“You’ve been lying to me, Candace, lying through your teeth. Making me believe you were better than the rest, better than Shawna. But you’re no different.”

  Each word off his lips coiled itself around her heart and squeezed painfully. She knew how low Aric thought of his dead wife – Candace had never thought the day would dawn when he would compare her to the woman who’d slept with his brother and passed off the baby as his.

  “No, you’re worse,” he shook his head. “Shawna never pretended she was an angel. Never pretended to have perfect manners. Never pretended to be anything other than who she was. But you… you…” He closed his eyes as if looking at her caused him much pain.

  The look on his face caused her untold pain.

  Suddenly, he turned his back to her. “How could you lie to me, Candace? I loved you so much.”

  Loved?

  The use of the past tense did not escape her. She could feel her heart fracture. She dragged in a deep breath, then expelled it on a rush. She wouldn’t break yet.

  Not now.

  Not in front of him.

  This stranger.

  His voice had gone from hateful to broken; the swift change, further confusing her. Her mind raced as she tried to think about what this was all about. She came up empty. She'd never lied to him – not since she’d told him she was going to further her studies instead of telling him she wanted him, loved him. She couldn’t make light of whatever got him so upset, so angry at her, even though she had no idea what she’d done to cause so much grief.

  Her heart recoiled at the very idea that he must hate her right now.

  “Aric!” She placed a hand on the curve of his back.

  He flinched beneath her palm.

  Her heart ripped again and she closed her eyes against the pain. “Can you tell me what’s going on? I have no idea what you’re talking about and I have certainly never lied to you.”

  He swung around to face her. The icy look was back in his eyes but this time, there was fire in it, as well – the combination making him look lethal. For the first time, Candace was afraid of him. For the first time, she saw the unbridled anger and coldness in his eyes that she always thought belong to his brother alone. His eyes mirrored such disgust and hatred as he looked at her, that her first instinct was to hide from him. Somehow, she managed to hold on firmly to the memories of the Aric that she held preciously in her heart. She knew that Aric would never hurt her… it was perhaps the most difficult thing she had ever done but she held her ground and locked her gaze with his, willing him to remember. She watched him take a deep breath and release it, the hotness scalding her face as he gazed down at her.

  “Tell me right now, Candace…tell me you have no idea Lyric isn’t mine. Tell me you had no idea she’s Geoff’s. Tell me you haven’t been laughing yourself to sleep every night knowing I believed every lie that came out of your mouth. Tell me you haven’t called me all kinds of fool for being fooled all over again!” He whipped a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, his eyes deadly.

  As she listened to each word fall off his lips, it was like a dagger jabbing at her heart and ripping it out, piece by piece. She felt the physical pain of it, like potent poison, searing her open wounds.

  Candace realized she was wrong. Facing Aric while he insulted her loyalty, her dignity, her integrity and her compassion wasn’t the hardest thing she’d ever done.

  No.

  The hardest thing she would ever have to do in her life would be having the ability to forgive this man, the man she had loved so much, for believing the worse of her when she had done nothing but love him for more than half her life.

  As their eyes burned relentlessly into each other’s, she knew nothing was ever going to remain the same for them.

  Not now, not ever.

  Chapter Eleven

  Six days earlier…Sunday, 12:23 a.m.

  Aric could not begin to describe the sense of fulfillment that washed over him as he watched Candace drive off with Lyric. After telling the girls the news, they’d eaten dinner together and the girls couldn’t stop talking about all the things they would do together now they were going to be sisters. He couldn’t stop himself from touching Candace every other second while she found an excuse to give him a peck on his cheek.

  It was the perfect evening and none of them wanted it to end. Aric couldn’t remember the last time he had been this happy and swore to keep the woman responsible for it for the rest of their lives.

  “Daddy, will Miss Parker and Lyric live here now?” Kenny asked him as he locked the doors before heading inside.

  He chuckled.

  This was something neither he nor Candace had given a thought about. Kenny’s question made him realize there was a lot they needed to discuss such as if she would like to move in with him or prefer they bought another house. He didn’t know if she had plans to have more kids. This, he certainly would want. They had a whole lot to talk about. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. He would take her out on a date where they could discuss their future together.

  “Candace and I would have to talk about that, honey bear,” he told his daughter and when she opened her mouth to fire him with another question, he added, “Don’t fret about anything, honey. Let’s just be happy she agreed to marry us.”

  Kenny grinned and clasped his hand. “I’m glad she did, dad.”

  For the first time, his daughter did not talk a mile a minute when she was obviously super excited. He talked to Candace on the phone while Kenny was in the shower, preparing for bed.

  ‘I can’t believe we are engaged,” Candace said, her voice filled with awe.

  “You’d better believe,” he said in a teasing voice. “You can tell all your admirers to back off now.”

  “I love you, Aric.” She laughed.

  “I love you, Candace, and I can’t wait to show you every day of our lives.”

  They made arrangements to have dinner the next night and reluctantly got off the phone to attend to their daughters. It felt like he was on cloud nine, but he still managed to read Kenny a story about a little girl who could talk to animals and helped save a rabbit from drowning.

  He was silently padding out of her room when he heard the bell.

  Frowning, he jogged down the stairs to see who could be calling at such late hour. He felt a large part of his good mood dissipate on seeing his brother’s face through the peephole and his first reaction was to turn his back and let the asshole continue knocking. Not for the first time, Geoff must have evaded security. They were given specific instructions. He was going to fire them first thing in the morning.

  Sooner or later, Geoff would get tired and leave or cause such a ruckus, a neighbor would call the police on him.

  But then, Aric remembered his vow to permanently hash out things with his brother the next time they saw each other. He didn’t anticipate seeing him so soon after the last time but it was just as well.

  He sighed and opened the door and let him in. “What is it this time, Geoff?”

  “You got a funny way of welcoming the only brother you got,” he sneered.

  Aric could smell liquor on him and something else. His brother reeked of a nauseous combination of weed, caffeine, sex, and cheap wine. Geoff looked so gaunt and his parlor was so ashen that he could as well be a walking corpse. Aric felt a deep-seated sadness at seeing his brother this way. Geoff was right, he was the only brother he had, the only family he ever had until Candace and then Kenny came into his life. God knew how hard he tried to get his brother on the right track despite the shit-storms life threw at them. They didn’t get anything easy, but he had managed to do well for himself. He only wished his brother could do the same, or at least listen to him now. Despite his resolve, he knew he would do anything to save Geoff from himself if only his brother gave him half the chance.

  “You are going to end up in deep shit if you keep going like this,” he said softly. “Let me sign you up in a rehab center. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  “What’s this?” Geoff chuckled drunkenly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you care.”

  “Of course, I care about you, you are my brother. My twin.”

  “That’s funny,” Geoff slurred as he began to pace the length of the room.

  Aric was sure he was half dead on his feet.

  “Yeah, that’s funny because you never act like it, always ashamed to have me around you, wouldn’t allow me talk to your fancy friends. Remember those times you asked your Candy to leave just because you saw me coming? Yeah, you didn’t think I saw, huh? But I did. I know you don’t give a shit about me, big bro. You can save the acting for Candy and the rest.”

  For the first time since they clocked thirteen and began to live their separate lives, Aric felt guilty. Geoff was right. When, at last, he was accepted into a nice home with warm meals and the great people that were the Parkers, Aric had started to feel ashamed of his brother. Geoff had joined a group of unruly kids in the neighborhood and Aric always walked faster whenever they were near. In private, he tried to talk Geoff into straightening up but, of course, his brother only got worse.

  “I’m sorry about that, but we were kids and that’s the only excuse I have,” he said. He tried to touch Geoff’s shoulder but got shrugged off for his effort. “I am not ashamed of you, now. Never will be; as long as you are willing to let me help you.”

  Geoff stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to face his brother. A bitter laugh escaped from his lips. “Can you listen to yourself? You always think I needed fixing, but here’s some news for you: I don’t fucking need your help. Get me a hundred grand and I’m outta here.”

  Aric couldn’t believe his ears. “What? A hundred grand? What trouble did you get yourself into this time?”

  Suddenly, Geoff plopped down on the chair closest to him. “Of course, you would think that,” he scoffed, rubbing his eyes. “I have to be in trouble to need some small change. No doubt, you feel high and mighty because your no-good brother always come begging for scraps.”

  “A hundred grand is not scrap,” Aric said through gritted teeth. He was beginning to get angry and weary of his brother’s refusal to grow up and then turning round to blame everything wrong in his universe on him. “And you are not getting shit out of me.”

  “You know you don’t mean that.” Geoff’s eyes were now slanted, daring Aric to say otherwise.

  Perhaps, he was really to blame for the way Geoff turned out – if he hadn’t indulged him with money, maybe, just maybe, he would have snapped out of it long ago. Eyeing his brother, he stood to his full height, letting him realize that he damn well meant his words. “Oh, I mean it all right. Told you the last time; you aren’t getting a dime out of me again.”

  Slowly, Geoff sat up. “Give me the money, Aric; you know you don’t want no trouble.”

  Aric was not taking that shit anymore. “If by that, you mean you are ready to tell the world that you are Kenny’s father, then by all means do. I am sure you know that no judge in his right mind will let you keep an eight-year old girl. And, of course, you know I have the means to hire the best lawyer.”

  For all of five seconds, Geoff looked like he had no idea what hit him.

  Good. Now he knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end.

  All these years, he had been the one threatened by his brother; it felt good to turn the tables now.

  “You wouldn’t,” Geoff hissed.

  “Oh, I would, believe me. Over and over again.”

  The alcoholic haze seemed to have cleared off Geoff’s eyes and he glared at Aric, his mouth twisted in rage. The truth of his situation seemed to have finally penetrated the drunken fog in his brain. His green eyes, dulled over the years by drugs and alcohol clashed with Aric’s.

  Aric did not blink. He did not flinch. He did not give in to guilt and pity, two emotions that always suffuse his soul whenever he had confrontations like these with his brother. He should have done this years ago; he should have drawn the line before it got to this.

  “I see,” Geoff said slowly, a look of pure evil entering his eyes. “I see…” he repeated. “You must think now that Candy is back in your life, you can shrug me off like a worn rag, uhn? I have been watching you wine and dine her and her daughter. You think you’ve got yourself a ready-made family, is that it? You think you can erase the memories of Shawna fucking me and coming home to you each night? I bet you think you can forget that Kenny’s really mine because you got a real daughter?”

  It took all of Aric’s willpower not to punch his brother in the jaw. His fists clenched at his sides. He talked himself into drawing one breath after another, to remain calm, to not give in to the urge to beat the daylights out of this sick man, this sociopath that was standing before him.

  “Well, I’ve got news for you, big bro; if I’m the father of one, I might as well be the father of the other.”

  The insanity of his words caused Aric to smile despite the situation. “You forget Candace is nothing like Shawna,” he gloated. “She can’t stand the sight of you.”

  “Doesn’t erase the fact that I fucked her so raw, so hard, she came crying; doesn’t erase the fact that her kid is around the same age as it would be if she conceived that same night…”

  Aric’s fist connected with his brother’s jaw before he could stop himself. “Get the fuck out of here,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Hit a nerve, eh?” Geoff grinned, licking the blood off his lips.

  “Get out!” Aric thundered. He knew there was murder in his eyes and perhaps, Geoff saw it.

  Cradling his jaw, his brother stalked toward the door wordlessly.

  Aric watched him go, knowing it might as well be the last time he ever saw his brother. In his present state, it would be too soon if he never did. As the door banged close and his brother disappeared out of sight, Aric only wished the foul words he’d said before leaving would disappear with him, too.

  “Dad?”

  He heard Kenny call for him from her room. The closing of the door must have awoken her from sleep. At once, he ran up the stairs, hoping he could reach her before she got out of bed. “Daddy is coming!”

  “I heard the door,” she said as soon as he got in, rubbing her eyes with a fist. “Did Lyric and Miss Parker come back?”

  “No, honey, you can go back to sleep now,” he said, tucking her back in bed.

  “I’m glad Lyric will be my sister soon,” she said sleepily as she snuggled into the sheets. “And I love Miss Parker, too. She is super cool and doesn’t scream at me like mommy did…”

  Her words trailed off as sleep took hold of her again. He worried that Kenny still remembered how Shawna screamed at her, especially when she was drunk.

  Then there was something else. Ten minutes ago, he would have readily echoed his daughter’s happiness at having Candace in their lives. But Geoff had sown a seed of doubt in his mind. His brother’s hateful words couldn’t stop ringing in his ears:

  “Doesn’t erase the fact that I fucked her so raw, so hard, she came crying; doesn’t erase the fact that her kid is around the same age…”

  He trusted Candace with his life and those of his kids, but he had been a fool once before. As he watched Kenny sleep, Aric knew he couldn’t stand to be fooled once more. He couldn’t believe that ,yet again, he was contemplating having a DNA paternity test on his other daughter.

  ****

  Today…

  He had needed paternity answers, and he needed them fast. It wasn’t as if he needed them for legal reasons like in the case of child support or of gaining custody of Lyric. He wanted this nagging, throbbing pain in his heart to go away. He needed to prove to Geoff that he was, indeed, Lyric’s father. He needed some peace of mind.

  The most expeditious means to get the answer to his question was by ordering an at-home DNA paternity test kit. He placed his order online making sure to choose the option to receive the kit the next day. Next, he selected the option to expedite to 1 day testing, as well as opted to receive the results online. He punched his email address and password, typed in his credit card details in the relevant boxes and then placed his order.

  The next day he received the kit, so all he had to do was to get Lyric at his house. That was easy; all he had to do was to let Candace know he was free so he would pick up the girls, take them to their dance class and bring them at his home so they can be with each other. Nothing unusual; he’d done it many times before. The tough part came when it came to doing the cheek swab on Lyric. Surprisingly, both girls accepted his simple explanation which was he’d done this experiment on Kenny when she was much, much younger, and he’d like to do it on her to find out something important.

  Both girls looked at each other. He held his breath. He felt guilty about going about something so serious in this clandestine manner, but he couldn’t let his suspicions rest until he got to the bottom of their sordid story. With a slight nod of her head, so imperceptible if he didn’t know his daughter well he would have missed it, Kenny seemed to give Lyric the go-ahead. The rest was easy.

  He sent the DNA via a courier service.

  The beep on his smart phone roused him from his thoughts. A quick glance at the screen confirmed he’d just received an email from the DNA center. With legs that shook he sat at his desk in his office, flipped open the laptop and with trembling fingers he logged on to the center’s secure website.

  And he read the results.

  The words emblazoned on the monitor of his desktop turned his life upside down and inside out. Dazedly, he printed out the results as if he wasn’t sure if what he’d seen on the screen was real. When the printer spit out the paper, he held it in his hand as if it was offensive and wishing he was somewhere far away where nothing could hurt him as much as he hurt at the moment.

  He had trusted her, put his life in her hands. If Lyric wasn’t his, then she could only be Geoff’s – there was no doubt about it.