Claiming Family Read online

  CLAIMING FAMILY

  COVEY PUBLISHING, LLC

  Published by Covey Publishing, LLC

  PO Box 550219, Gastonia, NC 28055-0219

  Copyright © 2020 by Desi Lin

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the writer, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design Copyright © 2020 Covey

  Book Design by Covey, www.coveypublishing.com

  Copy Editing by Covey Publishing, LLC

  Printed in the United States of America.

  First Printing, 2020

  For K. – You keep me going when I want to give up. Love you.

  Acknowledgments

  This book put me through the ringer and I nearly gave up on it several times. Thankfully I had a lot of support and encouragement that kept me at it, even through trashing a half written book three times.

  Lyn at Covey always ready for a question, complaint or even a rant about how the damn characters weren’t cooperating, again. The Rebels, who read through countless sections of text to help me figure out how to make the story right. My family who suffered through many a rushed dinner or a frantic mom. As always K, without whom I swear I would have tossed in the towel ages ago.

  Most importantly, you my readers. You have been patient while I struggled to bring you the best story I could. Thanks for sticking with me.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Note from Publisher

  Also By

  Saving Him

  About the Author

  One

  A mild breeze ruffled my bright-red hair as I stood, trembling, on the white front porch. Warmth radiated through the long-sleeved, sequined, black shirt I wore. The hand at the small of my back reminded me I wasn’t facing this alone.

  “You’re fine, beautiful.” Brooks’ warm breath ghosted over my ear as one of his blond curls tickled my cheek. “We’re right here, no matter what.”

  His words radiated through me, settling into my core like the truth I wanted them to be. Things between us were still so new and tentative, the Iunctura only two weeks old.

  My eyes traveled over the boys who refused to let me push them away. JJ caught my eyes with his own golden ones and winked, his black hair brushed back from his face. Souta’s rich brown-black hair fell over his forehead as he blew me a kiss, the dark pools of his eyes sparkling with mischief. I tilted my head to catch Brooks’ blue gaze.

  Knowing they were here made me stronger, and they kept showing me they wanted to be there for me. Despite my desire to find my father, fear made me drag my feet. The boys’s gentle encouragement helped me conquer the fear.

  “What if he hates me?” I whispered, eyes fixated on the plain, white door.

  “No one could hate you, hot stuff.” Souta’s hand squeezed mine tightly.

  I found the grasp reassuring and clung to it like a lifeline as I shook.

  JJ’s arm snaked around my waist. “Listen, firefly, whatever you want, whatever happens, you always have us.”

  Oh, how I wanted to believe those words. Still, the tension of what I was about to do slid away at my guys’s touch. I leaned back into Brooks’ chest as Souta and JJ moved closer, our bodies all touching. They were my strength, confidence, and courage.

  JJ held my hand through every step of the search when I wanted to let my fear stop me. Brooks decided to call May when we hit block after block. When I couldn’t decide if I wanted to come today, Souta took my hand and guided me into the car. I wouldn’t be here without them.

  Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

  After a minute, the door opened. A slight woman with wavy, brown hair and mildly exotic features smiled curiously at us.

  “Hello. Can I help you?” Her almond-shaped, hazel eyes sparkled with curiosity as they traveled over us, the corners of her mouth quirking up into a puzzled smile. The natural tan of her skin highlighted the emerald-green blouse she wore paired with simple dark-wash jeans.

  I couldn’t talk. I don’t know what I expected, but not this stunning woman. A glint caught my eye, and my gaze drifted down, finding the modest diamond set in gold on her finger. Fear tore through me, freezing me on the spot, unable to do anything more than stare and tremble.

  “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am.” JJ stepped forward. “We’re looking for Michael Phoenix?”

  I held my breath as I waited for her response. A hand cupped the back of my neck, and I leaned into the comforting gesture.

  “Then, you came to the right place. Hang on.” She turned her head and hollered into the house. “Michael, honey, the door is for you.”

  An unintelligible response rumbled from deeper in the house, and a minute later a man came to the door. Shock ran through me. His hair, the same as my natural brown before I dyed it red, and his brown eyes mirrored my own. Tall and lean, he wore a fire department T-shirt. I always believed I inherited my looks from my mother, but as I stared at this man, my father, I realized where they actually came from.

  His smile held a bit of confusion as he took us in. “Hi.”

  I swallowed and forced myself to talk, the hand still holding mine giving a quick, encouraging squeeze. “Hi, my name is Seraphina Embers.” His eyes widened in what might be recognition at my last name. “And I, um, well…” I thrust the letter from my mother out to him. “Here.” I’d reread it several times over the last two weeks, so the words filled my mind as his eyes scanned the well-creased letter.

  His head jerked up, eyes wide with shock. “You’re my daughter?”

  I couldn’t read his mood, but I nodded, trying to lift my hand to pick at my cuticles before remembering Souta’s firm grip on my hand. “It seems like it.”

  The woman who answered the door came up to stand at his side and rested a hand on his arm. I feared she might be angry, and though her surprise showed, her wide eyes held no malice. She smiled sweetly at me.

  “Michael? You have a daughter?” Confusion laced her voice.

  “I had no idea I had a daughter,” Michael whispered as he shook his head.

  The woman next to him chuckled. “I guess we should ask her and her friends in?” Her tone made it a question.

  “What?” Michael glanced down at her, startled, then at me. “Yes, yes. Come in, Seraphina. It seems we have a lot to talk about. Kelly, can you call Ash?”

  Michael stepped back to invite us in, but I didn’t get across the threshold before I found myself enveloped in a huge bear hug.

  “A daughter. Wow.” The words were little more than a breath, but I still heard them.

  With the boys, I was slowly beginning to get used to casual touch. They were constantly touching
me in little ways, a hug, an arm slung over the shoulder, a hand squeeze. With others, though, casual touch remained uncomfortable for me. I managed not to stiffen when Michael hugged me, but I pulled away quickly without returning it.

  Michael smiled ruefully as he led us into a comfortable, casually decorated living room. A worn, chocolate brown couch dominated most of the small room. A matching armchair, dark wood coffee table and matching end tables, a couple dark-wood bookshelves, and a pair of simple brass lamps completed the room.

  On the walls and bookcases, a few scattered picture frames showed Michael and the woman who answered the door, who even now hovered uncertainly. A couple contained a young boy, while one showed the boy older. The aura of comfort and family permeated everything.

  What was I doing here? I didn’t belong here; I wasn’t part of a family. I didn’t know how to act or what Michael might expect of me.

  I wanted to run.

  “Michael,” the tremble in the woman’s voice told me I wasn’t alone in my uncertainty, “I’m going to find some refreshments and call Ash.” Her slim, elegant hand fidgeted with the seam of her dark-wash jeans.

  The smile Michael turned her way practically glowed with love and adoration.

  I swallowed and glanced at the boys. They didn’t look at me that way, but I hoped someday they might. We weren’t in any hurry.

  “Seraphina, this is my fiancée, Kelly.” Michael wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he murmured to her, releasing his hold so she could head into the kitchen.

  I watched the whole exchange, a host of emotions running rampant inside me. A hand at my back made me glance over my shoulder. Brooks smiled at me. I took a deep breath, reassured by the presence of my boys, and moved to sit on the couch.

  Naturally, the boys surrounded me.

  Michael’s assessing gaze reminded me I had yet to introduce the boys. “Um, this is Brooks, Souta, and JJ. My, um, Genus.”

  I wasn’t entirely comfortable revealing our dating status when I didn’t know how this man would react to having me thrust into his life.

  “I don’t know quite where to start,” Michael said as he sank into the armchair. With my hand freed, I picked at my cuticles.

  My nightmares were filled with images of him throwing the letter at me and slamming the door in my face. To sit in his comfortable living room filled with warmth and family left me floundering.

  “So, it’s true?” I kept expecting him to deny it, to throw us out, to demand more proof.

  Once again, reading my mind, Brooks’ hand cupped the back of my neck.

  Michael still held the letter, and he glanced at it again, blinking several times and sighing. “I’ve no reason to believe otherwise.” Though steady, Michael spoke slowly and softly. “Calista, your mother, didn’t like lies. She would never write it down if she didn’t believe it to be true, and it’s her handwriting.”

  Michael looked up from the letter at the soft shuffle of footsteps, smiling wide again as Kelly rejoined us. On the coffee table, she set a tray of glasses, filled with ice, and a pitcher of lemonade, indicating for us to help ourselves as she perched on the arm of the chair Michael sat in. As I poured a drink, I didn’t pay attention to the plate on the tray, my stomach too busy churning to think about eating.

  Catching my gaze, Michael smiled. “By the way, when’s your birthday?”

  “I turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago.” I licked my lips and gulped down some lemonade in the hopes of quenching the desert my throat became.

  Michael nodded as if it made perfect sense, though sense of what, I didn’t know. “I see. The timing would be right. We’ll do a DNA test to be sure, but I really can’t doubt what I see with my own eyes.” He grinned at me.

  I tried to smile back, but I’m sure it looked more like a grimace. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. No, wait, not butterflies. More like bats or, I don’t know, flying monkeys?

  After we’d sat in tense silence for a minute or two, a hand wrapped around mine, and JJ drew my hand into his lap, his thumb running across my palm. “Firefly, did you have questions?”

  “I, um, I…” Questions ran rampant in my head.

  They’d been there since I first read the letter, and now, when I finally had the ability to get all the answers I ever wanted, I couldn’t get a single one past my lips. I simply stared at the face so much like my own.

  “You might wonder why I never sought you out?” Michael offered. “Until today, this letter, I didn’t know you existed. I can’t imagine how things have been for you. Please know, if I had any idea you existed, I would have moved heaven and earth to find you.”

  I bit my lip, unsure how to feel or respond. Most people would be thrilled to hear that, wouldn’t they?

  Except for the incident with Aguirre, things hadn’t been too bad for me. I was lonely and didn’t realizing how much I wanted to belong somewhere, until the guys shoved their way into my life, but still not bad. Plenty of people were worse off than me. Though, I couldn’t deny how much having a father would have meant.

  Lost in my thoughts and worries, I failed to notice Souta until he scooped me up just enough to sit in my spot and settle me into his lap.

  “You can do this, hot stuff. We’re right here,” Souta murmured into my hair.

  I restrained the sudden need to stiffen. Sitting in a lap went beyond the casual touch I’d come to accept from them, but then JJ and Brooks rested their hands on me. My whole being relaxed.

  When I looked back at Michael and Kelly, I noticed Kelly’s confused gaze. Outside of Elementum marked places, the boys and I drew up a plan so we wouldn’t draw too much attention or questions. None of us thought anything of our actions in the home of another Elementum, but we failed to consider whether Kelly was an Elementum or not.

  “Who are you boys again? And what is your relationship with Seraphina?” She asked, only genuine curiosity in her voice.

  I admired her easy calm and composure.

  The front door slammed open before anyone could answer Kelly’s question.

  A young man, a couple years older than me by the looks of things, strode into the room. Average height, slender build, and the same ash-brown hair, highlighted with blond in his case, told me he must be Michael’s son. Which made him my brother. Also, he walked in as if he owned the place.

  “Hey, Dad. What’s going on?” He glanced quickly in our direction but seemed to dismiss us.

  I picked at my cuticle again until JJ rested a hand over mine, stilling the nervous action. A father, stepmother, and brother? I expected one person, a father, and didn’t know how to act or even feel about a full-fledged family.

  I should be thrilled, right? Instead, fear took over, looping through my mind. What if I wasn’t good enough? What if I said or did the wrong thing? What if they wanted more than I could give them? Would they like the person I was? Who would they expect me to be? How would they expect me to act?

  I reached for one of the small, buttery looking cookies Kelly brought out when she rejoined us, hoping to distract myself from these useless thoughts. I’d seen this type of cookie a million times before, small with sparkly white sugar on top in intricate designs. I’d tasted them only once before, though, the day May told me the Richmonds would no longer be my family.

  The memory slammed into me like a truck, one I’d long ago buried and forgotten.

  Tara and Mark rushed around the house. Tara wore the frilly apron she only used when doing fancy baking. I loved her apron. I’d gotten in trouble for wearing it just two days before. Tara told me the apron was her special one, and it needed to be nice for when company came.

  I watched through the second-floor slats as Tara straightened cushions and vacuumed floors, putting the living room in company-ready condition. My stomach growled when I noticed the tray of fancy-looking cookies. Different from anything she’d put out for company in the past, I felt sure she didn’t bake them. The smell of Tara’s fancy
baking usually lingered in the air, but it wasn’t present now.

  The doorbell rang, and I strained to see who it might be. Tara often invited friends for tea parties, and she’d promised I could join them next time. A hand clamped down on my shoulder as Mark squatted beside me, smiling.

  “Stay here, Seraphina, until you’re called for. This is a very important meeting for Tara and me.” He spoke softly and brushed a lock of my waist-length, ash-brown hair away from my face.

  I grinned as I nodded. I loved the way my entire name rolled fluidly off his tongue, Tara’s as well. I felt like a princess when they said it.

  Mark rose and headed downstairs as Tara led Maybelle into the living room.

  I cocked my head to the side, watching curiously. Maybelle didn’t visit often, and Mark said it was important. I desperately wanted to go down, especially when my stomach growled again. Mark and Tara both seemed sad. Tara’s shoulders drooped as she leaned heavily into Mark and spoke quietly to Maybelle. Tara placed a hand to her stomach, and I worried she might be sick.

  Tara and Mark were the only parents I knew, though they often spoke about my birth mother. I didn’t know what would happen to me if they were gone. I chewed my lip as I watched them. Maybelle’s face grew ever more serious as they spoke, then her eyes drifted up to find me sitting at the balcony railing of the second floor.

  She turned back to Tara and Mark, nodding.

  When they rose and left the living room, I stood, wondering what was going on.

  Maybelle looked back up at me. “Come on down, sweetheart. I need to talk to you.”