Sparking the Fire by Kate Meader Page A

aunts and uncles.”
    Without looking at him or anyone else, Roni followed Molly into the house.
    Drawing a jagged breath that serrated his lungs and felt like it might be his last, Wyatt turned to his family. Expressions of hurt and betrayal greeted him. He deserved every one.
    As expected, Luke spoke first. “This is where you’ve been sneaking off to every week. How long have you known?”
    â€œJust over a year. Logan never found out. It was a one-night stand long before he met Grace.” Logan’s widow, Grace, had moved back to Boston to be with her family after his death nine years ago. “Jen—that’s Roni’s mom—was training to be a nurse when she met Logan at a bar on the South Side. She thought the father was someone else because she used protection with Logan. She married this other guy but they divorced a few years ago.”
    â€œLogan’s strong little swimmers,” Beck said proudly before his brow furrowed. “So how did she find out it was Logan for sure? And how did she find you?”
    Wyatt rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on. “About six years back, when Roni was nine, she got sick. Leukemia.” At the newly shocked expressions, he quickly put them at ease. “She’s okay now. But they did some genetic testing and found out the man Jen had thought was Roni’s dad wasn’t her dad after all. Not that it mattered, because he’s a total deadbeat drunk. Jen figured out it must have been Logan, but by then it was too late.”
    â€œSix years,” Alex said, her voice shaking with anger. “She’s known for six years. Why did she wait so long to tell us?”
    Good question, and her true reasons would be a bitter pill for them all to swallow. “Nursing Roni back to full health was her number-one concern. At the time, we didn’t rate.”
    â€œBut then you found out.” The beginnings of DEFCON Luke looked to be imminent. “A year ago. And kept it from us. Was it because you’re his biological brother and we’re not?”
    â€œThat’s not it.” Or at least Wyatt didn’t think so, but he supposed it was possible he had subconsciously assumed the role of ultimate decider because of his blood connection with Logan. There was never any intention to keep them in the dark forever.
    â€œRoni’s grandmother got in touch with me behind Jen’s back because Jen was having money problems. You wouldn’t believe how pissed I was when I heard, but she had her reasons. She’d done some research since finding out Logan was Roni’s dad. Knew us by reputation. How tight we were, how crazy we are about family—”
    â€œIf she knew that,” Alex cut in, every word enunciated with fury, “then why the hell would she keep our niece from us?”
    â€œBecause some of the ways we express our love of family are not exactly the norm. I was working on her, getting her to come around.”
    â€œAnd what happened?” Alex asked, her voice more plaintive now with doubt that split his lungs apart. “Why wouldn’t she want us to meet her?”
    â€œYou happened. First Luke, then you.”
    Alex’s face collapsed in shock.
    â€œJen’s quiet, keeps to herself, and she doesn’t want to involve Roni in a whole lot of drama. Her ex was an alcoholic prick who was in and out of Roni’s life, and that’s when he thought he was related to her. When he found out Roni wasn’t his, he cut off all contact with a nine-year-old girl who was fighting for her life.” Who the fuck does that? Even now, the knowledge of how this bastard had treated Roni before and after her cancer diagnosis set Wyatt’s molars grinding. “They’ve both been let down and, with Roni sick for a couple of years, Jen’s hugely protective. She doesn’t want to risk any more toxic influences in her daughter’s life, not after