steer him away from anything that would earn their father’s disapproval. They bonded, stuck up for each other. As they got older, Gabe spent a lot of time watching out for Andy both because he was younger and because he was gay, which made him a target until he got too big and too good at self-defense for that bullshit. Gabe missed the guaranteed family safety net. He still had it with Andy, but he missed the rest.
Natalie’s fingers brushed over his chest. “Your file doesn’t mention a rift.”
He slipped his fingers through hers and loved when she grabbed on. “That’s a nice word for it.”
“Okay.”
That’s all she said. No questions or nagging. She acted like she’d let it end there if he needed it to. After all his blustering and the shitty things he’d said to her, after she opened a window into her world, she still didn’t make demands. Not that he could walk all over her, because he couldn’t. It was one of the things he found so damn sexy about her. That inner toughness.
The way she reacted made it all seem so easy. The secret he’d kept locked inside. The one only he and Andy and Rick knew. The allegations that tore him up every time he looked at Brandon. Gabe let it all spill out. “He had sex with my girlfriend.”
“Rick? Oh, God.” She made a face as if she’d tasted something spoiled. “I don’t have a sibling, but that has to break some sort of brother code.”
“Shredded it to pieces.” And that wasn’t even the worst of it. The ripple effect swallowed up so much more. “Brandon’s mom.”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“He slept with my son’s mother.” His own brother. Gabe couldn’t find a way out of that haze. The whole time he’d been making plans and thinking he was in love, Rick had been screwing him. “I didn’t know at the time. Didn’t know for years. The admission is pretty new.”
“So, Rick isn’t why the two of you aren’t together?”
Gabe understood the confusion. He still hadn’t cleared up her misconception about Brandon’s age. Now might be the time, but on top of every other thing she was hearing, it might not even sink in.
“We haven’t been together for a long time. Probably shouldn’t have been in the first place. Not that I regret it, since the relationship gave me Brandon.”
“Of course.”
“Linda didn’t want a kid. Didn’t want a guy who traveled a lot either.” Which would have been a good thing for her to tell him before he joined the Army. “But I was able to convince her to carry Brandon to term. She took some money and signed an agreement where she gave up parental rights. I took full responsibility, so she wouldn’t get stuck with child support.”
“She sounds kind of awful.” Natalie shook her head. “Really immature.”
Gabe went out of his way not to say what he wanted to say about Linda in front of Brandon. He knew the basics, but Gabe made sure that while his son knew he hadn’t been planned he knew he was absolutely wanted. Gabe fought like hell for the kid. “She turned out to be, yeah.”
“Brandon doesn’t see her?”
“Never met her.” Never asked, which made Gabe’s life easier. He didn’t have to track Linda down. He could have but vowed only to go down that road if it was important to Brandon, and so far it hadn’t been.
Natalie winced. “Is Rick still with her?”
“Nope.” But they could have each other as far as Gabe was concerned.
She squeezed his fingers and brought their joined hands closer to her mouth. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Smart woman. He knew she’d put the pieces together and find one missing. “Rick has decided he’s really Brandon’s dad.”
She made a strange strangling sound. “What the hell?”
“I used stronger language. Also kicked him the hell out of my house and banned him from the office.” Gabe wrapped his arm tighter around her. “Andy has been stuck in the middle ever since.”
“Does Brandon know?”
And that was the fight. The point he debated with Rick over and over. “Not about any of it. He thinks Uncle Rick and I had a work argument. They’re still in touch but not much.”
She pulled their joined hands closer in to her body until they rested against her chest. “Doesn’t that worry you? Like, that Rick will go behind your back and tell Brandon?”
“Scares the shit out of me. But the one promise he gave me, and I