What the hell am I going to say to him? Everything he had said hit too close to home. She had been digging him. Though she had never clarified, she had thought they were on the same page. Now, it looked like they hadn’t even been reading the same book.

She was trying to figure out what to say to him when her cell phone went off in her purse. She jolted out of her thoughts and stared down at it in shock. She had forgotten that she even had it with her. No one had called her all summer. She had received messages from Trihn online but not phone calls.

She pulled the phone out of her purse and saw her dad’s number. What the fuck?

“Hello?”

“Sweetheart! I’m glad I could reach you. I don’t know what time it is in Spain.”

How does he even know I’m here? I hadn’t told him before fleeing the country. Maybe Pace.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said uncertainly. “It’s midnight.”

“Honey, Celia went into labor. I really need you to come home.”

“What?” she asked. “You want me to fly back from Barcelona for the baby?”

“Bryna,” he said, surprisingly sweet, “I know you don’t approve of this. I know you don’t approve of Celia or Pace or what happened with your mother. But I don’t want you to blame the new baby for those things. She’s going to be your half-sister. Your baby sister.”

Her heart constricted at that word.

“She’s completely innocent in this, and I want her to grow up knowing her sister. I need our family together even though we haven’t been much of a family lately.”

“Lately,” she mumbled.

“Since your mother left.”

“Yeah…left.”

“We’re not perfect. No family is. But without you, we’re not even complete. I’m not going to command you to come back. You’re almost nineteen-years-old, and you can make your own decisions, but I want you here. Celia wants you here. We love you. What do you say?”

Hugh’s face appeared at the door, and he still looked pissed. Great.

She took a deep breath. “I’ll have to think about it and get back to you.”

“Thank you for at least considering it. We hope you come back. Your birthday is next week, and I know we’d all like to celebrate together.”

She was stunned as she hung up the phone with her father. The new baby, her father acting like…a father, him wanting to celebrate her birthday—she didn’t know what to make of any of it.

“Well?” Hugh said. He crossed his arms and looked at her.

She could see all the love and devotion underneath the tension in his shoulders.

Bryna sighed. “I don’t think I can say anything to make this better. I didn’t want to hurt you. I thought we were on the same page. I thought this was what I wanted, but I guess it’s not.” She hated the look of pain that crossed his face. “My stepmother just went into labor in Los Angeles…”

“Then, maybe you should go to L.A. to be with her.”

She swallowed, hearing the dismissal in his voice. “Yeah, I guess I should.”

Hugh closed his eyes and released a deep breath. “Here.” He held out the box with the necklace. “Keep this.”

She stared at it, slightly horrified. “I can’t take this.”

“I’m not going to return it or give it to someone else.” Their eyes met across the distance between them. “And I’d say you’ve earned it.”

Bryna flinched at his harsh words as he placed the necklace in her hands. “I wish it hadn’t turned out this way,” she told him truthfully.

“Yeah, well, I was the idiot who fell for it.”

“Hugh,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “I really don’t want to hear it. Take your spoils and go.”

She pushed the box back into his hands. “No. I don’t want it. You shouldn’t give it to me. I don’t deserve it.”

“Fine.” Hugh flung the box over the balcony.

Bryna’s mouth dropped open. She looked over the side and listened to the crunch as it hit the ground four stories below them. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“It was worthless.” He turned his back on her and looked out at the city. “Just go.”

She tilted her head, refusing to acknowledge the wobble in her chin at his words. She deserved his anger. But it was for the better that it was ending. She couldn’t keep living this life, and she didn’t want to hurt him. He was a good guy. He needed to find someone who could love him back just as fiercely.

As she staggered out of the ballroom to pack for her journey back to Los Angeles, she wished that she could have been that person for him. But once again, she found it was all one big lie.

AFTER SIXTEEN HOURS IN FLIGHT and three layovers, Bryna finally landed at LAX. She was exhausted and probably needed to sleep for a week straight, but she was home. The crisp Los Angeles air hit her full-on, and she soaked in the warm early morning sunshine.

Home.

A cab drove her through the insufferable traffic that she definitely hadn’t missed and straight to the hospital. She had no idea what she looked like. She was carting around her carry-on, and she felt totally run-down. The only good thing about all of this was that she had mailed the rest of her luggage to her parent’s house, so she wouldn’t have to deal with it.

A nurse directed her to the hallway where Celia’s room was. Bryna’s father was standing in the waiting room. The twins, Lacey and Kacey, were sprawled out on sofas. One was reading on a Kindle while the other played video games. Both were completely checked out.

“Hey, sweetheart,” her father said.

She fell into his arms, and he hugged her tightly against him. For a split second, she felt like a kid again. Her daddy could fix anything. He could make the hurt go away. She had always been a daddy’s girl.

He kissed the top of her head. “It’s good to have you home.”

“It’s good to be home,” she said.

Her dad stepped back and smiled down at her. “Celia’s excited for you to meet your sister.”

Bryna’s hands were sweating. Through all of this, she had tried not to think about what exactly she was coming home to. She knew nothing about babies. Growing up, she hadn’t had a younger sibling. She didn’t know anyone who had been pregnant where she would have to be around a baby. The whole thing made her anxious.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine,” he said, as if reading her mind. “There were some complications at first, but everything is okay now. Go on in and see them while they’re both still awake.”

“All right,” Bryna said.

She was resolved to do this. She took a deep breath and then entered the hospital room. Celia was lying in bed. She looked exhausted, but she was holding on to a small bundle in her arms and didn’t even seem to notice her own fatigue.

“Bryna.” Celia looked up at her with a wide smile. “I’m so glad you came.”

Bryna shrugged uncomfortably. “Dad said there were problems?”

“I’m almost forty. It was expected. What’s important is you meeting your new sister.”

Celia offered Bryna the baby. She noticed how nervous Bryna was and showed her how to cradle the baby in her arms. Bryna was still shaking and freaked out, but she wasn’t going to drop her. The baby was so little. That would do some serious damage.

“What’s her name?” Bryna asked.

“Zoe Ava.”

“Hi, Zoe,” Bryna cooed.

Shit. She did not just fucking coo at a baby. Who the hell is this person inhabiting my body?

“You’re such a little thing,” she said to Zoe.

Celia laughed. “She’s actually perfectly healthy. Seven pounds and three ounces. Simply beautiful.”

“Fatty,” Bryna joked.

Zoe stared intently back up at her.