So much yelling.
Not at each other, just in general. Those thoughts kept moving through Hanna’s mind as she listened to the brothers and Jackson argue about what to do about their father. He demanded to see his wife and was coming over to make that happen. Hanna sent out an emergency call and Ellie swooped in and grabbed Beth to prevent the confrontation.
That left only the men and Hanna at the estate. Even the people who worked there had scattered. As she watched Derrick pace from one side of the library to the other, she wondered if she should have headed out with Ellie and Beth. Carter had told her to go so she could avoid another meeting with his dad. The offer had been tempting but a voice in her head nagged at her to stay.
He couldn’t hurt her anymore. That was a fact. Eldrick no longer scared her. He blustered and threatened and probably could make her life miserable, but she felt like part of a united front now. Everyone in this room, plus the women who weren’t here, had committed to standing up to Eldrick and his manipulations. She’d turned down not one but two checks. He had no hold over her.
But he did have a hold on Carter.
He’d never admit it, but hearing his father discount him had to hurt. He might be an adult now, but the words, the constant barrage that continued even now, the loss of faith, that had to bash a person’s self-esteem. She vowed not to let Eldrick take one more slice out of Carter. She loved Carter and her mind had started spinning with ideas about a future with him. That meant she did not want Carter near his father very often.
And then there was Jackson. She watched him now as he walked to the window, peeking out, trying to stay out of the fray. If she was right, he’d experienced the worst slight of all.
At ten after three, Hanna decided Eldrick wasn’t coming. Maybe he’d figured out his sons had conspired against him. Worse, he might have gone looking for Beth. Not wanting to worry anyone with that thought, Hanna reached for her phone. Ellie and Derrick had security. She wanted to remind Ellie to use it.
“Where is she?” Eldrick’s voice boomed through the room.
Hanna spun around, expecting him to look like a man on the verge of losing his wife. Nope. He wore an expensive blazer and polished shoes. If this was his version of heartbroken, she didn’t see how it was any different from his usual entitled look.
“She’s not here,” Derrick said.
Eldrick barely gave his sons eye contact. “I’ll go find her.”
Spence stepped in front of him, blocking his path to the door. “We want to talk to you.”
Eldrick’s expression did not disappoint. His gaze swept across the room. “You will never get the business this way.”
Carter shook his head. “This is about you.”
“You should be at work,” Eldrick said as he looked at Derrick. Never mind that it was Saturday. Then his gaze landed on her. “And you should be out of town. Somewhere with a mop in your hand.”
She knew the words were calculated to hurt. Only in his world would pointing out what she did for a living be a slight.
“Stop talking.” The order came from Carter.
“You think you can take me on, son?”
Carter shook his head. “I don’t think you’re worth it.”
She loved that response. She almost cheered.
“I’ve had enough.” Eldrick smiled as he looked at them. “I’ll see you at work on Monday.” He glanced at Derrick. “I’ll expect you to vacate my office.”
Rage swept through her as he issued threats. She thought about letting him walk out the door and then helping the men sift through the aftermath, but then she looked at Jackson. Looked at all of them. They deserved to know the truth.
She knew Carter believed all the secrets had been exposed. Dropping this one was a risk, but he needed to know the truth. Once he did she was confident he would help the others. And then, finally, there wouldn’t be any more baggage left stacked between them. They’d have issues to handle but no secrets.
She stepped up next to the desk. “Tell them the truth.”
Eldrick rolled his eyes. “Is this about your father again? I’m done talking about the accident.”
She let that word slide right by her. She refused to be derailed. That’s what he wanted. He thought he could land a few well-chosen words and send them all spiraling. He didn’t know his audience. The Jameson men weren’t like that and neither was she.
“It’s about Jackson.”
Jackson frowned. “Me?”
“I don’t have to listen to you.” But Eldrick no longer looked as smug.
That’s when she knew she was right. All the connections she’d made in her head, all the pieces that were right there but everyone else had been too close to see.
“He deserves to know. They all do.”
Carter appeared at her side. “What are you talking about?”
She had to ignore him and the confusion in his voice. Not look at his face. No, she needed to push through for Carter. Eldrick could not squirm his way out of this lie like he’d tried to with so many others.
“She’s just like her sister.” Eldrick glared at Carter. “When will you learn?”
“Hanna?” Derrick held up his hands as if hoping she would continue and explain.
“My father kept a journal.”
Eldrick jumped right in, spoke almost before she finished her sentence. “A book of some man’s fantasies. It’s irrelevant.”
He was unraveling. She could see him falling apart in front of her. “You know that’s not what it was. He wrote about you. The things you said to him. Side comments. Details about your exploits.”
That was the tame version. Apparently, Eldrick liked to brag. Her father wrote it all down, along with comments about how upsetting he found it because he really liked Carter’s mother.
“That’s man talk. Nothing more.”
No way was she letting that stand as his excuse. “Tell him or I will.”
“You don’t know anything.”
Jackson’s gaze switched from Eldrick back to her. “What does this have to do with me?”
“Everything.” She ached for him. Seeing Carter’s confusion only made the moment worse.
She was about to take a wrecking ball to his world. But he had to know. They all did. Jackson had a birthright and a connection. Carter had more family, and she’d come to understand that as much as he might deny it, he was all about family. A man who returned to help his brothers was not disconnected, which only made her love him more.
“Shut up.” Eldrick practically spit out the words as he took a few steps forward.
Carter blocked his path. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“She is about to ruin everything.”
Spence cleared his throat. “Then she better speak.”
“You don’t even know.” Eldrick looked at Carter and started to laugh. The evil sound filled the room. “That’s rich. You’re sleeping with her and she’s sneaking behind your back, finding journals.”
Carter didn’t seem all that impressed with his father’s act. But he did frown at her. “Hanna, tell me.”
“No!” Some of Eldrick’s calm faded then. He switched from laughing to explaining. The words rushed out of him. “I did this to protect you. Why do you think I sent you away? I couldn’t let you date Zoe. She was off-limits.”
There it was. Hanna closed her eyes, hoping to get hit by a wave of relief but all she felt was sadness. This man had actually disowned one of his kids to protect his secrets.
“How is my sister involved in this?” Jackson was standing up straight now, fully engaged.
“Zoe is your sister,” Eldrick said to Carter. “Jackson is your brother.” The words held all the emotion of a weather report. Purely factual, as if it were no big deal. “A mistake I made—”
“What?” All the color drained from Jackson’s face.
“Your mother was a woman I knew. Worked in the office next door. It meant nothing, but you can’t trust women when it comes to birth control. Not when we’re dealing with this kind of money.”
“Oh, my God.” Spence’s voice sounded small and stunned. “You think you’re giving a fatherly lecture right now?”
“That’s what I was doing with Gena. Making sure this didn’t happen to you.” Eldrick looked at Carter.
“Jackson and Zoe are our siblings.” Carter said the words as if they’d just crystallized in his head.
“Half,” Eldrick corrected.
Derrick scoffed. “As if that matters.”
“Of course it does,” Eldrick said. “They’re not Jamesons. It’s as simple as that.”
He was unbelievable. He used words as a weapon and Hanna was sick of it. “Because of you. Because you made the decision not to tell.”
Eldrick looked her up and down. “You’re worse than that piece of trash sister of yours.”
Carter lunged then, but Derrick caught him just in time. But that didn’t stop Carter from staring at his father. “Get out.”
“You can’t order me to leave.”
Carter shook his head. “Your name is not on the title to this house. You’re not on the trust. You have no right to be here.”
“Yeah, family only.” Spence walked to the door and gestured for Eldrick to go.
“You’re all going to regret this.” But he didn’t stay and say more.
His footsteps echoed on the elaborate staircase. No one said a word as the fighting continued to vibrate off the walls.
Hanna knew they couldn’t take the risk of Eldrick getting to Beth or Ellie. “I’ll call to warn—”
“You knew.” Carter turned on her. “All of it.”
A lump formed in her throat as she looked around. Saw the mix of pain, confusion and anger in their gazes. “I guessed.”
“But you didn’t tell me?”
Because she needed to be sure and they needed to have this conversation alone. She didn’t plan to unload. She’d wanted to do this the right way, without an audience. Not put Carter in a terrible position...again. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is.” He stepped closer. “You know how I feel about Jackson. I might not have said that I considered him family, but you could tell. You read people. We talked about so many things.”
Derrick winced. “Carter, maybe now isn’t—”
“You didn’t say anything. All those nights, all that talking. You held back secret after secret. I forgave it all.”
She didn’t have to guess his mood now. There was no pretending or trying to hide it. With every word the fury built inside him and he aimed it right at her. She didn’t even try to duck.
“The journal didn’t spell it out. I put it together through Beth’s real name and...there was this notation.”
“When?” When she didn’t immediately answer, he continued his interrogation. “It’s an easy question, Hanna. When?”
Part of her wanted to shrivel under the rapid-fire questioning, but she forced her shoulders back. She didn’t do anything wrong. Another case of bad timing, maybe. But she was not the guilty party here.
“I found the journal right after I got here. When Beth said her full name and how Eldrick hated her real first name. It was a different spelling, but so close to Jackson’s.” She said his name and turned to him. “I’m sorry.”
He just shook his head. “I don’t get this.”
Spence grabbed Carter’s arm. “Stop and think for a second.”
She silently begged for Carter to listen. Eldrick made the mess and she got stuck with the cleanup. She’d tried to stay away in the safety of New York. She’d put her teen crush behind her. She never expected to have her life tangled up with Carter’s again. To ache to be with him. To love him until she couldn’t think straight. “I know you’re blaming me, but this was your dad. It’s always about him.”
“I don’t expect anything from him, Hanna.” Carter swallowed hard enough for her to see it. “I trusted you, or I tried to.”
“Carter, please...”
But he just shook his head.
The tension in the room closed in on her. She tried to breathe but the suffocating pressure nearly choked her. She could feel Carter’s anger, knew it was aimed at her. It pulsed off him and crashed right into her. She tried to hold on to her balance, to think of the right thing to say, but she could see he’d shut down. His mouth fell into a flat line and a coldness she’d never expected to see moved into his eyes.
She needed the cottage...no, she needed to go. He was the one who spent his life running and she got it now. Sometimes the crushing pain, the slip into the abyss as one more thing was lost, proved too much.
She rushed across the room, right past him. He didn’t make a move to stop her, sending a slicing pain through her. It was Spence who touched her arm. “Don’t leave.”
“I can’t stay.”
Spence called out to his brother. “Carter, come on.”
She didn’t even need to see his face to know he’d given up on her. She’d betrayed him one time too many. Maybe it was a good thing he never told her he loved her. The weight of all she lost pummeled her, but at least she didn’t lose his love.
She’d never had it.
* * *
Carter heard her go. Listened to her mumbling and knew his brothers were staring. Still, he couldn’t move. He stood in the middle of the library, the one room in the house that gave him peace, and his world crumbled around him.
“That was a bloodbath.” Derrick’s voice sounded softer than usual. “Jackson?”
“I might throw up.”
Carter looked at his friend, now brother. Jackson’s shoulders curled in and he held on to the bookcase as if it were the only thing keeping him upright. “Don’t blame you.”
Jackson sat down hard in the desk chair. “I spend half of my day being grateful he’s not my father, but he is.”
“Did your mom ever give you any clue?” Spence asked.
Jackson shook his head. “None.”
She’d died a few years ago. It seemed like she’d thought it was better her children never know. There was a part of Carter that understood that. Eldrick was a hard man, even to his children. “She was likely protecting you.”
Carter rubbed his stomach. He tried to focus on the carnage in front of him, not let his mind wander to Hanna and the look on her face as she walked out.
“Zoe is going to lose it.” Jackson looked up. His expression flipped from blank to concerned and back again. “Now you know why your dad pushed you away, disowned you. He was trying to keep you away from Zoe.”
The logic made no sense to Carter. “Shows how much he knows about me. We were only ever friends.”
“What were you thinking?” Jackson sounded confused now. “The way you unloaded on Hanna.”
The words pounded into Carter. He had been expecting...well, anything else. “She lied to me.”
Spence made a strangled sound. “How was she supposed to tell that story?”
“What if her theory had been wrong and she said it and caused a bigger mess?” Derrick asked.
Carter had no idea what was happening. They should be furious with her and with him for inviting her back into their lives.
“You guys are ganging up on me now?” He barely knew what to think and now he didn’t have anywhere to turn.
“We tried to stop you a few minutes ago and that didn’t work.” Jackson pointed in Derrick’s general direction. “Well, they did. I was too busy trying not to pass out or throw Eldrick out a window.”
“You should have done the latter, but the former would have been funny.” Spence actually laughed but then stopped when no one else made a sound. “But back to you.”
For the first time in his life, Carter didn’t know what to say. The speechless thing never happened to him, yet here he was. Stumped. “What?”
Spence shook his head. “You have to stop her.”
What were they even talking about? “From?”
Jackson sighed. “If my guess is right, leaving.”
“You didn’t exactly support her.” Derrick’s look... Was that disappointed?
Maybe they didn’t understand. Carter decided to try again. “She knew—”
Spence held up a finger. “Thought she knew.”
That wasn’t the point. Not the one he was trying to make. “She didn’t tell me.”
Jackson frowned. “Since she was still dealing with her sister’s death and just learned that our father played a role in her father’s death, maybe cut her some slack.”
“Look, I’ve been there.” Derrick continued as if he were telling a story. “You fall in love and become vulnerable, then you say and do dumb things.”
They’d all lost their minds. Yes, the news about her father’s death...maybe he wasn’t taking that enough into account. Carter felt a slap of guilt about that. But the rest?
Jackson did his usual humming sound. “He’s not saying no to the love thing.”
Love.
The word sat heavy on Carter’s chest. He’d thought about a life with her, but love still seemed out of reach. “It’s too early.”
Both Spence and Derrick laughed but Derrick was the one who responded. “Right. Because love works that way. It has a time limit.”
Spence took his turn. “You and Hanna have a lot to talk about and work through but, personally, I’m hoping you fix this.”
“And stay.” Derrick shrugged. “There, I said it.”
“Carter has a business proposal for you guys concerning this estate,” Jackson said.
The guy’s world had been turned upside down and he managed to keep up with the conversation and offer insights. Carter had no idea how. He’d been shaken by the news he had more siblings and body slammed by the idea of being in love and spun up with anger about Hanna not talking to him...and now he wondered if his vulnerability on one front might have had something to do with his reaction to the other.
He could not find his footing at all.
“Good. If he fixes things with Hanna, we’ll listen.” Derrick ended the comment with a wink.
Carter was still reeling. But now that he’d had a moment to recover, he realized he’d made a misstep. His behavior hadn’t risen to Eldrick levels, but he hadn’t exactly been subtle or private in his condemnation. And he hadn’t fought to keep Hanna here, with him. He’d made it so easy for her to leave him before he could leave her.
Thinking about all he needed to figure out and put back in order made his chest ache. “It’s not that easy.”
“Oh, it’s not going to be easy.” Derrick laughed at the thought. “But it will be worth it.”
Jackson had gone quiet. He sat in the chair, looking into the distance.
“You okay?” Carter asked.
“No. It’s unlikely I’ll ever be okay again, but go.”
Derrick nodded. “We’ll babysit him.”
Jackson let out what sounded like a groan. “Lucky me.”
But there was one bright spot. Jackson might not see it, but Carter did. “We’re family now.”
The groan only grew louder.