Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Melanie steps away to procure the drinks as Kody and Leo join me on the couch, bracketing me.
My stomach knots, and my hands grow damp. I rub them on my jeans. “I’m nervous.”
Leo grips my fingers, pulling them onto his lap.
Monty turns to me, his expression softening. “I know this is hard, and it’s okay to be nervous. But remember, you’re incredibly strong. You’ve shown that time and time again.”
“Thank you.” I tip into his beautiful blue eyes and before I get lost there, I quickly look away.
“Here we are.” Melanie distributes the drinks and lowers into the other chair. “I’ve reviewed the files on the thumb drive and watched the video. There’s nothing graphic, but given everything this man has put you through, I know it won’t be easy to watch. It’s…disturbing.”
My throat dries, and I take a sip of the bourbon, savoring the heat, the flavor.
“If you’re ready,” Melanie says, “I think we should start with the DNA results.” At our nods, she removes a stack of papers from a folder on the coffee table. “I printed these documents off the files on the thumb drive. Denver had all the tests run through the same company. He provided the DNA samples to the company, and we matched them to the samples you provided. Everything has been checked and double-checked. It’s all accurate. You can read through the results, or I can just tell you.”
“Just tell us.” Leo drains his vodka and sets the empty glass aside. “Start with Wolf since we know that one.”
Bees swarm my stomach.
“Wolfson Strakh.” Melanie places a paper on the table, turning it to face us. “He is the biological son of Gretchen Stolz and Montgomery Loshad Strakh.”
For a heartbeat, Monty is utterly still. Then, slowly, the initial shock gives way, and the hand, which had been resting on his knee, clenches into a fist as if in an attempt to grasp the enormity of this confirmation.
“You would’ve loved him.” My heart aches. “He was so smart and talented and funny.”
“You wrote a lot about him.” Monty swallows. “But I would love to hear more stories.”
“Of course.” I squeeze the circulation out of Leo’s hand, and he squeezes right back.
Kody stares at the paper on the table, reading and rereading the test results.
I glance at it, too, my gaze catching on the father’s name. “Montgomery Loshad Strakh?” I find Monty’s hard eyes. “That’s your given name?”
“Yeah.”
“Do mine next.” Kody shifts to the edge of the seat, his muscles taut.
I hold out my free hand, and he grabs it, linking the three of us together.
“Kodiak Strakh.” Melanie’s voice hangs in the weighted silence. “You are the biological son of Kaya Knowles and Rurik Strakh. This also confirms that Monty and Denver are your half-brothers.”
The room becomes a vacuum of stunned silence, every sound sucked away, leaving only the echo of Melanie’s words.
My stomach drops as the revelation sinks in.
“Did you know?” Kody’s gaze slams into Monty, raging with shock and confusion. “Did your father rape my mother?”
“Kody…” Monty shakes his head, looking horrified. “No. I had no idea. My father took her in, treated her like a daughter…” He chokes. “Oh, God. I didn’t know. How did I not fucking know? She was young. Only twenty-one. And my father…It must be a sickness. It’s in the family. This…this runs in the fucking family.”
This is a hereditary disease.
“Monty, no.” I lean over Kody’s lap, capturing Monty’s attention. “You are not your father. You are not them. Do you hear me?”
Ignoring me, he stares at Kody, his expression fraught with turmoil. “I’m sorry. If I’d known my father touched Kaya in that way, I would’ve killed him myself…” His eyes widen. “Fuck. Denver did it. He killed him. He found out about Kaya and tampered with Rurik’s plane.”
“He says as much in the video.” Melanie nods.
Leo’s brows furrow in pain for Kody as he reaches across me and clutches Kody’s arm, gripping hard in silent support.
Kody is Monty’s half-brother.
And Denver’s half-brother.
When Denver told us there was a third brother, he could’ve told Kody right then, to his face, that Kody was that brother. Instead, he tossed him a riddle because he couldn’t say it. The fucking coward. He raped his own goddamn brother and couldn’t admit it, not even on his last breath.
I shake at the thought of it. I shake so hard that Leo pulls me against his side and strokes my hair.
“I’m okay.” I measure my breaths. “Just really fucking mad.”
“Me, too.” Leo looks at Melanie. “Let’s get this over with.”
The room seems to contract around us as Melanie places the final paper on the table. “Leonid Strakh. You are the biological son of Tia Langston and Denver Yastreb Strakh.”
“What?” Monty jumps from the chair and grabs the paper, scanning the results.
“Tia Langston?” Leo releases me, standing, too. “My mother is Helena Weiss.”