you sooner,” his not-real-father admitted. The sorrow in his voice couldn’t be mistaken. It couldn’t have been easy to acknowledge that the son he raised since he was a baby wasn’t truly his. “It was my idea to keep it a secret, and it was my ego that caused your mother to leave. I’m sorry, son. I take responsibility. For all of it.”
“Should you be calling me that?” Ever shot back, causing Jamie and me to wince.
Damn.
“You are still my son.” The sharp edge of Mr. McNamara’s tone left no room for argument. Unfortunately, Ever had never been easily cowed.
“I was never your son. Isn’t that why we’re in this room?”
I started to push in to get my best friend the hell out of there before he said something he could never take back. Jamie seemed to read my mind, meeting my gaze through the crack of the door. The subtle shake of his head kept me at bay. Whatever was happening here needed to play out, and I could tell by the nervous look in Jamie’s brown eyes that the McNamaras were far from done.
A small sound behind me had me spinning around, and I barely suppressed a groan when the girls filed into the library one by one. Quiet as a mouse, I quickly moved from the door to meet them in the middle of the room.
“What’s going on?” Tyra whispered.
I was grateful that her instincts were sharp enough to sense that none of us were supposed to be here. I gave her a look, letting her know that it wasn’t good, and I’d fill her in later. Over the months, we’d been able to establish a silent line of communication that apparently still had its kinks. Tyra had deftly stepped around me and made her way to the door, despite my dismissal, with Lou and Bee hot on her heels. Like Jamie, Four hadn’t hesitated to slip inside the office.
At least she left the door cracked.
“Four, could you give us a minute?” Mr. McNamara requested.
Like Jamie, she refused to leave. “What’s going on?”
This time, Evelyn was the one to speak, and her voice was surprisingly chilly. I’d only ever known Mrs. McNamara to be warm and kind. “We’re speaking to our son about a private family matter. He’ll be with you shortly,” she assured Four dismissively.
I guess her propensity for kindness made an exception for the daughter of the woman her husband was sleeping with. I was sure that if circumstances had been different, Evelyn would have adored Four. We all did despite her being nothing but trouble since she came to Blackwood Keep.
“She stays,” Ever dictated. “Or I go.”
“Sweetheart,” Mrs. McNamara attempted to gently reason, “this situation is more delicate than you realize. We’re only thinking of you and what could happen if this information falls into the wrong hands.”
I frowned at that because… Dramatic much?
“I also passed English with flying colors,” Ever retorted slowly, “so I’m sure you understood me the first time. She stays, or I go.”
Being the sickeningly sweet good girl that Tyra was, she released a squeal of shock at Ever’s blatant defiance.
“What was that?” Mr. McNamara inquired.
“Nothing,” Jamie quickly lied. “Just get on with it.”
Coming to stand behind Tyra, I placed my hand over her mouth before bending low to whisper in her ear. “Quiet, pip-squeak.”
Eyes wide and apologetic, she nodded obediently, and I rewarded her with a kiss on her cheek. Lou and Bee pretended to gag at my display of affection, and I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, praying we weren’t caught before the shit hit the fan.
“There’s more,” Mr. McNamara announced. I could hear the creak of leather and imagined him shifting awkwardly in his desk chair. “Your biological father is Sean Kelly, the man you were named after.” If Ever was surprised by the news, he sure as shit didn’t express it. Clearing his throat, Thomas started again. “As you know, we were best friends—”
Jamie snorted at that before his uncle could finish, and I wondered what he knew but wisely wouldn’t divulge himself.
“But we drifted apart,” Thomas continued as if Jamie hadn’t rudely interrupted. “It was years before we saw each other again, and even then, it must have been written in the stars because…” He stopped, and I wished I could see the expression on Thomas McNamara’s face that caused such a weighted silence.
“Because he saved me from…from being raped in an alley,” Mrs. McNamara finished for him. “After Sean scared those guys away,