Sparking the Fire (11 page)

Luke hadn't looked at her, maybe couldn't look at her. “Your kid?”

“No.” God, he wished. It would have been a damn sight easier if she was. “Logan's daughter. She's my niece. Our niece.” He placed an arm around her shoulder because she had to be feeling so exposed right now. Her body stiffened at his touch, but he held on. He'd been trying to hold on for a year.

“She lives a couple of hours away in Bloomington with her mom and grandmother. At least, she usually does.” He turned to her. “I'm gonna take a stab here and guess your mom doesn't know where you are.” Jen had left a few days ago for an eight-week course in Seattle, getting an advanced certificate in nursing. Wyatt had tried to persuade her that now would be a good time to break the news and let Roni visit. She had refused.

She always refused.

Roni snorted. “Mom's none the wiser.”

“Did you say your gran dropped you off? You mean, outside, just now?”

What the hell? That she'd been abandoned by her grandmother released a rush of rage in Wyatt's chest.

“She said I'm out of control. She can't cope with me, so now that Mom's out of town you should be the one to take me on while she's gone.” An eyebrow raise accompanied that challenge, and in that moment, she looked so like Logan that Wyatt's heart cracked in half. Was it possible she had engineered this to force her grandmother's hand?

She eyed the crew warily before turning back to Wyatt. “I know you don't want me here.”

“That's not true.” God, how could he explain that his niece here with his people was the culmination of his heart's desire? Try that without making her mother into the villain. “Sweetheart, everyone wants to meet you. But first, I need to talk to them all and let them know where you've been all this time.”

“Holy shit,” Roni said.

Okay, not the expected reaction, but then he got it. Molly stood in front of them looking so damn fine he was practically bowled over by her beauty.
Holy shit
was right.

“Hey, Roni, I'm Molly. So are you a Coke or a Sprite girl?”

Eyes wide, Roni dropped her jaw at the sight of one of the most famous women in the world standing in a humble, albeit very nicely landscaped, backyard on the North Side of Chicago.

“Are you—?”

“Sure am,” Molly said with a wink. “Just another day at chez Dempsey, kid.”

She smiled at Wyatt, which was incredibly classy of her considering he'd done nothing but alternately scowl and ignore her all afternoon. Right now, she was the only other adult he was brave enough to look at, her outsider status the branch he clung to.

“You go with Molly for a moment while I talk to your 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?”

“Just 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.”

“Logan'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.”

“Six 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.”

“But 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?”

“That'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.

“Roni'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—”

“If she knew that,” Alex cut in, every word enunciated with fury, “then why the hell would she keep our niece from us?”

“Because 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.”

“And 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?”

“You happened. First Luke, then you.”

Alex's face collapsed in shock.

“Jen'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 the way her ex bailed. Above all else, she wants stability for Roni. I'd just about convinced her that meeting you all was for the best when the next thing she sees are Luke's fists plastered all over the Internet after he punches up a CPD detective in the family bar. Then America's Favorite Firefighter is using the Jaws of Life as her primary method of communication in the video that's at ten million hits and counting. Doesn't exactly scream ‘stable home life.' ”

Alex was still fuming. “You mean she keeps our niece out of our lives—
you
keep our niece out of our lives—and it's
our
fault?”

Wyatt knew it was messed up, but he had been trying to work this out so no one would feel hard done by. Jen might not have moral right on her side, but she had legal. Her ex was at minimum emotionally, if not physically, abusive when he drank, and that history was her frame of reference for every decision regarding Roni. Seeing the Firefightin' Dempseys, as they'd been scathingly nicknamed by the press, from the outside might give anyone pause.

“She's her mother. Her guardian. Legally, we're nothing.”

Alex turned to Eli. “This woman pulls this stunt and we have no rights? How is that possible?”

“Honey, Wyatt's right, you have no standing here,” Eli said. “None of you do. Your brother's been doing the best he can under the circumstances.”

Aw. Shit.

Awareness dawning, Alex puffed up. “You. Asshole. You
knew
about this.”

“Yes, I did,” Eli said, unfazed by Alex's reaction. He'd been managing her temper for months now and he had no problems standing up to her and talking her down. “Wyatt didn't tell me, but I had background checks run on you all before we started dating.”

“Of course you did.” Alex was clearly ready to tear her fiancé a new one when Beck cut her off.

“Could we hold off on the domestic drama for a sec and deal with the real issue here? We've just found out that we have family. Logan's blood, our brother's blood, is running through that girl's veins, and now we have to make up to her the years she's missed out on with the Dempseys.”

Wyatt sent a look of immense gratitude to his brother. Thank God for Beck, who had always been the calm one—at least, outside of the ring. If Wyatt could win them over one by one . . .

His eyes met Luke's. They had gone through a lot together since their teens, brothers in every way that mattered. Wyatt had known the Dempsey he was closest to would not take it well, but he'd hoped to break it gently. Not that news like that was capable of being broken gently—or that Luke was capable of being reasonable about anything. And could Wyatt blame him? After Logan and Sean died nine years ago, the two eldest Dempseys had been faced with a choice. Both in the marines, one of them needed to leave and play Dempsey dad to the young 'uns, especially Gage, who was only sixteen at the time and would have been put in group care.

Wyatt had failed the test, his grief over the loss of the two men who had shaped him so heart-crushing that he couldn't bear to be around the rest of his family. Luke had stepped up, like always. Holding back this information about Logan's girl was a punch to his brother's gut. Right now? Luke's expression was far from brotherly.

And Wyatt had thought resisting the charms of Molly Cade would be his biggest challenge this summer.

W
ell, this was awkward. Of all the days to visit. If Molly hadn't felt like an intruder before, this sure as hell took the cake.

“Can I get you anything? Soda? Water?”

Roni sat at the kitchen table, her body language shouting that she wanted to be anywhere but here. Dressed in black, and wearing what looked like a manga character on her tee, she rocked the stock attitude of “disaffected youth” straight from Central Casting. Stunningly beautiful, though—or she would be in about a year, when her remarkable bone structure was revealed.

Passing over Molly's offer of refreshments, the girl shifted her gaze nervously toward the backyard. “Not exactly rolling out the welcome mat, are they?”

“Everyone's just surprised to see you, is all.”

Roni looked unconvinced. She locked eyes on Molly, their similarity to Wyatt's uncanny. That unholy blue. “I liked you in
Sweet Rain
. My mom didn't think you deserved the Oscar nomination, but I thought you were good.”

“Thanks. It's my favorite part of everything I've done.”

Roni waited. Now that she'd confessed something, Molly supposed it was her turn to explain her presence.

“I'm making a firefighter movie in Chicago and your uncle Wyatt is the tech consultant on it. So what did you do?”

“Do?”

“Well, your grandmother said you were out of control and she couldn't handle you anymore. What stunt did you pull to get here?”

She flushed. “I don't want to be here.”

A likely tale. Molly wasn't so far removed from her teenage years that she didn't recall the underhanded methods she'd used to get her own way. Roni might be fronting don't-give-a-damn, but every furtive glance toward the backyard said differently. She cared. Deeply. As Molly had employed a few sneaky stunts of her own to meet the Dempseys, she could see where the girl was coming from.

Who wouldn't want to meet them?

The sound of raised voices trickled through the screen door. Renewed worry creased Roni's brow.

“People don't sound too pleased I'm here.”

“They're just surprised that Wyatt didn't tell them.” She cocked her head. “I suppose he has a good reason for that?”

Teenage eye roll. “My mom doesn't like the Dempseys. She thinks they're trouble.”

Molly couldn't disagree with her there. “Still, seems kind of tough on everyone to keep you all apart.” She had no right to be critical of this mother's decisions. Lord knew what went into making them, but at the same time, the Dempseys were so family oriented, the pros had to outweigh the cons.

“She used to be a nurse in Chicago years ago and she knew some people in the fire department who told her about them. They get into fights and go mad dog on people who piss them off. She's kind of over that since my dad”—a furious hurt froze her expression for the briefest moment—“since the guy I
thought
was my dad messed her around. But Wyatt found out about me and he visits every week, trying to play the caring father figure. Not that I need him or anything.” She shrugged. “I'm all Mom's got. She's gonna kill Grams when she finds out she sent me here.”

Molly suppressed her smile. Yeah, Grams “sent” her here. But more important, Molly now understood Wyatt's reluctance to support her bid for Alex's story.
No drama
, he'd said.
No headline-grabbing encounters
. This girl was his number-one consideration, the reason why he was snarling at Molly's attempts to infiltrate the Dempsey defenses.

“Um,” Roni said, “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Top of the stairs, to the left.”

Head down, she shuffled out. Wyatt walked in thirty seconds later with a querying frown.

“Little girls' room. How's it going out there?”

Tension radiated from him, the feeling of an unexploded bomb making the air heavy. “Everyone's reacting with the typical nuance and restraint I've come to expect from my family.”

“It's a lot to take in.”

Nodding, he rubbed his mouth. “Thanks for stepping up there. Appreciate that. I think everyone was too shocked to figure out what came next. Now I gotta call her mom and grandmother and work this out.” He held her gaze. “With Roni showing up like this, it puts a different spin on things.”