years, so I don’t see time changing his feelings. Anyway, I remember Wes tried to come back and see Sera, but she asked Mom to tell him she wasn’t there. So I knew something had happened. Then Wes up and left town like he couldn’t stand the thought of being here. I know I’m more famous for my good looks than my brains, but I can put two and two together.”
All these years he’d known and kept her secret. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I figured if you wanted to talk to me, you would,” Zep admitted. “If Wes had lived, he would have come home to an ass kicking, but he didn’t, and it was obvious you decided to raise Luc on your own. So I supported you. I don’t need to know everything to know I love you, sister. I don’t need to be in on the secret to help you keep it. And now I think I might have to fight Harry. Remy, I’m going to need some help. He’s way bigger than Wes was.”
She brushed away tears. She had her family. Luc had them, too. They could get through anything if they were together, and she needed to start trusting that. Her mom was crazy sometimes, but she would do anything for her kids. “I don’t want you to go after Harry. He’s just being Harry.”
“Can he be someone else for a little while?” Zep asked. “Someone with less training and muscle?”
Her brother always made her smile. “Don’t worry about Harry. It’s Celeste we need to prepare for. She’ll be the one who comes after me.”
“Are we sure about that?” Zep asked. “I’m not saying she won’t want to see Luc, but is it all that bad to have a rich-as-sin grandparent? Celeste isn’t Ralph. I know she’s been nasty to Sera from time to time, but she loved her kids.”
That was a big part of the problem. “Yes, I’m worried she’ll love Luc so much she’ll decide she can raise him better than me.”
Zep’s eyes flared. “You honestly believe she’ll come after you for custody?”
“I think it’s a possibility I should be prepared for. The truth of the matter is this is one hundred percent my fault and I need to deal with it. I should never have gotten involved with Harry knowing who his family is. I was crazy about him and I convinced myself it wouldn’t be a problem. No one’s ever connected Luc to Wes. Well, no one who mentioned it to me.” She was thankful her younger brother knew how to keep a secret. “I should have gone with my first instinct and stayed away from him altogether. I should have fixed up the house and sold it and moved.”
That had Zep sitting up in his chair. “Moved? Why are we even talking about you moving?”
Remy looked to their brother. “What did you expect her to do? I’ve always worried that the situation would come to this. Luc is growing up and he’s going to ask questions at some point. He’ll go to school and hear the rumors.”
“Kids can be mean.” She knew she couldn’t keep him from all pain, but she had a choice in this. “And we don’t know that he’ll continue to look like our side of the family. I think he already has Wes’s eyes. It was always a matter of time before I had to make this decision. It looks like my time is up.”
“You do not have to move,” Zep insisted. “I’m not going to allow freaking Celeste Beaumont to run my sister off.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Zep had even less money than she did since he spent it all on beer.
“I could seduce Celeste, make a tape of it, and then we blackmail her,” Zep announced triumphantly.
Remy’s eyes rolled. “You’re going to seduce Celeste Beaumont?”
Zep gave him a shrug. “Haven’t found a woman yet I couldn’t seduce. Maybe we should get Momma in on this. And Miss Marcelle. Those two always have a plan, and it’s never bad to have the mayor on our side. Can’t Sylvie make a law or something?”
Her brother hadn’t paid attention in government class, and bringing her mother into it would turn the whole thing into some sort of long con. She couldn’t hide behind them anymore. “The best thing I can do now is make sure I’m ready for when Harry tells his aunt.”
“Why does Harry have to tell her at all?” Remy asked. “Did