Family Love

“Everything’s a competition with these knuckleheads,” I reminded her.

She touched her stomach in a way that told me her news without words. I hugged her tight. “I think it’s great, Cara. I know you wanted another one, and you’re not too old, I’m sure.”

She pulled away, looking at me fu

You have what you want, Angelique, remember? You live in New York City. You don’t have to deal with your mother every day. Hell, you barely deal with her twice a year anymore. Shut up and quit moping.

I looked for her just then. I’m not sure why. Maybe to reassure myself that keeping my distance was the best way, justifying my self-inflicted isolation by catching her bossing somebody around or doing her passive-aggressive nosy thing with one of my brothers or their wives or kids. When I finally caught sight of her, she was standing behind Aiden, her hands on the back of his chair. Daddy was next to her. They were staring at that girl I’d been fixated on earlier, the one with the book under her arm, now standing at the front of the line.

I grabbed Kieran’s arm and jerked my chin in the direction of the tableau at the book-signing table. Aiden’s agent stood slowly, then glanced over where the rest of the Loves were milling around, being the semi-celebs we were, thanks to my brother’s first book.

Mama’s expression made me worry the girl had a gun or something.

“Ow,” Kieran said calmly, peeling my fingers off his biceps. “What’s going on?”

The agent lady turned to face us and made a “come over here” motion. I glanced around. Antony was talking to Dom and holding his grandbaby. Kieran sidled over to them and said something I couldn’t hear. Antony tried to hand the baby to me, but Cara stepped in and took her.

The room was getting louder by the second. Confused, with a strange buzzing sound filling my head, I looked at the autograph seekers. They were restive, craning their necks and talking to one another. Aiden’s agent walked around the table and started down the line. They seemed somewhat placated by whatever she was telling them.

I stood, bracketed by my brothers. Aiden rose to his feet, pointed at the girl, then turned to glare at our mother. He was obviously furious. I’d never seen such an expression on his face before. It sent a bolt of panic straight through me.

“Let’s go,” Antony said, striding toward the table. Kieran and Dom followed him. I stood, frozen, unable to imagine what could have made Aiden so mad. Someone gave me a little shove from behind.

“Go on, Angel,” Diana whispered. “Looks like a family thing. And whether you want to admit it or not, you’re part of the family.”

I frowned at her. She’d not exactly avoided me since the whole Cal debacle, but since I hadn’t really made myself available to the family for so many years, she didn’t have to. Her face was grim, her jaw set. “Please. Go on over, and then come and report to the women, at least?” Her expression softened into pleading.

I nodded, and then headed toward the family crowd now blocking Aiden from my view. About halfway there I heard raised voices. One of them was Aiden’s agent. “Listen, folks, we really need to get this line moving again. People have come a long way to meet Aiden. We can have this discussion after.” Her New York accent grated on my ears. But Aiden didn’t move. He still had his arm up. His finger was still pointed at the girl—woman, I amended—now that I was closer. I did a double take when I got a better look at her.

“Excuse me,” I said, shoving Antony aside so I could stand in front of everyone, behind the table, facing the line of increasingly pissed off readers and fans and one woman who, if my eyes did not deceive me, could be my youngest brother’s female twin. She had his odd, hazel-shaded eyes, plus his nose and lips, his somewhat heart-shaped face. Tears were pouring down her cheeks at that moment. “I’m sorry,” she said, glancing behind Aiden to my parents, who were still frozen in place.

Mama’s eyes were so wide I thought they might pop right out of her head. Daddy had his arms crossed and looked … not angry, but grim.

Rosie and Mandy appeared on Aiden’s other side. Mandy slipped her hand into her father’s. He glanced down, seeming surprised to see her.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” she said. “Are you okay?” Rosie looked at me. I shook my head and shrugged, still utterly confused by this whole scene.

“Who’s that?” Mandy pointed to the crying lady. I sucked in a breath, noting that little Amanda Lindsay Love was a miniature version of the woman. Aiden dropped the arm he’d had raised and put it around his daughter’s shoulders.

“Apparently …” he said, his voice loud enough to make the five or ten people behind the woman stop talking. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes a split second.

Mama grabbed his arm but he shook her off, hard, shocking me. Dom ducked around to catch her, since Daddy did not seem too inclined to assist her when she stumbled.

“Je-sus,” I heard Kieran. “What fresh hell is this?”

“Apparently, this is my sister. Or my half-sister,” Aiden said, speaking to Mandy, but keeping his eyes on the woman in front of him. “It would appear that my father—” his voice broke.

Antony moved quickly to Aiden’s side of the table, but Aiden shook him off, too, reaching for his wife instead. “My father has just died and left a little revelatory note in his will for his children. About me.” He whirled fast. Mandy frowned. Rosie had her hand over her mouth, staring at the Aiden-twin woman who’d stopped crying and was standing there, looking resolute.

Dominic had his arm around our mother. She looked horrified, glancing from Aiden to the woman and back to Aiden. My heart raced. Kieran was making noises behind me, but I no longer heard him.

“Mama,” Aiden said. “I’m guessing there is something you’ve neglected to tell me? Perhaps you should do it now.”

The agent lady stepped between them, steering Aiden around the table and whispering in his ear. My brother’s face was so red I feared for his life. He glared at the woman, then dropped into his seat and put his head in his hands. I shoved my way past Kieran, Daddy, Dom, and Mama, and crouched down beside him.

“Aiden, honey,” I said, smoothing his hair. He was shaking and muttering under his breath. “Listen, let’s keep this show going. People paid good money to meet you, and the natives are getting restless. We’ll work this out later. Okay? Pull it together.”

He glanced at me. His non-Love hazel-colored eyes were bright with unshed tears. I put my hand to his cheek. “Chill out, brother,” I said. “Seriously.” He nodded, swiping at his eyes.

Rosie put her hands on his shoulders. I stood up and gestured for the woman to move away from the front of the table. Looking into her eyes freaked me out. I won’t lie. She was such a perfect female version of my brother it made my chest ache. “Let’s move this into a more private place, okay?”

She nodded.

Behind me, I heard Mama’s voice. “I never meant … I didn’t …”

“Not here,” Daddy said. “Let Aiden finish. We’ll finish this up at the hotel later.” He took a deep breath. “Bring your mother, boys. I need some air.”

He met my gaze for a split second. His dark eyes were sad, but he didn’t look furious or even mildly irritated. Just sort of resigned. Then he turned and walked away from us, heading for the elevator. Mama broke away from Dominic and ran after him. “Anton, wait!”

But he got into the elevator, turned, and held up his hand. “Not now, Lindsay,” he said. She stopped and we all watched the doors close on him in silence.

Chapter Twenty-Three