meeting as some kid facing the consequences of his actions. I’m not sorry. My only regret is that this crap is giving the media a shitshow.
Sevyn glances over at me as we take the elevator up to the suite. If the lines etched on his forehead are any indication, I’d say he has his own reservations about this meeting. There to greet us in the foyer is Claude. He looks back and forth between Sevyn and me. Studying us. I cock an unwavering eyebrow his way, giving my best unspoken “I’m studying you too, motherfucker” vibe. He sure as hell doesn’t look sick. Suddenly, his focus turns to me.
“Phoenix, I presume,” he says plainly. His thick English accent is more than a little annoying. Is this a joke to him?
“Oh, now you presume? Suddenly, you can tell us apart, eh? I guess you presume to be British now too.”
Sevyn twitches subtly next to me, but it’s there. When he tenses, I know shit is definitely off. “You’re not—” he begins.
“Claude? No, I’m not. I’m your father.”
What the hell did he just say? “What the hell is going on here? We didn’t come here to be ambushed, so you better start talking.”
A frail version of the man standing before us enters the foyer. Sevyn and I do a double take. I’ll be damned. They’re twins. Our father has a fucking twin. More secrets. This shit just keeps getting better.
“I’m out of here!” I don’t even make it to the elevator before Sevyn grabs me by the arm. “Did you know about this?”
“No way, man, but we deserve answers. We can’t let them get away with this ‘rabbit out of a hat’ crap. They both have a lot of explaining to do. Claude’s twin just said that he was our father.”
He’s right. In my haste, and being taken aback by the accent, I totally skipped over that fact. Who is this man, and how is he our father? God, I swear my damn life is a soap opera.
“Fine,” I finally say.
We follow the twins into the sitting room, where two other men in suits await.
“We need the room, gentlemen. We’ll call you back for the actual meeting,” Claude says before taking a seat on the sofa. He looks like a shell of himself. The cancer must be progressing.
The two suits nod their understanding before disappearing. Once they’re gone, the British twin speaks up.
“I’m Aldrich, and I’m your father.”
“You’ve said that,” I deadpan.
“Just let me try to explain since Claude doesn’t have the energy,” he tries again.
I nod for him to get on with it. He explains that he and Claude were separated at birth after being put up for adoption. He was adopted by a British family and brought to the UK while Claude stayed here in the US. Both were raised in great homes, but Claude lived a more privileged life. Marrying at twenty-one, Claude still felt a void even though he had success within his adoptive father’s company and a beautiful wife. He needed to know where he came from—his biological family’s history—so his adoptive parents helped him search for his birth parents. After a year of digging and exhausting an exorbitant amount of resources—all that money could buy—they discovered he had a twin.
“I also wanted to know who my real parents were, but my reach wasn’t as widespread as my brother’s. He found me, and immediately, I knew he was the missing piece of my life,” Aldrich admits.
“I still remember that day,” Claude adds hoarsely. His half-smile is unmistakable. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable … so human.
Aldrich continues to explain how he visited America regularly for the next two years. As Claude began to work longer hours, striving to build his own company, his beautiful wife began to appreciate Aldrich’s visits a little more than she should. Then the unthinkable happened. Like a moth to a flame, Aldrich was consumed by her beauty. He could no longer deny what was happening, and they both gave in to temptation for a one-time affair. It ended after that visit, but it only took one. Two months after he returned home, he found out she was pregnant.
“How do you know that our mother wasn’t pregnant from Claude? She could have been pregnant before you arrived or even right after you left,” Sevyn reasons.
I shake my head to clear it. My mother is the most honest woman I know, and she was a cheater. Another man with the same face was able