Lost Until You (The Sorrentino Brothers Series Book 1) (20 page)

I leaned down onto the floor and answered the call, regretting it once I had heard his voice. Just as I thought, he begged me to change my mind and stay home. I told him I couldn’t and that I wanted to bring Savanah to my apartment, but he wigged out on me. I had a feeling he would. I couldn’t blame him; I probably would have done the same thing. But he can’t keep Savanah from me. She was my daughter, too.    

Brax started to get angry when he heard me cry and said for me to call him once I had gotten settled. Then he hung up, making me feel even worse. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to run away like this. I had no idea what was the right thing to do. I had never been handed such a clusterfuck of a mess. Growing up, I thought I had it bad, but nothing compared to this.

I just wanted my life back, to be happy and find peace again.

Was that too much to ask for?

**

After unloading the car with all of the boxes and bags, I ran to the grocery store to fill up the fridge in my apartment. I stopped by the studio, spoke with Pam, and gave her a rundown of everything that was going on. I left out the part that Brax might be my brother. I didn’t want her to know all of my family’s business.

She took in stride everything I asked her to do and locked up for the night. I hopped in the shower and turned the lights off. I knew it was only seven o’clock and that I was supposed to talk to Amelia about seeing the baby, but I had a headache and needed to lie down.

Tomorrow would be here soon enough and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Brax

Jazz never called my parents about picking up the baby. She had refused to return my texts or calls. Now her phone was completely shut off, sending me straight to her voicemail after the first ring. She locked up her studio and placed a sign in the window stating she would be gone until further notice.

When I last spoke to Kelly, she said Jazz left a note, thanking her for allowing her stay at her house and that she would be in touch soon, but she hadn’t heard anything more.

I drove around town looking for Jazz’s car, hoping to find my wife, but I’ve had no such luck. I went as far as contacting the Lander’s to see if they heard from her. But, they declined, asking that I kept in touch with them and let them know Jazz that was okay.

I had no idea where Jazz was, what she was doing, or if she was even alive. It was driving me up a fucking wall, literally making me sick. Lately, there had been so much going on, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. Add taking care of my construction business and Savanah on top of it all, and I was left with one enormous fucking mess.

As we finished up dinner, someone knocked on the front door. I grabbed a rag, wiping off Savanah’s face and sat her down on the floor. She was running around like a wild woman through the house these days. I had a hard time keeping up with her.

Savanah followed me through the living room and into the foyer. I picked her up and opened the door.

“Hey, cuz. How you holding up?” Brix asked as he and Stone made their way into the foyer.

“My little beast and I just got finished grubbing.” I shook Savanah’s leg, as she smiled at the guys. She was such a flirt, batting her eyelashes to get attention.

I walked the guys into the living room, setting Savanah down with her toys. Stone handed me a manila folder then sat back on the couch without saying anything. That was strange. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but the last couple of days he hadn’t been his normal self.

“What’s this?” I pulled off the top strip, opening it up.

“Everything you asked to get on Teto. It’s all there.”

I pulled out the papers, setting them down on the table, viewing each document one at a time, finding out the following information; Uncle Teto lived in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He turned fifty last month, just a few weeks shy from my dad’s birthday.  He was married to Tobi Sorrentino, previously known as Beaty, since two thousand and two. He had five kids, four who are from Tobi, and one from a Cindy Driscoll. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corp approximately seven years ago.

Stone reached into his briefcase and handed me another folder.

“Here are the pictures I found. There aren’t many, but it’ll give you a general idea of what he looks like now.”

I viewed the pictures, shocked at what I saw.

“What the hell, man?” I moved through each one flabbergasted. “This can’t be right.” I was completely baffled. “They look nothing alike.”

Brix grabbed the picture out of my hands to see what I was talking about. As soon as he saw Uncle Teto, his whole demeanor changed. Brix laid the picture on the table, resting his elbows on his knees, and then looked up at me.

“What are you going to do?”

That was a good question. If Uncle Teto wasn’t Jazz’s father, who in the hell was?

I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing really what to say. I was speechless, dumbfounded. I had no idea what to think.

“Here,” Stone slid another picture across the table. “It’s one of his kids. I’m not sure which one, but their ages range between twenty-four and thirty-one.”

I glanced over them, not wanting to get my hopes up, unable to see any resemblance to my wife. This was just great. Here I had been running around like a damn chicken with my head cut off trying to prove my father’s theory to be correct and I got this shit. What the fuck.

I didn’t know how I was going to approach this situation next. I was running out of options. I had all my ducks in a row, thinking Uncle Teto was Jazz’s biological father, but I couldn’t see it. And hell, if that didn’t piss me off even more.

“Can you watch her for a second? I need to call my dad.”

Brix sat on the floor with the baby, playing with her blocks. “Go ahead. We’re good.”

I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and walked into the kitchen. Dialing my parent’s number, Ma answered on the second ring.

“Hey, B. Is everything okay?”

I took a deep breath, not knowing what to say first. The last thing I wanted to do was make Ma cry any more than she already had. I was in over my head with this bullshit already.

“I got the files back for Uncle Teto. Jazz looks nothing like him.”

You could hear Ma inhale deeply, like she was getting ready to cry.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled softly.

“What are you sorry for, Ma? You didn’t do anything wrong. This is just going to be a bitch to prove now.”

The line got quiet for a few long seconds before she opened up and said, “Have you thought about asking your father for a DNA test?”

“Why would I do that? He said the timing didn’t match up.”

I understood what she was saying but why? Why would I drag this out with him if he was so adamant he wasn’t Jazz’s father? Was I not supposed to believe him now?

“Give me a second, honey,” she said and covered the phone. I could hear her and Dad talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

A few minutes later, Ma got back on the phone. “Sorry, I had to step away from your father before I could suggest this.”

 “Suggest what?”

 “Look. I know he says the timing’s off but something in my heart is telling me he’s wrong. Now, I don’t want you to go and get all upset on me. You’ve had enough on your plate, honey. More than anyone your age should ever have. I’m just stating the facts. I thought about it since all this ruckus started. I don’t know if Dad’s been truthful about everything to you kids.”

“What are you talking about?”

 If this was going to be any more bad news, I didn’t think I could hear it. I’d had enough to deal with these last few weeks; I couldn’t be hounded with anymore.

“Well…for starters, Dad and that Peyton Lander had more than a one-time affair going on behind my back. Call me crazy, honey, but if I recall correctly, Peyton found out you and Brody were born and was heartbroken. She had planned to marry your father when they were in high school, but her daddy shipped her off to law school in Florida. I suppose she didn’t want to go that far, but when she came home, it was two or three times that I remember. The first time was when your father told you about. And there were two more times after that. In fact, I think I was pregnant with Bray during one of them.”

While Ma continued talking, I zoned out, not believing everything was blowing up in my face all over again. There was more to what my father had told me and yet once again, I had taken his word, believing he had told the truth from the beginning.

What was I going to do? Was Jazz really my half-sister?

“B, honey. Are you there?” Ma asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah. I’m here,” I replied. “I’m sorry to cut you off. This is a lot to take in. Let me talk to you in the morning.”

She hesitated, not wanting to hang up.

“Will you still be bringing the baby? I don’t want you to push yourself away, honey. I know it’s a lot. We’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise.”

Would we? This had to be tearing her apart. Hell, it had destroyed my family. What the fuck was wrong with my dad? If he didn’t want to be married or wanted to be with Peyton, why didn’t he leave Ma for good instead of all that back and forth shit?

“Yes…no…hell, Ma. I can’t think right now. I’ll call you in the morning.”

She let out a breath. “Okay. I’ll talk to you soon, honey. Love you.”

“Love you too, Ma.”

I hung up the phone, chucking it across the room.

Fuck.

I wish this were a nightmare, so I could wake the hell up.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brax

Another sleepless night marked off the calendar. After the conversation I’d had with Ma, there was no way I could have slept even if I’d tried. My thoughts were all over the place.

Stone and Brix took off after I put Savanah to sleep. They had seen how pissed I was and tried to calm me down, but there wasn’t anything any one could have done. All I had felt was rage. My dad was one sick motherfucker, and I would be the first to let him know today.

My alarm went off at seven, giving me ample time to process everything before I headed over there. I was moving a bit slow but that was to be expected. I was exhausted. If I didn’t have the baby last night, I would have driven my truck straight over and kicked my dad’s ass.

I couldn’t believe that bastard had the decency to lie to my face. Dad dragged Ma through the mud all these years, and unfortunately, I was the one left to pick up the pieces. Not Brayden, not Brody, and certainly not Brix. It was all on me. Well, not anymore. I was over his shit. Now that I knew the truth, our relationship was finally over. I was writing my dad out of my life for good this time. He didn’t deserve to have me around, anyway.

“Ma,” I barged through the front door, ready to get to the bottom of this shit.

I laid Savanah on the couch and covered her up with a blanket, as Ma came out from the kitchen carrying a drink in her hand.

“Where is he?” I asked, trying to keep my anger under control.

I was having a hard time keeping still just knowing I was five seconds away from knocking his sorry ass out.

Ma placed her hand on my chest. “Calm down, honey. That little girl doesn’t need to hear all of this commotion today.”

I peeked down at my daughter, feeling bad for acting like king tut barging through my parents door. But whether Dad wanted to dish this shit out right now or not, he had no other choice. I was determined to get to the bottom of everything once and for all.

“She’s asleep.” I shoved my hands in my front pockets. “Where is he?”

Ma grabbed my arm and pulled me into the kitchen. She took a seat at the island, while I stood in front of her. She looked down in her lap, obviously trying to avoid the reason I was here.

“He’s in the room, honey, but before you two go at it, we need to talk.”

I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. Ma didn’t deserve the wrath meant toward my father. If anything, she was the innocent one who should have packed us kids up a long time ago and left his cheating ass.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Then talk,” I said, not meaning to sound harsh.

Ma sat her glass down on the island before speaking. “He doesn’t know that I’m aware of the other times with Peyton. This is going to cause a war, B. You realize that, don’t you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Yup, and I don’t give a shit. You’re foolish for staying with the lowlife all those years, but I commend you for it. I don’t know how women like you put up with that kind of bullshit. But that’s neither here nor there. I deserve to know what the fuck happened and so do you.”

Ma shook her head, ready to defend my dad.

“Stop.” I raised my hand. “Don’t go there. I’m not some ignorant chump you can push over, thinking I don’t know the truth, Ma. That man went behind your back while you were at home with HIS children and you still stood by his side. Now, I won’t say what I really want to say, because I love you and I’m not out to hurt you. This has nothing to do with you; I hope you realize that. But it’s time Dad gets put in his place. Once and for all, he needs to man up and stop all these damn lies.”

Ma took another drink and then stood up, reaching out her arm.

 “Let’s go then.”

We walked down the hallway and made it to her bedroom. Ma stopped outside the door and then turned around, looking me directly in the eyes.

“For what it’s worth, I only stayed with him because I loved him, B. I…I thought he loved me, too. I know I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I was the reason our family was torn apart.”

All I could do was nod my head. Her giving me a piss poor excuse wasn’t going to fly. Ma wasn’t a fool for loving the man. She was unwise for putting up with his shit. That was one thing I didn’t agree with. I had no respect, no tolerance, for someone going behind their wife’s back in such a disrespectful way. It was wrong and made me look at my father indifferently.