Mile High (Up in the Air #2)(87)

Bianca,

I understand why you don’t want anything to do with me, but I have a son. He is your half-brother, your father’s son. He’s only one year younger than you. His name is Sven Karlsson, and he lives in Manhattan. His phone number is at the bottom of the page. I think he would like to hear from you.

We have no other family, and he has been estranged from me and his father for several years.

Sincerely,

Sharon Karlsson

My vision went a little fuzzy after the first few sentences. I have a brother? Only a year younger than myself? The ramifications took long minutes to sink in as I sat perched on the edge of my bed.

I had been fourteen when my father had murdered my mother. He had been seeing this other woman the entire time, had a child with her. Is that why he had killed my mother? Had the shooting been even more calculated than I’d realized?

I thought of my mother, my beautiful mother. That Sharon woman never could have held a candle to her, with her garish looks and lack of class, and she was obviously much older than my mother would be, if she were alive. My mother had been the very epitome of class, holding a quietly reserved grace in every line of her elegant body.

It seemed impossible that anyone would have killed such a woman, let alone for someone like Sharon. I found myself hating that woman with a passion usually only reserved for my father. But my half-brother…

I had not a clue what to think about the idea of that.

My phone distracted me out of my reverie, though it had been ringing for awhile, I realized. I saw that it was James and answered it.

“What’s going on, Bianca? Paterson tells me you wouldn’t let him check a mysterious letter.” His voice was more worried than angry but I still felt myself bristling.

“It’s my letter, James. And what harm could there be in a letter?”

“Who was that woman?”

I sighed. Of course he’d gotten a detailed report of everything. “My father’s wife, Sharon Karlsson.”

He cursed. “What did she want?”

I studied the short letter. “Nothing much. She was in full panic mode, so she didn’t say much. I didn’t get a chance to tell her anything, either, so now I have to call her. The sooner the better, so I need to let you go.”

“Wait. What did the letter say?”

I pursed my lips, debating what to tell him. Why not everything? His investigators probably knew more than I did, at this point. “She just wanted to tell me that I have a half-brother. She and my father have a son.”

He was silent for a long moment. “Okay. Thank you for telling me. I’ll let you go so you can make that phone call. Will you call me before bed?” I agreed to call him, and we hung up.

I went back to my missed calls, calling back the number that I knew was hers. It rang five times and went to voicemail. I was a breath away from just leaving her a message when I realized how that might endanger her. I couldn’t say anything about my father or she might have to answer to him for it. I finally decided that any message from me would be bad, if my father had access, which he very well could have.

I tried calling her again, with the same result. I realized with resignation that I would have to keep calling her until I got the woman herself.

I had taken such a long nap that I found myself having dinner at Stephan’s house just thirty minutes later, dressed in an overlarge T-shirt and cheer shorts. Stephan gave me an arch look when he saw my attire.

“Bet you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that when James was around.”

I gave him a half smile as I moved into his house. “James isn’t around, now, is he?”

Stephan, Javier, and I had a very pleasant dinner, laughing and talking while we all ate too much of Stephan’s chicken cacciatore. It was as fabulous as it always was, one of his best recipes by far.

After dinner Javier slipped away without an awkward moment to give us some privacy to chat. “I need to make some phone calls,” he murmured and slipped away. Stephan gave him a very affectionate smile.

We caught up on everything, nearly talking over each other to get it all out. He was shocked about my mysterious half-brother. I was shocked when he glanced at the doorway where Javier had exited then leaned forward to say in a whisper, “I’m totally in love with him, Bianca. I’m in deep. I can’t seem to help it, with Javier. Falling for him is just too easy, when I don’t hold myself back.”

His eyes were so earnest and vulnerable that I wanted to cry. I hoped with all my heart that it worked out for them. He sighed and smiled, happy to enjoy the moment, instead of analyzing it all to death like I seemed to. “What about you? Do you think you love James?”

I looked down at my hands. They were suddenly fisted in my lap. I nodded. “Hopelessly. I don’t know about the rest of it, but I know I love him. Hell, I don’t even know if he loves me back. I’m not even sure he’s capable of it, or if I’m capable of letting him, you know?”

His soft eyes just about undid me. “Oh, he loves you alright. I think he’s loved you from the start. That man would do anything for you. I know it in my heart.”

I thought about what a beautiful thing Stephan’s heart was, to always see the good around the mess that it was buried in.

I wanted to ask him something, but even thinking about it made me blush. But Stephan and I had established a pattern of openness so long ago, that it was as ingrained in me as my love for him, so it wasn’t long before I got up the nerve. “You and Javier seem to have a sort of, um, dominant submissive vibe going on. Is that how it is between you?”