“You’d probably rather not know,” Saoirse says gently. “But I promise you we didn’t seek it out. It came to me, and I gave it to Connor.”
“You—” Ana starts to hiss, but Liam squeezes her shoulder gently.
“If the situation were turned around, you’d have done the same thing for me,” he says quietly to her. “We can’t pretend that’s not true, not with Connor and I at odds the way we are.”
“You need to know,” I tell him firmly. “Or do you want me to have this information and not you?”
Anastasia goes white at that. “Oh god,” she whispers. “If it was yours, he wouldn’t—” she looks up at Liam, her eyes filling with tears, and I can see his jaw working, but he stands firm, his hand on his wife’s shoulder as he looks me squarely in the eyes.
“Why don’t you tell me then, Connor?” he asks quietly. “Though, like Ana said, if the baby was mine, you wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation with me.”
“We’d be having a conversation,” I tell him. “It would just be slightly different. Here, Liam. Look for yourself, don’t take my word for it.”
He hesitates, but he takes the envelope out of my hand. Slowly, he slides the paper out, unfolding it as if it takes everything in him to do so.
Anastasia gasps, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes well with tears. “Liam—” She whispers his name softly, and he grabs her hand, squeezing it as his eyes glisten as well. Neither Saoirse nor I move, and I look away, feeling as if I’m intruding as the emotion wells between them.
“I’m so sorry,” Ana whispers, and Liam shakes his head fiercely.
“You havenothingto be sorry for,” he tells her firmly. “We’re past this. And as for these results—” he crumples the paper in his fist, looking squarely at me. “I don’t care. This babyismine, no matter what some DNA test says about their biology. It’s meaningless to me. Ana is my wife, and this child isours. Mine. I don’t give a shit about the test, and I never did.”
I nod. “Based on what I’ve heard, Liam, that’s what I expected you to say. And I respect you for it. You’ve grown up to be a good man, brother—and I know that’s no thanks to me. I’m—” I pause, looking at him as my chest aches with the faint hope that this will turn out the way I want it to. “I’m proud of you.”
Liam tenses, his stubbled jaw clenching, but as Anastasia grips his hand, wiping her tears with the other, he slowly relaxes.
“That’s not true,” he says finally. “Without you, brother, I don’t know what kind of man I would’ve become. You were there all my life, when our father couldn’t be bothered with me.”
“Until I wasn’t,” I say quietly.
“Until you weren’t.”
“I want to fix that,” I tell him, and I feel Saoirse’s fingers slide between mine, giving me the strength to continue. “I was wrong to leave you years ago, Liam, and I’ve been wrong in how I’ve handled things since coming back. I thought the only way to keep you safe was to convince you to leave, to give me back the seat, but even if that were true, I’ve gone about it all wrong. I’ve deepened the rift between us and caused you great pain, and I know that’s not something that can be mended in an instant. But I want to start here, now, with an apology.”
I stand up slowly, walking towards my brother, who stiffens. But I stop a few inches from him, looking into my little brother’s eyes, and I know then more than ever that this is the right choice.
I can’t lose my last family, not when there’s another option.
“I’m sorry, Liam,” I tell him clearly. “I’m sorry I abandoned you and left you with our father because he and I didn’t see eye to eye. I’m sorry I never tried to find out what happened. And most of all, I’m sorry that I came here with conflict instead of peace from the start.”
Liam swallows hard, his green eyes glistening again. “I appreciate the apology,” he says quietly. “But I don’t know what you mean by peace, Connor.”
“I need my brother at my side. I should never have left—and I should never have come back thinking I could do this without you.”
Liam presses his lips together, taking a step back. “I lost you once when you left,” he says quietly. “And then again, when you came back, you were no longer the brother I knew. I thought I was going to have to watch you die when we were trapped in that fire. And then just recently—” he breaks off, and it’s clear from his expression just how much all this has shaken him. “I don’t know how many times I can lose my brother, over and over. I’d made up my mind for us to go, as soon as Ana’s able. I don’t know what you mean by peace—”
“I mean, I want us to do this together,” I say firmly. “You and I, leading the Kings, as brothers.” I pause. “I met Nobura Nakamura and his son in Japan, and they shared a story with me about how a feud between brothers can destroy so much more than just their bond. What they told me made me think about how things could be done differently—about how perhaps the way we’ve always done things isn’t necessarily thebestway.”
“We’ve all made mistakes,” I say quietly before Liam can speak. “All of us here. But we can do better. For ourselves, for our children, for our future and theirs—”
“My child.” Liam cuts me off. “You think my child—ourchild—will ever be accepted? That we can ever know peace, especially now thatthis—” he unclenches his fist to show the crumpled paper—“is out there?”
“It’s not out there,” I tell him firmly. “The four of us in this room are the only ones who know. We can keep it that way. I know I have to earn your trust back, Liam—but we can start here, today. With this.”
“What about inheritance?” Liam frowns. “What stops this from happening all over again with them?”
“We can only do the best we can for them. But as far as inheritance—I can’t lie to you and say that your eldest can ever lead the Kings. If the table wouldn’t accept a half-McGregor, half-Russian heir, this would be unconscionable. And even I can’t say in good faith that I would support an heir with no McGregor blood.”
Liam starts to speak, but I hold up a hand. “Let me finish, please. With any luck, you’ll have more children. Saoirse and I will have a family of our own. I propose that we handle inheritance in a different way than our fathers. The son who inherits won’t be the eldest necessarily, but the one best suited to lead. Yours, or mine.”