Chapter 7

“Why a-a-are we here?” I barely stuttered. I high-fived myself on the inside and had a ghostly smile on my face.

“Well, I think it is a perfect time to talk.” He looked at Ethan the entire time and Ethan looked back at him. I couldn’t read his face which made me very uneasy. Ethan just grunted and followed James out of the room. I followed behind them like a lost puppy and just shut my mouth. On the way to wherever we were going, I took in his house.

The walls were a deep red and had numerous pictures of him and his sons on the walls. I never saw the mother or his wife anywhere which made me sad for him. I realized that there were a lot of men in this house and I mean a lot. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Ethan stopped abruptly. I bumped into him and let out an “oof”. I heard a chuckle and I felt the heat rush to my cheeks.

I looked up and saw that we were at two huge wooden doors. They had lions carved into the panels and the doorknobs were lions’ heads. James opened the door and walked in. I looked around and saw the biggest office I had ever seen. There was a huge desk that was bigger than my bed in the middle of the room.

There were two huge bookshelves on either side of the desk and they were filled with books and knick-knacks. There were couches on the sides of the walls with cozy-looking blankets and pillows on them. There was a gigantic ariel rug in the middle of the room. Lastly, there was a mini kitchen in the corner of the room. It had a mini-fridge and a sink with a microwave on top. I finally looked back at Ethan and James and they were waiting for me to stop looking around.

“Sorry,” I whispered and looked down.

“There is no reason to say sorry,” James said while walking over to his desk. “Come sit.” Ethan and I walked over to the chairs in front of his desk. We sat down and waited for James to start talking. “Well, I don’t know where to start,” James said, looking very nervous. I looked over at Ethan and he looked very nervous also. This made me very uncomfortable. Finally, he started talking again. “Well, I might as well just tell you. I am your real father.” My eyes seemed to bulge out of my head and my heart started to beat very fast.

“W-W-What?” I looked over at Ethan and he was looking at me. Was this what he knew? “Ethan, did you know about this?” He looked at me and his face fell. I felt tears in my eyes and I didn’t fight them. I looked back at James and his face held pity. I stood up and ran toward the doors.

“Bri, wait!” Ethan tried but I didn’t listen. I opened the door and ran out. I started running through the halls, not knowing where I was going. Tears were running down my face and silent sobs were coming out of my mouth. I kept my head down, not looking where I was running. Suddenly, I knocked into a hard surface. I was about to fall back when arms snaked around my waist to keep me up. I felt the person's chest rumble and let out a little laugh. I went rigid and stood there very stiffly.

“S-S-Sorry,” I whispered very quietly. I brought my hand up to my face to wipe the tears away. When he didn’t say anything, I lifted my head and looked at him. He gave me a sad look and let me go.

“What’s wrong?” He looked very scary. He was very tall and had a lot of muscles. More tears left my eyes and he seemed very concerned. He was about to ask another question but Ethan came running with James right on his tail.

“Bri, you had me worried sick.” He pulled me away from the guy and into his arms. I hugged him back, really needing some support right now.

“I want to go lay down,” I whispered to Ethan while still hugging him. He nodded and pulled away. He put an arm around me. He went to walk away when James stopped us.

“Where are you guys going?”

“I am taking her to our room and letting her process all of this,” Ethan said, kinda angry. James huffed and the other guy just stood there.

“Well dinner is at 5. We will finish the conversation there and answer any questions you have.” James then walked back over to me and kissed my hair. Ethan pulled me closer and started to walk to our room. On the way there, my mind was racing. What is happening? We finally were back in the room. I went over and laid on the bed. I buried my face in the pillows and let the tears flow. Ethan sighed and laid next to me. He put his arm around me and I turned over. I buried my head in his chest and cried. He rubbed my back and let me let it all out. My sobs turned into hiccups and hiccups turned into sniffles. I finally stopped crying and let myself feel numb. My eyes were open but I was just staring into space.

“Bri, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” I just shook my head and continued to stare.

“It’s okay Ethan. I see why you didn’t tell me. You were just trying to protect me.” He relaxed once I said that and let out a sigh. He just ran his fingers through my hair and started to hum. Between him playing with my hair, humming, and his heartbeat, I slowly slipped into a restless slumber.