Scandalous Reunion

After several yawning minutes, Nick took a step forward and reached for the sheet of paper.

“Do you care if I read it?” he asked.

Sam handed it over. He kept his eyes on Nick as he unfolded the letter and read. No expression, no sign of what he was thinking or feeling. Nick’s eyes got to the bottom before he started over and read through it once more.

Nick dropped the letter to his side. “Do you believe this?” he asked.

“Should I?”

Nick raked a hand over the back of his neck and stared down at the message once more. “Yeah. You should.”

That’s what Sam thought he would say. While Sam didn’t know Lori Campbell, he doubted the woman had any reason to lie or upend her son’s life once she was gone. Sam truly believed she wanted Nick to move on and find some family, and maybe she wanted to stick it to Rusty in the end, too. He couldn’t say he blamed her.

Taking a step back, Sam leaned on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He honestly still didn’t know how to wrap his mind around all of this.

“I don’t know what I’m more shocked about,” he stated. “That you’re my half brother or that Rusty is our father.”

Nick carefully folded the paper and slid it back into the envelope. “The Rusty revelation isn’t new to me anymore, but I am surprised that I actually know one of my brothers.”

Sam nodded. “It’s all so surprising.”

Nick nodded. “My mother left me a letter, too. She claimed there were two other boys that Rusty fathered. So now I know you, but there’s still one missing. If he received the letter, he hasn’t come forward.”

“How long have you known?” Sam asked.

“I opened my letter at my mother’s graveside.”

Damn. That must’ve been a harsh blow at the worst possible time. But Nick’s mom must have wanted these boys to know about Rusty for a reason. Maybe she just wanted to leave this earth with nothing on her conscience. Maybe she didn’t want her son to be without family. Sam didn’t know the answer, so he had to just move forward with the information he had.

And he was going to have to go to his mother and make her face her past and tell him the truth—as if their relationship through the years wasn’t strained enough. He loved her, he truly did. He just didn’t like her actions or the gambling habit she couldn’t kick.

Sam refocused on the situation before him and vowed to talk to his mother later.

“Did you confront Rusty?”

Nick nodded and rested a hand on the back of the leather chair across from Sam’s desk. “I did. You can imagine how that bastard reacted. He wasn’t sorry my mother struggled as a single woman raising his child. He didn’t even seem surprised that I was his son, actually.”

“Are you certain about all of this, though?” Sam asked. “I’m not dismissing what your mother said, but shouldn’t we have our DNA tested?”

Nick shrugged. “I don’t want to confirm anything. My mother had no reason to lie and turn my life around, plus the lives of two strangers she didn’t know. Taking a test won’t change the way I feel about him or how he feels about me.”

Sam agreed. Lori Campbell had written deathbed confessions and no matter what the truth truly was, that wouldn’t change how Sam or Nick felt about Rusty. Besides, it wasn’t like the old guy would welcome them into his life with open arms no matter what a test said.

“He’s hired a new attorney to get me to sell Hawkins,” Sam told Nick. “Maty Taylor. My ex-girlfriend from college.”

Nick shifted and sighed. “Creepy that he dug that far back into your past. So how’s that going?”

“I have to assume he’s using her.” The more Sam thought about this whole charade, the angrier he got. “I’m nearly positive he’s using her because she admitted he knew about our connection. We lost touch, but I can’t imagine her turning into someone who condones anything Rusty does.”

He planned on making an impromptu visit to her later today. Catching Maty off guard might be the only way to get to the bottom of this entire mess. Added to that, he wanted to see her. So what if they’d ended things long ago? Sam was human and she was damn attractive. Beneath that steely, sexy facade he’d noted a vulnerability he wanted to uncover and ultimately protect. She wouldn’t like it, wouldn’t want him interfering, but too damn bad. If Rusty was in fact doing anything to harm her emotionally, Sam wouldn’t just interfere, he’d bust onto the scene and bring Rusty down single-handedly.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Nick’s murmur cut into Sam’s thoughts. “Mom mentioned two brothers, but I had no idea if anyone would actually seek me out or even believe what they’d read.”

“If I didn’t know you and know your current circumstance, I’m not sure I would’ve believed it,” Sam admitted. “I don’t doubt you trust all of this to be the truth, but I’m holding out. Not that having you for a brother wouldn’t be damn cool, but I sure as hell hope that ass is not my father.”

But Sam could tell by the look on Nick’s face that he fully believed everything his mother had said.

Sam wanted to hold on to that sliver of hope that Lori was simply mistaken.

“So what now?” Nick asked. “Are you going to go to him?”

Sam had been thinking about that since reading the letter. “No. At least, not right now. I want to wait and see how he plays this game, and I want to know what the hell he’s doing with Maty.”

“You still care for her?” Nick asked, quirking a brow.

Sam went with straight honesty here. How could he not care? She was the first woman who had ever captured his heart, and maybe she’d kept a piece when she left. Going to her would open up those old wounds, but he wasn’t the same man now. He could see her, still appreciate her beauty and tenacity and maintain his distance.

Right?

“I care for the girl I remember. I don’t know the woman she is now, but I know that Rusty has no scruples and he’d take any advantage where he saw an opening.”

Nick stepped forward and laid the envelope back on the desk next to Sam’s hip.

“Do you want to keep that?” Sam asked.

Nick took a step back and shook his head. “No. She meant for you to have it and I have my own letter. I hope we can still work together to team up against Rusty.”

“Now more than ever,” Sam agreed.

“If you decide to confront him about the paternity issue, I’ll go with you.”

Sam appreciated that, but at this stage, he had no idea how to handle Rusty or this information. He’d like to have more solid proof than a letter from a deceased woman. But, on the other hand, he didn’t want to know.

Above all else, he wanted Maty away from Rusty. Whatever was happening here was about to explode and he didn’t want her in the cross fire.

“I should be going,” Nick said with a sigh. “Are we meeting at the card game this Friday?”

About a month ago, the two of them had decided to crash the good ol’ boys’ poker game at the local pub, Rogue Wingman. Every Friday, Rusty and a bunch of his city council cronies meet for hours of gaming and Nick had asked Sam to join him to break into the game. The united front had startled Rusty and had gotten the attention of the council members. The moonshine king wasn’t the only high roller in this area and younger, smarter crews were moving in.

Sam was sure there was some poetic justice here, seeing that it was Rusty’s own sons, sons he’d supposedly abandoned, who would likely bring him down. If only they knew who the third party was and if he even knew the name Rusty Lockwood, then maybe Sam and Nick would have another ally.

“I’ll be there,” Sam told him. “But can we keep this letter and everything under wraps for now?”

“Ashamed of being my brother already?” Nick joked.

“That’s the only part I’m ready to believe is true,” Sam corrected. “I just want to figure out what move to make regarding Maty and Rusty. I have to keep the upper hand for as long as I can.”

Nick nodded. “I understand. I did the same thing.”

After Nick left, Sam went back to his desk and stared at the letter. His past and his future were colliding. He had to be very careful about what step he took next because he wasn’t going to fall into some seduction trap and lose everything he’d worked for his entire life.

But he also wasn’t stupid or naive. Seeing Maty again, even after all the time that had wedged between them, only dredged up each and every spark of desire he’d ever had for her. Only that desire was ten times stronger now. Her determination combined with those new curves drew him to her even more than he would’ve thought possible.

How could he keep his distance? How could he ignore the pull?

He had an enemy to fight and a business to protect and the woman he wanted more than anything might just disrupt all of his plans.

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