Steven stares at his wife for several long seconds, and the tension is so thick in the room, you could cut it with a knife.
“Dad.”
Isaac’s voice is calm but firm, and Steven turns his gaze to him, and then to each of his children, one by one. His face is completely sober as he moves his eyes about the room and back to his wife, who nods reassuringly.
Finally, he stands and moves next to Matt.
“I don’t really know how to say this,” he mutters, his eyes never leaving his wife. Finally, she stands and joins him, linking her hand with his, and tilts her head to kiss his shoulder.
“You’re scaring me,” Jules whispers with wide eyes.
“Right after Caleb was born,” Gail begins and rubs her free hand up and down Steven’s arm, as though he’s cold, “your father and I split.”
“What?” Matt exclaims.
“Let me finish the story,” Gail scolds him. “We went through a rough patch, like most marriages do. I had three little boys at home, and he worked more than I liked, and we decided to split. So, he moved out.”
“You moved out?!” Jules scoots forward in her seat, listening carefully.
“I did,” Steven confirms. “Worst fucking three months of my life.”
“Okay, this is surprising, but what does it have to do with what’s happening now?” Matt asks.
“The PI was looking for me,” Steven announces and meets Matt’s gaze. “While I was separated from your mother, I had a very brief affair with a woman while I was on a business trip. I didn’t know it then, but she became pregnant.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Isaac growls.
“No.” Steven shakes his head. “I’m not kidding. The man has been trying to find me since his mother passed away several months ago. He is the person who hired the PI.”
The room is dead silent for several seconds while everyone processes this. I look up at Caleb’s face, and his jaw is clenched, muscles flexed and eyes narrowed on his father.
“You have an illegitimate son,” Matt clarifies.
“I do.” Steven nods with tears in his eyes. “His name is Dominic.”
“Holy shit,” Nate whispers and clenches his eyes closed. “We met him.”
“You met him?” Isaac exclaims, jumping to his feet.
“Yes, the day we took the girls shopping.” Nate nods. “He was having lunch with your parents.”
“You’ve been having lunch with him?”
“I can’t fucking believe this,” Caleb mutters, speaking for the first time.
“Look”—Steven holds his hands up, as if surrendering—“I was waiting for DNA tests to come back before I told the family. What if he was some asshole trying to get to my high-profile children?”
“Your father was protecting you,” Gail tells them all with a stern voice.
“But the DNA confirms it,” Caleb states coldly.
“Yes.”
Matt swears, long and loud, and paces around the room while Isaac just glares at his father. Jules and Will look shell-shocked, and Caleb is scowling, a tense ball of anger and frustration.
“I have something to say,” Caleb begins with a hard, yet deceptively calm, voice.
“Go ahead,” Steven says.
“You taught us what it is to be a man. A partner. A father.” Caleb inhales deeply, and a muscle in his jaw ticks as he grinds his teeth together. “I feel like everything you’ve ever taught us has been a lie.”
“It’s not a lie,” Gail interrupts angrily.
“He fucked around on you behind your back! What kind of a man does that?”
“He did not!” Gail storms over to Caleb and stares up into his eyes. “We were not together, Caleb. And he told me about it when he came home, begging me to take him back.”
“He was fucking married!” Isaac says. “I don’t give a shit if you were on a break.” Isaac laughs humorlessly. “This isn’t Friends. He was married to you, whether he lived in the same house as you or not.”
“We were taught to respect women,” Will adds with a husky voice. He looks up and pins his father in his blue gaze. “You taught us to protect the women we love. To take care of them. To never hurt them.”
Steven sighs deeply and hangs his head, staring at his shoes. “It was a horrible mistake and something I’ve regretted every day of my life. Your mother was more forgiving than I deserved, and I’m thankful every day that she loved me enough to take me back and mend our marriage with me.”
“Where is he?” Caleb asks quietly.
“He lives not far from here,” Gail responds with tears in her eyes. “He grew up mostly in Italy with his mother’s family.”
“Were you ever going to tell us?” Jules asks. Tears are rolling down her cheeks.
“Yes, I just didn’t know how,” Steven whispers.
“But not if there hadn’t been a kid,” Isaac adds.
“If Dom hadn’t been born, there would be no reason to tell you,” Gail informs them all. “What happens in our marriage is between your father and me, and no one else.”
“How can you protect him?” Caleb asks his mother angrily. “After what he did to you?”
“Honey”—Gail takes Caleb’s hands in her own—“you need to remember, this happened more than thirty years ago. We’ve had more children since then, grandchildren. Thirty years of life.” She turns and looks at all of us as a tear falls from her eye, unheeded. “This is fresh for you. For you, it happened today, but for us, it’s so far in the past it was a lifetime ago.”
“Do you have any more information for us?” Isaac asks Matt and pulls his wife to her feet.
“No.” Matt shakes his head.
“I’m out of here.”
Isaac leads Stacy out the door, and we hear him start his truck and peel out of the driveway.
Jules is crying in earnest now, and Nate pulls her into his lap, rubbing his big hand up and down her back and whispering in her ear, trying to calm her. Natalie’s face is pressed to Luke’s chest, where tears run silently down her cheeks.
Will stands and crosses to his father, his eyes full of anger and disgust, and stops toe-to-toe with the older man. “I want to deck you right now. But out of respect for my mother, I’ll say this: I never expected to be this disappointed in you. Not you.”
Will shakes his head and turns away, striding quickly to the front door. Meg brushes tears from her cheeks and follows behind him.
Caleb’s gaze hasn’t left his father since he began speaking. He hasn’t moved. His face is white, and his body is tight, and I can feel the anguish rolling off of him.
Tears are rolling down my own face, though I barely feel them. I don’t know what the fuck to do, so I do what feels right. I wrap my arms around Caleb and hold him. He unfolds his arms and wraps them around me tightly, pulling me against him. His body is practically humming with agitation.
“I think…” Matt begins but pauses and swallows hard. “I think this meeting is over. Just keep your eyes and ears open, everyone.”
As he passes by Caleb and me, he pats my shoulder reassuringly and walks out the front door, closing it quietly behind him.
“Come on,” Steven says to Gail. “Let’s go and let them process all of this.” He looks about the room, to his friends sitting shell-shocked at the dining table, his children, Luke’s siblings. “I love you all very much. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you had to find out about Dom this way.”
He stops in front of Jules, his face in absolute torment, as he gazes at his daughter. “Jules,” he whispers.
Jules jumps up out of Nate’s arms and launches herself at her father, holding him tightly. “I love you so much, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, baby girl.”
Jules hugs her mother and sniffs loudly as she pulls back, and we all watch them walk out the front door.
“Fucking-A,” Caleb whispers.
Chapter Sixteen
~Caleb~
“He fucked around on my mothe
r!” I yell and pace the living room, still mad as hell an hour after everyone has left after the meeting.
“Caleb—” Brynna begins.
“Do not try to defend him.”
“I’m not.” She shakes her head. “But, honestly, your mom is right. It happened a long time ago.”
“Everything he taught us was a fucking lie.” I push my hand through my hair and stare out the front window into the dark yard. The sun set a long time ago.
“No, it wasn’t, Caleb. Did you ever stop to think that that man was teaching you based on his own mistakes? He didn’t want you to make the same ones he did.”
I exhale and close my eyes.
Damn her for making sense.
“Your dad loves your mom fiercely. It’s obvious to anyone who sees them.”
“I have a brother I didn’t even know about!” I exclaim and pace the room again.
“He didn’t know either. There’s no way that if Steven knew he’d fathered a child he would have abandoned him, Caleb. You know that.” She watches me pace, her face calm and eyes watchful, and I suddenly feel like a dick.
“You’re right,” I mutter and pull my hand down my face. “He wouldn’t have. But it’s fucking bullshit that he left my mom right after I was born.”
“It’s called being human. Frankly, I’m relieved that the Montgomerys aren’t as perfect as they all look from the outside.” She chuckles, and I scowl at her.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, come on, Caleb. Your parents are still happily married, all of you are supermodel gorgeous, you all get along with each other.” She ticks off each point with her fingers. “You have one brother who is a freaking professional football player, you’re a SEAL—”
“Was,” I interrupt, but she keeps going.
“You’re all successful. It’s like none of you could do any wrong, and you’re this cookie-cutter perfect family. Well, surprise, you’re all human after all.” She shrugs and watches me carefully, as I stand here and just stare at her.
“Matt likes kinky sex. There is nothing perfect about him,” I inform her, trying to keep a straight face.
“Oh, get real, you like the kinky shit, too.” She waves me off, but I smile wolfishly at her.
“Not that kinky, but I wouldn’t mind tying you up sometime, Legs.”
She laughs and shakes her head, then stands and crosses to me.
“Give it some time,” she urges and wraps her arms around my waist. “You might find that Dominic is a nice guy.”
“He could be a homicidal maniac. An asshole. A Denver fan.” I cringe and shudder at the thought, making Bryn laugh, and for the first time all day, I feel my body relax.
“He might just be a regular guy who wants to know what his biological father is like,” she counters with a grin. “From what I remember when we met him at lunch, he’s handsome.”
“You met him, too?” I ask, surprised.
“Briefly, yeah. Your dad was trying to get them out of there fast when he saw us. Dominic seemed normal.” She fiddles with a button on my shirt, but before I can ask more questions, there’s a knock on the door.
“Expecting anyone?” I ask her with a raised eyebrow.
“I called my mom and asked her to bring the kids home. I miss them.” She grins shyly, and I kiss her soft forehead before opening the front door. Two small girls and an eager dog come bounding inside, Brynna’s parents close behind.
“Thanks for bringing them home.” Brynna smiles at her parents and hugs both girls close.
“No problem. They were ready to come home anyway.”
“Grandpa says we’re bad for his high pressure,” Josie informs her mother with a serious face.
“He says we’ll give him vagina,” Maddie joins in, and I snort before catching the laugh that wants to come out of me.
“Angina,” he corrects them and rolls his eyes. “You’ll give me angina.”
“That’s what I said,” Maddie counters.
“We’ll head out, honey.” Eloise hugs Brynna close and kisses my cheek as she passes by.
“Thanks again, Mom. And don’t forget that Monday night is our monthly night out with the gang, so the kids will be back with you that night.”
“No problem.” Eloise smiles.
“I don’t think we’ll be going to that, Bryn,” I begin but am met with a glare.
“I will have a cop, a SEAL, a professional football player and a former UFC fighter with me, Caleb. I will be well taken care of.” She props her fists on her hips and looks at me like I’m nuts.
“I guess when she puts it like that.” I shrug and smile.
Her parents laugh as they leave, and the girls start chatting about their night with their grandparents.
Bix wanders over to me, and I settle on the couch with him half in my lap and half on the couch. With all of his training, he still hasn’t figured out that he’s not a lap dog. I’m content to scratch his belly and gently massage around his bad ear, earning moans of pleasure from the big goof, as the girls talk excitedly to their mother.
She’s such a good mom.
She smiles happily at the girls and gestures for them to join her on the love seat adjacent to where I’m sitting, settling one on each side of her, wrapping her arms around them and kissing their heads.
I wish I’d seen her with them when they were babies. What a sight it must have been to watch her soothe them, cuddle them.
Nurse them.
“My tooth is loose!” Josie tells her excitedly.
“It is?” Brynna asks. “Let me see.”
Josie shows her mother her loose top front tooth and then turns around to show me. “See, Caleb?”
“I see. Let me go get my pliers. I’ll take it out for you.”
“No!” Josie giggles and covers her mouth with her little hand.
“My tooth isn’t loose.” Maddie pouts with a long face.
“Don’t worry, baby.” Brynna chuckles and kisses her cheek. “It will be soon.”
“Can we watch a movie, Mama?” Josie asks with a yawn.
“I think it’s time for bed, sweetheart.”
“I want Caleb to tuck me in,” Maddie responds and turns her big brown eyes on me, gazing at me hopefully.
“Come on.” I snap my fingers, and Bix jumps off my lap, happy to head upstairs to bed. I scoop both girls up and carry them, one under each arm like they’re sacks of potatoes, making them giggle like crazy. “I’ll dump you in bed!”
“Mom! Help!”
“You’re on your own.” Brynna laughs as I climb the stairs. “I have a kitchen to clean.”
“I’ll be down to help in a while!” I call down to her as I toss the girls on their beds.
Time to put them to bed and have some quiet time with their sexy mother.
***
“Yellow stripe, corner pocket,” Will calls out and takes his shot, easily sinking the ball.
The pub is loud thanks to an old jukebox in the corner playing Livin’ on a Prayer and the girls at a nearby table laughing their mostly drunk asses off.
“You know,” I mention to Nate who’s sitting on a stool next to me, watching Will shoot, “your wife is the loudest one over there, and she isn’t drinking anything other than water.”
Nate laughs and looks over at my sister with humor and love. “She likes to have fun with her friends,” he murmurs.
“They all do,” Will agrees as he joins us after missing his last shot.
“Woot! Woot!” Meg chirps, and the whole group collapses into a fit of giggles just as a waitress arrives with plates of food for them all.
“Our girls can eat,” Luke remarks and motions with his chin as heaping plates of ribs and nachos and chicken in baskets with fries are laid out on the table before them.
“I’d rather that than Stacy starving herself,” Isaac mutters and circles the table, looking for the best shot.
I silently agree. I love watching a woman eat.
“Nat’
s sexy when she eats,” Luke mutters, almost to himself, mirroring my thoughts.
“Hey, ace!” Jules calls from the table, waving the dessert menu about. “They have chocolate cheesecake! I’m getting two slices!” She holds up two fingers and laughs, turning back to the girls.
“Nope, not afraid to eat, those girls.” Will laughs and pats a laughing Nate on the shoulder.
“Where’s Matt?” Isaac asks, checking his watch. “We’ve been here for almost an hour.”
“We’ve only been here an hour and Meg is already that drunk?” Will asks, a horrified expression on his face, making us laugh.
Just then we all go quiet as Matt walks through the door with a tall, dark-haired man. As we watch, the stranger smiles, listening intently to what Matt is telling him as he leads him to the girls’ table.
I don’t have to ask to know who the stranger is. It’s like looking at a darker version of my father thirty years ago.
“Oh hell no,” Isaac growls, but Will stops him with a hand on his chest.
“Chill out, man,” he murmurs to him softly. “This is no more his fault than it is ours.”
Isaac scowls at Will and then back to where the girls are smiling and giggling at something Dom has said. He shakes each of their hands respectfully, but when he gets to Jules, he stops and holds her hand in his for a moment, his face sober and watchful. Jules’ eyes are glued to him in awe, and finally, she hops off her stool and hugs him close and smiles up at him happily. He smiles back, pats her shoulder, if somewhat awkwardly, and Jules takes her seat and digs into her nachos. Natalie also offers him a hug and a smile before he and Matt begin to walk this way.
Three siblings down.
“I have someone for you guys to meet,” Matt begins as he and Dom approach. Dom’s blue eyes are wary and reserved.
Nervous.
Luke steps forward and offers his hand. “I’m Luke Williams, Natalie’s husband.” He gestures to his beautiful brunette wife and shakes Dom’s hand.
“Dom Salvadore,” he responds.
“Nate.” Nate stands and offers his hand. “Jules’ husband.”
“Will, youngest brother.” Will approaches Dom and shakes his hand, holding his gaze. “Do you like football?” he asks, making us all smirk.