Free House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 2) by Kylie Walker Page B

your father?”
    “Yeah, he’s always known. He chose to control the situation to his advantage as usual.” Paige shook her head. Jackson Paine really did think he was God.
    “I wish I knew what to say to help you through this.”
    Damien smiled. “You don’t have to say a word. I’m just really glad I had you to talk to about it or I might really lose my fucking mind.”
    Paige laughed sadly and said, “In this family if you haven’t lost your mind yet...I think you’re doing okay.”
    “True story,” Damien said with a grin.
    “What are you going to do with that information?”
    “I have an idea...but I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.”
    “As long as it doesn’t involve you getting hurt or killed, I’m willing to listen.”
    “I called my brother.” Paige made a face and Damien smiled. “I know that you don’t like or trust Alex...with good reason. But, he’s my big brother and no matter what his faults he’s the one person left in my life who has always been there. I may be a fool but I don’t think that Alex would hurt me. He talks a good game in front of Jackson...”
    “Um...I’m sorry to interrupt, but the day he came to your apartment looking for the evidence...he seemed pretty serious when he told you that he would hurt you to get it.”
    “He has a temper, but so do I. Think about it Paige...he had every opportunity to hurt or kill me that day and a lot of days in between. He stopped my father’s thugs from killing me yesterday. He’s programmed as my older brother to protect me and I still trust him. I hope that you trust me enough to understand that I need to do this.”
    Paige sat silently and looked into his eyes for a long time like she was searching for something. Finally she said, “I do trust you Damien, implicitly. Please just remember that although you might not have Jackson’s DNA running through your body...Alex does.”
    Damien nodded. “I won’t forget.”

Chapter 13
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    T here was something that Damien needed to do before he met with his brother. At eleven a.m. he walked into Roxi’s club. The place wasn’t open yet so it was quiet. He found a blonde girl behind the bar doing inventory. “Hi, is Roxi around?”
    “She’s upstairs in her office. Who are you?”
    “I’m Damien, her cousin.” The bartender called up to the office and after a second she told Damien,
    “Roxi says to go on up.”
    Damien made his way up the narrow steps. He found Roxi behind her desk doing something on the computer. Her office was as immaculate as she always was. He wondered how deeply the control gene ran through their blood.
    “Hey! Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, I needed to talk to you about that letter.” She stopped what she was doing and focused her full attention on him. “Have you talked to your Dad since you gave it to me yesterday?”
    “Yes, this morning. He asked me how you were. That’s why I wondered if you were okay. It all sounded a little ominous...but in this family, it usually is.”
    Damien had to smile at that. “Yeah, we’d give the Adams family a run for their money, that’s for sure. I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. That letter was from my mother as you know. It told me that Jackson Paine is not my father.”
    Roxi’s eyes widened, but that was the only part of her expression that changed. “Did she say who is?”
    “Yeah, that’s the part that involves you. It’s Kevin.” Now her face showed her shock.
    “What the fuck?”
    “He and my mother had an affair and I was created.”
    “That doesn’t make any sense. My mother and father split up when I was three but he was always there for me. He was actually more there for me than she was. I can’t imagine him having a son that he didn’t claim.”
    “He didn’t have a choice...I guess.”
    “That mother-fucker! Jackson! He would have lost face if people found out that his wife was having an affair...with his brother no