Analise gasped as the information sunk in and James cursed under his breath. He pulled his fiancé back with a hand tucked around her arm. "Are you kidding me, Helen? And how did the two of you meet? I'm supposed to believe it was by chance?"
"Oh no." Helen oozed with arrogance. "You see, when you started to run around behind my back with her, I hired a private investigator. And I learned all sorts of things, including the biological father of Samantha Jacquelyn Strattan. From there, all the pieces fell into place. It wasn't even hard to get the man Analise never could. Garrett and I had instant chemistry—"
He grunted. "We did. Screwed on the first date." He shrugged then. "Of course, it helped that my wife had already cheated on me and I learned about it that day."
"Oh my goodness." Analise bent over as she started to pant. "Honey, I can't breathe."
There was a look of enjoyment in Helen's eyes that had me snarling. I shot to my feet. "They called you here because of me. I'm screwing Mason."
And then someone else buzzed at the door.
James bit out a curse as he wrenched it open. He stopped in shock as David stood there, with Malinda behind him.
David scanned the inside and turned back. It wasn't long before Malinda left and he stepped inside.
"Great." Analise was livid. "This is great. Where'd your girlfriend go this time? She's not here to support you?"
David frowned, but his eyes rested on me. A tinge of concern had seeped into them. "I can see this is a family-only matter. Malinda came with me for support if I should need it. Her son came as well. I believe he's attending a party in this suite later on."
Logan choked on some beer and struggled to keep it in. Mason belted him on the back.
"Who called you?"
David glanced around, but Garrett lifted another finger in the air. The look of amusement was evident as he couldn't hold back a grin. "I did. Again, I thought it was only appropriate."
"Garrett," Helen hissed. "Stop interfering."
He extended a hand towards me. "She's my daughter. I called her mother and the man who's her real father. He raised her all her life." Then he strode forward and shook hands with David. "I'm the sperm donor. Nice to meet you."
"You too." The two sized each other up and after a moment stepped back.
Analise rolled her eyes. "You two are okay with each other?"
Garrett gave her a polite smile. "We've both had to deal with you."
David added, "It's a bonding experience."
Logan choked back another laugh. When everyone turned to glare, he displayed his zipped lips again and stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth.
"You let them drink in the open?"
Helen turned, at a loss. "Excuse me?"
"They're underage, Helen. They aren't allowed to drink." He gestured towards his sons, who both had a beer in hand. "And they're throwing a party here tonight?"
"Well," she glanced towards Garrett. "I had no idea. I had dinner plans for the evening."
My mother cleared her throat. "Can we get back to the part where my daughter said she was screwing her future stepbrother?" She glared at me. "I'd love to hear how this came about and why no one else seemed surprised."
No one spoke a word.
Her head started to swivel around. As her eyes found James, he gave her an apologetic look. "I had my suspicions."
She gasped.
Garrett lifted another finger. "I knew too. I caught 'em in the elevator."
"You did not." My hands found my hips. "We were standing in there and you got on. End of story."
"He had his arm around you and he kissed your shoulder. It was pretty evident, sweetie."
I snarled at him, "I'm not your sweetie."
David cleared his throat. "I knew as well, Analise. I was going to tell you, but I had hoped for a family dinner of my own this evening first." His eyes held mine. I felt my stomach drop at the sorrow in them. "That didn't occur as I had planned."
I looked away, burning. What did it matter? What did he matter anymore? He let me go… A small voice in my head told me that he didn't, though. He had fought for me since the beginning. I swung back to him and he gave me a small smile for encouragement.
"Who else knew about them?"
Helen gave her a polite, but lethal. "I walked in on them. They'd just had sex."
"You're screwed, brother," Logan whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Mason shot him a look, but stood beside me. He regarded the group with a grave look on his face. "What do you all care about? I screw girls. You know this."
"Not your stepsister!" my mother cried out.
He bore her down with a look that silenced her. Shivers went down my back, but I didn't dare glance up. I didn't want to remember that from him. Then he taunted her in a soft voice. "You should be happy, Analise. My father isn't a mechanic and my mother's not a cashier at the local grocery store. Your daughter did well for finding a bedmate."
Logan hooted out in laughter now.
She flushed as she remembered her own words. "This is not right. The two of you should not be—"
Garrett rolled to his feet again. "You can't do a thing to stop her, Lise."
She whirled to him. "Shut up, Garrett. You've had nothing to do with her all your life. You have no right to start now—"