Lacey drew in a breath, pushing the selfish if-onlys out of her mind. If only he hadn’t sent the letter. If only he’d left his place earlier. If only he hadn’t seen the photo. “Then you have to tell Peter. Now. It will be worse if you keep it from him.”
“Peter’s at training camp.”
“Not tonight. He got a pass to come home.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but Victor seemed to collapse into himself even more. “I just felt … I was stupid enough to think maybe we were finally getting somewhere. That he was starting to believe I’d changed. This is going to destroy everything.”
Lacey didn’t say anything. Not when he was dead right. She wanted to lean into him and tell him this would all work itself out. Somehow. But she couldn’t. Not given the complicated and volatile relationship between him and his brother. Not now that he had a child. Not now that her crazy half-baked plan, the one that had gotten her on the plane, was gone before Victor knew it had even existed.
Victor trod the path leading to Peter and Emelia’s house like a man heading to the gallows. It was hard to imagine the dread twisting through his body would be any less if an actual executioner waited for him on the other side of the front door.
Lacey pushed the door open, shucking her shoes off in the entryway. Victor kept his own on as he closed the door behind him. He was ninety-nine percent certain he’d need to make a quick exit.
Lacey stilled for a second, her hand curling around his elbow. For a split-second, he let himself imagine it was out of desire instead of pity. “You’ll get through this,” she said with a sureness that eluded him.
He let himself study her folded brow, her intense gaze. At least he had one person on his team. Though that would probably change in an instant if she was forced to pick sides. And he wouldn’t blame her.
Lacey tapped on the lounge room door. “You guys decent in there?” Without waiting for an answer or giving Victor another second to ready himself, she pushed it open.
Peter and Emelia were both on the couch, Emelia practically in Peter’s lap, his arms wrapped possessively around her.
Newlyweds. A pang of envy shot through Victor so strong his skin singed. He had done so many things backwards and upside down.
Peter’s gaze bounced between him and Lacey. “What’s going on?” Suspicion laced his question.
Emelia sat straighter too. Her gaze also moved between her cousin and him, a wariness in her face. It was clear what they both thought. The irony was that until a few hours ago if things had gone his way for once, they would have been right.
Victor pressed his lips together to hold back the bitter laugh that threatened to burst out. If only he’d left his house five minutes earlier. The fork in the road of his life, all because he’d checked his emails.
Lacey stepped into the room, and Victor followed, his shoes feeling like they were cased in cement.
“Victor has something he needs to tell you, and I think you both should take a few moments to listen.” She sat in one of the armchairs, folding one of her legs underneath her like a gazelle.
Victor took the other chair, barely touching the cushion, his whole body coiled for flight.
His brother leaned forward in his seat. Emelia’s hand curled around Peter’s elbow, in case she needed to stop her husband from taking a swing.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. Might as well just get it over and done with. There was no good way to land this. No words that would soften the blow. “I found out tonight that I have a daughter.” His fingers folded into his palms, digging against the calloused skin. “I’m so sorry, Peter.” He looked straight into his brother’s wary green eyes. “It’s with Sabine.”
He heard Emelia’s sharp intake of breath, saw her hand tighten around her husband’s arm, but there was no reaction from his brother. Not so much as a flicker in his expression.
“I’m sorry.” After a few seconds of weighted silence, Peter shook his head. “Do you mind repeating that?”
“I found out tonight I have a daughter. With Sabine.” The words fell into the room a second time. Like a grenade on a cop show that looked like a dud before exploding into a cacophony of sound and light.