A Simple Twist of Fate (24 page)

He was the son of a con man and a sick dead woman he’d never know.

“You didn’t tell me. Neither did Charlie.” Those facts were obvious, but Callen needed to say them.

“No.”

His gaze went back to her. “Why?”

“Because in every way that mattered, you were mine. You are mine. You have always been my son. Will always be, no matter how hard Charlie tried to destroy that. I love you as much as I love Beck and Declan. There has never been a difference in my mind.”

“That’s not true.” He’d been there, lived it.

“It is.”

“I don’t believe this.” Callen sat forward with his elbows balanced on his knees but sat back up again just as fast. “You hide this huge thing and—”

“I love you.” She ran a hand over his hair.

The touch was so familiar and yet so wrong. He pushed it away. “Don’t. I can’t stand any of that right now.”

“Callen, please listen to me.”

He could hear the tears in her voice. See them on her face.

“What is it about the women in this house? The lying.” His mind scattered with his thoughts moving in a hundred directions. He couldn’t think. He needed to stand up and walk out of there. “I can’t do this.”

“Listen to me.” She stepped in front of him.

He didn’t dare touch her and couldn’t move around her because she somehow made her thin frame fill the entire doorway. “Don’t do this.”

“I kept it from you at first because you’d had enough turmoil and I didn’t know what Charlie had done to you while you were gone.”

The excuse was convenient and not very believable. “I’m thirty-four.”

“And then I kept it from you because I was selfish. I admit that.” She brushed away the tears as the ache filed her scratchy voice. “I was so desperate to have you back in my life and to earn your love again. I knew if I told you right then, when you were so raw and closed off, you would cut me off forever.”

He couldn’t even get there. Seeing her, the pain on her face and in her body language. Hearing the pleading and watching the reflection in her sad eyes. He couldn’t handle it. “I have to get out of here.”

“Please don’t go.”

Declan appeared behind her in the hall. “What’s going on in here? Sophie’s car is racing out of the driveway and Beck is walking into the woods.”

Callen refused to listen to one more syllable. He pushed by both of them with a quick glance for Declan. “Ask your mother.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Beck sat on the television room couch and stared at his hands where they hung together between his legs. The screen stayed black even as four adults hovered around it. But they weren’t there to watch a movie. This was family-talk time. Well, family minus Cal, which was what Beck feared the family would now be.

It would be like Cal to separate and move on. This time Beck would follow and drag him back. The days of the Lone Wolf were over.

But Beck understood why his oldest brother needed space. There wasn’t even a word to describe how much today sucked. It started out with shopping, which Beck hated, then morphed into a series of body blows from the women in his life. And they kept coming. This one with his mother he couldn’t even understand.

“You’re not Callen’s mother.” The words tasted awful and sounded worse.

His mom jerked in her chair across from him and her chin came up. “I absolutely am.”

None of this made sense. On top of the Sophie betrayal this bordered on too much. One family could only handle so much bad news. It kept rolling over them. Whatever karmic fuck-up his ancestors created caused unending blowback now. Beck didn’t even believe in that sort of thing, but he’d given up trying to find a rational explanation. This much bad luck had to come from somewhere.

Declan with his wrinkled shirt and rough shadow of stubble around his chin sat next to Beck on the couch. With his head back against the cushions and a blank stare at some unidentifiable spot on the far wall, every inch of Declan telegraphed exhaustion. Emotional free fall did that to a guy.

Before all the brothers went down for the count, Beck tried one more time to make sense of it all. “I don’t understand, Mom.”

Leah sat on the armrest next to her with a protective hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “She isn’t talking about being his birth mother. She is his mother in every other way.”

The voice brought Beck’s attention zinging back to Leah. The exposure of the secret came through her. She stumbled onto something and shared it with cryptic remarks about how Callen shouldn’t worry about it.

Beck loved her with Declan, but her role in this ticked him off. “And you knew about this the whole time and didn’t say anything?”

“Hey.” That’s all Declan said, all without life or movement behind the word.

Leah nodded. “I suspected.”

The women in this family had the damnedest time just saying things in concise statements. Beck hated that in a client and didn’t love it in a family member either. And that’s how he saw Leah. She wasn’t at this second but she would be, and soon, unless Declan totally lost his mind.

The comfort of thinking of her as a sister let Beck fight with her now. “What does that mean, Leah?”

“The paper in that envelope is from the private investigator I had years ago. I knew from talking to Declan early on that he thought your mom was Charlie’s first wife, but my notes said something else.”

“So you dug deeper.” That’s what she did. Sophie hid things and Leah nosed around until she found an answer.

Two strong women. Two annoying habits.

“I didn’t put it all together until a month ago.” Leah sat up straighter. “For years I investigated everything, collected a lot of information about your family. That’s not a surprise. You knew that from day one, so don’t try to say I was hiding it.”

“Right.” Taking out his anger at Sophie on Leah wasn’t the answer. It also might be the one thing that woke Declan out of his stupor. “Fine.”

“The investigator came across it thanks to a stray comment from some guy Charlie knew way back when who died right after the call. My guy tracked down the marriage, which wasn’t easy because in true Charlie style it was buried behind a pile of documents and a fake name. Hell, to my knowledge even the FBI and police didn’t find it.” Leah glanced at Declan then continued when he nodded. “But I had this document on an unknown marriage.”

“And you couldn’t let it go,” Beck said, not feeling very charitable at the moment.

“The investigator poked around and eventually a person led him to someone through someone else, who gave Kristin’s name as the best, possibly only, friend of the unknown first wife.”

His mother placed a hand over Leah’s. “Charlie using a fake name on the marriage certificate is something I didn’t know at the time. If I had, maybe I would have seen the cons coming. But, really, who knows what I would have done. I already loved Charlie and Cal.”

Declan winced. “Mom—”

“The bottom line is her name was Sylvia Jenkins.”

“There was a note, unsubstantiated, about a baby.” Leah closed her eyes and blew out a long breath. “I knew from the timeline what that suggested. The idea that Cal came before your parents’ marriage wouldn’t have been that unusual, but I knew about the marriage to this other woman and how the divorce happened right before your parents’ marriage and move to Sweetwater. It looked like it had to be more than a simple case of a kid out of wedlock.”

Rage blew inside of Beck. He felt it simmer and explode. He clamped his hands on his thighs, digging his fingernails into the denim, to give his anger an outlet. “And that didn’t strike you as big news?”

“It wasn’t my secret to tell and, honestly, Cal had been through so much—you all had—that I didn’t see what knowing right then would accomplish. You were growing together. Why risk ripping you apart?”

Beck pushed up from the couch and walked to the alcove near the built-in bookcases. Anything to funnel the energy speeding through him in another direction. “Leah, come on. This is about his birth mother.”

“Ease up on her and do it now.” As predicted, Declan woke up in time to defend Leah. It was as if he had an internal watchtower and if anyone breeched he jumped to alert. He even sat up straighter. “She handed the information to Cal and he ignored it. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, I’m the one who did.” When Leah started to say something, his mom stopped her. “My choices caused this.”

“You were trying to protect Cal.” Leah glared at the brothers as if daring them to disagree.

“At first. Later I was trying to preserve a relationship with him.” His mom made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. “It was unfair and the exact wrong way to handle it.”

Beck’s frustration bubbled over. The lying, the secrets. The excuses. He’d been fed them his whole life until it all ran together. Losing Sophie. Potentially losing Cal. Dealing with the one huge thing his mother always held back. The one thing they deserved to know.

He grabbed on to the first thought that came into his head. “Charlie lied and then you turned around and did the same thing.”

He regretted the words the second they came out. The shock on his mother’s pale face did him in.

Declan jumped to his feet and was in his face a second later. “Beck, back the fuck off.”

“It’s okay.” His mom said the words but she couldn’t sell them. Her voice cracked at the end.

“No, it’s not.” Declan stood right in front of Beck, looking every inch the rescuer his mother tagged him to be.

She stepped between them with a reassuring hand on both their arms. But her gaze stayed on Beck. “Do you really think taking in a baby, loving him and mourning his loss when he was torn out of the house equals all your father’s crimes?”

“Of course not. I didn’t mean . . . sorry.” Guilt made it hard for Beck to even look at her right then, so he stared out over the backyard and the swing set jumping in the wind.

“There’s enough blame to go around. Charlie shoulders most of it, and I own my share for not stepping up and telling you all sooner.” She looked from Beck to Declan and back again. “But do not for one second think this means I love Callen any less or that I have any intention of giving him up.”

“How does he bounce back from this?” Beck asked, because he really didn’t know.

“I’m not sure.” His mom inched away, increasing the circle when Leah stood up to join them.

Declan put an arm around Leah and the fight rushed out of him. “Like he always does. Cal is the most resilient guy I know, and that’s coming from a guy who spent ten years in the army and a third of those in Iraq.”

“Okay, then where do
we
go from here?” Beck gave a voice to the fear that ran through him. “He separated himself from us before. I don’t want that again.”

Leah cuddled closer to Declan. “You let him know none of this information changes anything. That’s what you all made clear to me about my dad after I found out what he did, and it made all the difference.”

“I’ll try to get Callen to forgive me. If it takes a lifetime I’ll do it.” His mom slipped her hand in Beck’s as she talked. “And if he can’t, I’ll keep loving him anyway.”

Declan didn’t waste time on the loving angle. He went right for the hit. Took up his military stance—legs apart and arms crossed—to get his point across. “Speaking of forgiveness . . .”

“Don’t.” Beck didn’t want another word.

“There has to be an explanation.” Leah sighed. “I heard how Sophie talked about you. Saw how she looked at you.”

Beck didn’t pretend to be confused by the comment. “She couldn’t give me one.”

Declan nodded, taking his time as if he’d studied this relationship thing and had it all figured out. “Then there’s only one thing to do.”

“Oh, really?”

Leah nudged Declan. “Just tell him what to do before he makes a total mess of his love life.”

“Ask Sophie again, because the alternative is losing her.” All amusement faded from Declan’s face. “Any idiot can see you’re not ready for that.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

After a horrible night of waiting for the phone to ring and cursing Beck for being an idiot, Sophie wanted to ignore the text the next day. Leah asked to meet at Gossamer. It sounded friendly, caring even, but she could blow, unload, yell.

After all the rounds of harsh words and accusations with Callen and Beck, Sophie didn’t know what to think or where to turn. Anything was possible.

She pushed open the door as an unexpected wave of sadness crashed over her. She remembered the girl lunch and the spot outside where Beck asked her on their first official date. The warmth of the shop and Mallory’s big welcoming smile.

Sophie took it all in, trying to savor every minute because it was over and that reality threatened to drive her to her knees. She’d started to find her footing and make friends in Sweetwater. She’d found a man who consumed her thoughts and made her want to stay. She hadn’t expected any of it and didn’t know how much she craved every piece of it until she teetered on the edge of losing everything.

Amazing how the world could change in a minute. It was a horrible lesson life kept throwing at her.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking about you.” Mallory stood by the cash register drinking out of the cup from the coffee shop down the street. “Come in here and sit down.”

Sophie just reached the counter when Special Agent Walker Reeves stepped out of the door marked “Employees Only” while straightening his tie. The visit seemed so out of context that she said the first words that popped into her mind. “Why are you here?”

His eyebrow lifted. “And good afternoon to you.”

Despite all that happened and Beck’s failure to back her up, Sophie couldn’t help the rush to protect him. The urge to come to the Hanovers’ defense was so ingrained it overwhelmed her. “I’m serious.”

Mallory looked at Reeves but gestured toward Sophie. “Answer the woman.”

“I’m having lunch with Mallory.”

“
What?
”

“He brought me a sandwich. Had the good sense not to walk in here with a lame salad or some other nonsense.” Mallory smiled at the agent.

Sophie felt a tic in her left cheek. That was new but she couldn’t stop it. “Are you two dating?”

The idea was too shocking. Sophie wanted to label it a betrayal, but for some reason she couldn’t. Mallory’s loyalty to Leah was absolute, starting way back in college. Sophie saw it in the way they joked and she envied their closeness.

For a few seconds, no one answered then Mallory piped up with an unusually short response. “No.”

“I needed to ask her some questions,” he said at the same time.

The anger in Sophie’s head continued to spew. She aimed it all at the FBI agent. Beck and Callen might hate her, but she would not allow people to hurt them. “About the Hanovers? My God, do you ever stop?”

Mallory tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “Uh, Sophie.”

“No, really. Enough. I get that you have some vendetta—”

“It’s called ‘a job,’” Reeves said.

The man never gave up with that line. No wonder none of the brothers trusted anyone. No one ever showed them the respect of trust. “We both know you’re here to hurt Callen Hanover.”

The agent opened his stance with his arms folded in front of him. “From the way I hear it, you might have some information on the man.”

“Excuse me?” Sophie practically screamed the phrase.

Mallory turned to stare at him, too. “Yeah, what she said.”

He shrugged. “It’s no secret you stormed out of the Hanover house yesterday.”

The pain hit Sophie’s temple in a lightning flash that had her blinking. “Wait a minute.”

“How in the world would you know that?” Mallory tugged on the agent’s arm until he faced her. “Don’t stare at me like your brain fell out. Answer me.”

“Surveillance.”

Mallory’s mouth fell into a flat line. “Define that.”

“Again, it’s my job.”

She slammed her coffee down on the counter. “You just ruined my lunch, Walker.”

Walker?
Sophie had forgotten the man’s first name because she never thought of him in human terms. But with Mallory’s frustration, Sophie felt the world tilt back into position. The fury pulsed off of her like a live and angry beast.

Sophie wanted to say “Get him” but refrained. Barely.

Reeves tugged on his ear as he hid part of his face from Sophie and talked with Mallory. “I told you I was in town for work.”

“And I told you no Hanover talk.”

Reeves lifted his head and shot Sophie an expression that looked suspiciously like
you ruined my day
. “You started us down this road, which has me wondering why you’re here.”

“No.” Mallory shifted to stand in front of Reeves with her back to Sophie. “You don’t get to use your FBI voodoo on my friends.”

The word blew through Sophie. Who knew being called friend could feel so good. But a stab of pain came right behind the shock of happiness. Walking away from this town was going to smash her heart to pieces.

His eyes narrowed. “Mallory, I asked the woman a simple question.”

While Sophie liked where Mallory’s mind was on this and loved seeing the special agent verbally bobbing and weaving, Sophie needed to get in and out as fast as possible. Sinking deeper into the family and friendship dynamics would only make it harder to leave.

And any chance of running into a Hanover needed to be avoided until she’d found her emotional equilibrium again. Her emotions tossed from heartbroken to rageful. She took responsibility for not thinking through the trip to Callen’s bedroom. But part of her wanted to shake Beck for not listening. For letting Callen blow everything into a disaster. Callen didn’t know about the jewelry, but Beck did, and that should have made a difference in his reaction.

That and the fact they were sleeping together. You’d think that would buy a woman a bit of trust. Apparently not.

Sophie exhaled, trying to lower her suddenly spiking temperature before she mentally went off on Beck . . . again. “I’m here to meet Leah.”

The bell above the door chimed as the door slammed opened. Callen threw out blame as he closed the short distance to the cash register. “I knew you’d go looking for a way back in with my family.”

“Isn’t my shop popular this afternoon?” Mallory elbowed the agent, putting him behind her. “Hello, Callen.”

Callen glanced at Mallory and stopped. His gaze went behind her shoulder then morphed into a glare. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Lunch.” Reeves made the comment as he picked up Mallory’s abandoned coffee.

This was an issue—maybe the only one—where Sophie agreed with Callen. She stood next to him in a joint stare at the odd couple in front of them. “He brought Mallory lunch.”

Callen clenched his teeth as he aimed his venom straight at Reeves. “You don’t fucking give up for a second. Now you’re going through Mallory?”

The agent didn’t ruffle. If anything, the agent looked more amused than he did a second ago. “I’m just standing here. And, for the record, I was invited for lunch. You?”

Mallory waved a hand and almost knocked Reeves in the face. “Technically, you called and said you were coming, but let’s not belabor the point. But I am going to ignore the suggestion that someone would want to eat with me only to get to you, Callen. Thanks for that.”

Callen’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, you’re really seeing this guy?”

His anger whipped around him and crashed through the shop. Sophie was grateful not to be the target this time.

“That kind of controlling bull might work on other people, not me. I can eat with whomever I want.” Mallory being Mallory, she didn’t back down. She took a step around the counter and toward Callen. Would have gotten in his face if Reeves didn’t put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Though I’m not particularly hungry right now.”

In a flash, Callen turned. That swirling wall of tension crashed right into Sophie as he talked. “What’s your plan, make Leah feel guilty and get her to talk on your behalf?”

This guy had no right to complain about other people not stopping. He kept singing the same tune no matter how annoying it was. “She called me.”

He scoffed. “Right.”

“Okay, that’s just about enough.” Mallory held up a hand as she talked. Instead of ushering Callen out the door, she glanced over her shoulder at Reeves. “You need to leave.”

He scowled at her. “Why me?”

“Well, you clearly make Callen here more unpleasant than usual, so go.”

No kidding. Of course, to be fair, a lot of things made Callen unpleasant. Sophie knew because she sat at the top of that list.

Didn’t matter anyway since Reeves was already shaking his head. “I’m not leaving you here without help.”

Callen swore under his breath. “Give me a break.”

“Sweet but misplaced.” Mallory tapped her chest. “Big girl. Besides, I need to wade through whatever Hanover craziness is happening right now. Your presence will not make that go faster.”

Sophie admired the way Mallory handled difficult men. Sophie thought the shop should give a class in that. She’d take it. Well, she would if she were staying, which she now wasn’t. Forget the idea of finding a job nearby and keeping the apartment over Tom’s garage.

Her welcome had been rescinded and it was time to go. She had no idea what she’d say to her aunt, but the suffocating stress of being so close to Beck, of wanting him and missing him, moved up the timetable for leaving. That’s what happened when you were stupid enough to fall for a guy with a mountain of personal baggage.

“Go. I’ll call you.” Mallory also whispered something to Reeves that no one else could hear.

Whatever it was worked. “Fine.”

With even clicks, Reeves walked toward the shop’s front door.

Callen waited until the other man was almost out. “Reeves? You can stop sending Kristin Accord after me.”

Confusion showed in the special agent’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I know.”

His hand dropped from the door handle. “What do you think you know?”

“About my mother. My real mother. The secret is out.”

The color washed out of Reeves face. Then he was gone.

“Interesting reaction,” Mallory mumbled.

Sophie couldn’t keep up. Anxiety zipped around the room, touching every one of them and ramping up the already off-the-charts tension as it went. But there was one comment that stuck out and wiped out everything else. “What is this about your mother?”

“Why are you still here?” Callen asked with a snap in his voice.

Enough
. “You know, Callen. I get you don’t like me. Really, there’s no need to amp up the jackass.”

“You were snooping through my room. You lied to Beck.” Callen ticked off her alleged sins on his fingers.

“He knows why I was searching.”

“I’m sure he does now that you’ve blown it. I bet you’d do anything to get him to stay.”

Mallory held up a finger. “Warning. You’re getting close to the line where I need to kick you out of my store.”

“Want the truth? Fine. I was searching for my aunt. She slept with your dad and woke up poorer. Sound familiar? Apparently that was your father’s great skill, along with charming the pants off vulnerable women.” Sophie didn’t hold anything back. She ignored the stunned expressions and let it all fly. “Well, it worked. My aunt, the woman who raised me after my parents died, needed my help, so I stepped in. I promised her I’d find her jewelry, the jewelry Charlie stole. I messed it all up, but I tried.”

The air whooshed out of her with the last word. Exhaustion set in a second later. Her muscles went weak and her hands shook.

“Jewelry?” Callen wasn’t yelling now. He just stood there staring.

“Yeah, Callen. I was in Sweetwater, in your house, for her. Not for you. I’ve never transferred Charlie’s actions to his sons, but I tried to keep it quiet for her. I didn’t know you guys or how you would react, but I knew she could lose her marriage if I didn’t find the jewelry.”

“You were helping her.”

“Yes.”

Callen shook his head. “Shit, you’re just like him.”

Sophie didn’t know what that meant and didn’t want to spend one second analyzing it. Not when the information tumbled out of her and the telling gave her some relief. “I walked into your room yesterday to stop you from throwing boxes away because of her. You want to call me names for that, fine, but I will not apologize for loving my aunt and trying to pay her back for taking me in when I had no one else.”

Mallory cleared her throat. “Sounds reasonable to me.”

“And the envelope?” Callen asked, as if Mallory hadn’t spoken.

“Beck texted and said your mom had a tense run-in with that Kristin woman. My mind went to the envelope and it was lying there. I picked it up, but I never would have opened it.”

“And I should believe you.” He didn’t ask a question. Didn’t even load the comment with sarcasm. He put it out there in a flat tone.

“I no longer care if you do. But I’ve been in your house for more than a month, and for weeks before that when Nanette was still alive. Don’t you think if I really cared about that envelope, or if I was really there to ruin your family or find out information, that I would have opened it a long time ago?”

“Again, not to sound all know-it-all or anything, but the woman talks sense.” Mallory folded her arms across her stomach and stared at Callen.

“Beck.” That was it. Callen threw the name out there then clammed up.

Just hearing his name started a thudding in Sophie’s chest. “What about him?”

Callen groaned as he rubbed a hand over his face. “This is all about him. You stuck around for him.”

“I thought you believed I was a lying, conniving bitch. Why would someone like that care about a guy?”

She had to bolt. Tears blurred her vision and the trembling in her hands moved all over her body. Much more of this and she’d have to lie down. With a mumbled “thanks” she headed for the door.

Callen beat her to it. He slapped a hand over her head and held it closed. “Wait.”

Her hands slipped on the handle as she tried to tug it out of his grip. “Go to hell, Callen. Really.”

“Stop.” Callen turned her around to face him.