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And she’d never felt the pieces so personally

Liam crossed his arms

He could also be stubborn and pigheaded She used to get frustrated sometimes when he did that Now all she wanted to do was pull hi else mattered

So she reached into the file without fully opening it Pulled out a photo

Placed it in front of him

Gabrielle had been touched by the sheer natural beauty of the teenager s up out of that picture She had Liahter His blue eyes, too But her features were more round Much softer He stared Frowned Shook his head

“Have you ever seen her before?”

“Of course not Who is she?”

“She’s your half sister” Wow Never in all of her rehearsed scenarios had she just blurted out the news like that

He pushed the photo away Shook his head again “There’s been some mistake,” he said And then, arms on the table, he leaned toward her “Come on, Gabrielle You know my entire life history”

She couldn’t hold hi inside, she said, “Her nah school She’s on the swim team and has a four point zero GPA”

Chin jutting, Liaiven hi Gabrielle had the urge to cover them with her own

And didn’t feel as out of the world as she had when the urges had first started happening She couldn’t begin to accept them To let them feelnormal She and Liam didn’t touch like that Not withthat kind of emotion attached

“She lives in Florida” Gabrielle kept talking because she didn’t knohat else to do The eue with hts off There was more A lot of it He’d ask when he was ready For the next several minutes Gabrielle sat silently It hat friends did, she told herself They sat in the fire with you Hurt for you