced, the adrenaline shooting through him. All the emotions he’d been trying to hold back over the last few days had burst through like a tidal wave, swallowing him whole.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Charles started to say.
Nick barked out a caustic laugh. “The hell you didn’t.”
“You looked me in the eye as we talked for an hour,” Charles said fiercely. “As I invited you to my home, to meet my family. And you didn’t even hint that you knew we’re related. That makes me wary.”
“How was I supposed to casually drop that into conversation, Charles?” Nick asked, feeling wild. “Seriously. Tell me.”
Charles paused, then blew out an exasperated huff of air. “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t either.”
Pierce stepped forward to Nick, almost edging Charles aside. “Hey. Nick.”
Still breathing a little hard, Nick looked at him.
“You’re damn lucky you didn’t grow up knowing the old man,” Pierce said. “Whatever you read about him? It was worse. I’d say your mother did right by you.”
A wave of feeling whooshed through Nick. “You believe me? And her?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Pierce said. “All the things you said make sense to me. Look, you’re a match for Myles. You look like the old man. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.” He held out a hand. “I’m Pierce. I used to be the youngest. Guess that’s you now. Nice to meet you.”
Nick eyed him for a long beat . . . then shook his hand.
“Charles has spent his life defending the good name and legacy of the Harrisons,” Pierce said. “It’s his default mode. I, on the other hand, spent most of my life thumbing my nose at ’em. Come sit by me, man. But don’t leave just yet. Okay?”
Nick shook his head and had to grin. “I have to tell you . . . I wanted to meet you the most.”
“Why?” Pierce asked. “Because I’m the most screwed up of the four of us?” He offered a jaunty grin. “If you looked me up online, I’m sure that was fun reading.”
“Because you’re kind of the reason my mother left,” Nick said quietly. Standing there, staring at Pierce, now that he was a real person and not just a name and photos . . . he tried to picture him as a scared little boy. And he tried to choose his words carefully. “She said your father was horrible to you. That it was hard to watch, and she . . . felt sorry for you. And she was scared, because she didn’t want that for her child. That’s why she left, and why she never told him about me. She was afraid he’d either make her get rid of it, or take the baby away and . . . treat her baby like he treated you.”
Nick watched the blood drain from Pierce’s face. He stood very still, even as the other siblings all gaped at Nick. Then, slowly, Pierce nodded and said, “Your mother definitely worked at the house, then. I’m sorry I don’t remember her. But it sounds like she knew exactly what was going on.”
“I don’t mean that to be hurtful, what I just said.” Nick cringed a little. “I’m sorry if it sounds shitty. I mean . . .”
“It’s the truth, man. She was right, for what it’s worth.” Pierce’s voice was gruff. “He was the worst father ever. At least, he was to me. He was better to these three, but that’s . . . bottom line is, he was a ruthless bastard then, and he still is today. I haven’t spoken to him in about seven years. I shut him out of my life completely.”
“Sorry to hear it,” Nick grumbled.
“Don’t be,” Pierce said. “Best thing I ever did for myself.”
Nick stared. Man, did he want to hear more about this. It proved his mother’s instincts to flee had been right. What a piece of work Charles Harrison II must have been . . . must still be today.
“Nick.” Tess stepped forward and tentatively raised her hand to him. “I’d like a do-over, please. I’m . . . your sister. I’m Tess.”
“Do-over, huh?” He shook her hand. “Hi, Tess.”
“You shocked me,” she said. “I’m sorry if I was . . .”
“It’s okay. Totally understandable,” he said. He mentally shook himself. She was trying to be nice, dammit. “I’m not an only child, by the way,” he found himself saying. “I have two younger sisters, Olivia and Erica. Technically, they’re my half sisters, but I’ve never thought of them that way. Just . . . telling you guys. I don’t know why.”
Tess smiled at him. “That’s nice to know. Thank you for sharing that with us.”
Dane watched from where he stood.
“You don’t know what to make of me,” Nick said to him.
“Nope,” Dane said. “Not yet. Too soon.”
“That’s honest. I like honest.”
“From the man who lied to me since minute one,” Charles said.
Nick shook his head, laughed low. “Bye.” He turned and headed to the door.
“Wait!” Tess cried.
“Nope,” Nick said. “I don’t need that shit. We’re done for tonight.”
“We need some time to absorb this,” Dane said.
“Yeah, well, guess what? So do I.” Nick opened the door and walked through.
Pierce followed him. “Stay for dinner.”
“No thanks.”
“Nick. Give us a chance.”
Nick stopped walking to face him. “I’m just here to do the thing. That’s it.”
“I believe you.”
“They don’t.”
“They’ll catch up. This was a hell of a shock.”
Nick huffed out a breath.
“I was the outsider here for most of my life,” Pierce said quietly. “I know you don’t understand, but I kind of know how you must feel right now. I’m trying to tell you I’m open. I’m . . . I’m friendly territory, all right?”
Nick eyed him warily, but nodded.
Pierce nodded back and sighed. “So . . . the old man doesn’t know, huh?”
At that, Nick bristled. “Fuck no. I don’t even . . . I’m not ready to go there right now. I just wanted to tell Charles first, because of Myles. Then he invited me to dinner. I figured I’d have the opportunity to tell you four together, and take it from there. That seemed like the right way to go. Now . . .” He shook his head in disgust. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
“It’s okay.” Pierce slowly raised a hand and put it on his shoulder. He was two inches taller than Nick, and the laugh lines around his blue eyes deepened as he grinned. “I’ve never had a little brother before. This could be cool.”
Nick had to laugh. “You’re all in. Just like that.”
“Yup.” He peered hard into his eyes. “Way I see it, you’re here to help Myles. You stepped up, even knowing what you know. That’s what matters most. The rest . . . will work itself out one way or another. Give it some time.”
Charles, Dane, and Tess emerged from the den. Nick took one glance at them and said to Pierce, “Tell Myles I said good-bye.”
“Nick,” Tess tried. “Please, wait . . .”
But he walked down the hall. He’d seen Lisette put his jacket in the front hall closet when he arrived. He found it, grabbed it, and opened the heavy front door to leave. Then he remembered something.
As Charles, Dane, Tess, and Pierce stood together, all watching him, he pulled his wallet from his jeans pocket. He plucked out the gold card Charles had given him and speared Charles with his eyes. Then he snapped the card in half with his strong fingers, flung the pieces onto the marble floor, and turned and walked out, closing the door hard behind him.
He’d almost reached the car when he heard a woman’s voice calling his name. Shit, it was Tess. She ran to him, her long curly hair streaming behind her in the wind.
“I’m done,” he said. “Nothing more to say right now, Tess.”
“Please come back inside,” she said. “Meet the whole family. It’s not often we’re all in one place. And we came to celebrate you. Your being here. You’re the miracle this entire family prayed for, don’t you understand?”
His head was pounding. The adrenaline had moved to his head, doing a conga beat at his temples. “I’m no miracle.” He got into the car and drove away.