Wrapped in Ink

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Liam might be the overprotective big brother like he had said to Arden, but he and Bristol told each other everything. They were Montgomerys. They were siblings. They were best friends. And they didn’t fuck shit up with each other by keeping secrets.

  “She’s just a girl that I met.”

  “And?” Aaron asked.

  “And she was sweet.”

  “Is she okay?” Bristol asked, sounding worried.

  “She should be. At least, I think so. She told me she’d gotten too much sun and was getting treatment.”

  “Treatment?” Ethan asked. “Sounds like she’s been dealing with something for a while if she used that word,” he put in.

  “I know. And I sort of broached the subject at one point, but she pulled away. I didn’t think it was my business.”

  “At least, not yet,” Bristol said. “But if you date her, it might become your business. You got her number, right?” Bristol smiled, and Liam rolled his eyes.

  “You’re an annoying little sister sometimes.”

  “I’m an annoying little sister all the time, according to you. And you totally got her number.”

  “Maybe.”

  “That’s my man,” Lincoln said, and Ethan punched his friend in the gut. “I cannot believe you just uttered that phrase.”

  “I can’t either. Didn’t sound like me.” Lincoln grinned and then rubbed his stomach. “Stop hitting me. You have issues.”

  “You have issues.”

  Liam pinched the bridge of his nose and thought about maybe taking another pill so he could go to sleep. Perhaps he’d have a beer. He hadn’t had a pain pill in long enough that he could probably have one. Beer and stitches were okay, right?

  “Anyway, there’s a couple of things for the hospital that you need to fill out,” Ethan put in, going through them. “Apparently, they need your birth certificate for something. I don’t really know why. I hate our healthcare system.”

  Liam frowned. “My birth certificate? Really? Shouldn’t an insurance card work?”

  “I don’t know. They just said they needed a copy for something. I wasn’t really paying attention. It’s probably for insurance or something. Or whatever.”

  Liam tried to remember where he’d put his birth certificate. He was organized, truly, but he’d been on deadline, and his head hurt. “I think the original is in my lockbox up in my office. I don’t actually have the copy that I used for school and stuff. I lost that in one of the moves like an idiot. But I have the original upstairs, I think.”

  “Okay, I’ll get it. Got the keys?”

  “On my ring. At least they were. They should be on the counter somewhere.”

  “Got it.”

  Liam just shook his head and rested while his siblings and their friends fought and laughed. His parents were still in the kitchen, making dinner and, knowing them, probably making out. They were still so in love, even after all this time. He didn’t really understand how love could withstand the test of time, but his mom and dad were an excellent example of it.

  “What do you think Mom and Dad are making for dinner tonight?” Bristol asked, looking down at her phone while Marcus peeked over her shoulder. They were probably looking up spoilers for their favorite TV show since they had missed an episode.

  “I have no idea. But I think I’m finally getting hungry.”

  “That means you’re getting better. That’s good.”

  There was something in his sister’s voice that made Liam pause. “What is it?”

  “Nothing. Just…thank you.”

  Liam sighed. “You already thanked me. I did nothing special. You would have done the same thing.”

  “I know. All of us would have. But you still are the one who did it for me. So, I’ll always be grateful.”

  “So am I,” Marcus muttered. Liam frowned.

  He didn’t have time to think about that, though. Ethan was walking into the room, his face pale.

  “What is it? Did you find it?”

  Ethan nodded, his hands shaking where he held the paper.

  “What? Is that not the right thing? Do I need to file for another one or something?” Liam tried to sit up and winced at the pain in his arm and then looked at Ethan.

  “I found it. But…I don’t think it’s right.”

  Liam reached out for it. “What do you mean? It’s just a birth certificate. It has my name, place of birth, maybe even my weight. Plus, it, you know, has Mom’s and Dad’s names and all of that. What could be wrong with it?”

  Ethan met Liam’s gaze, his eyes wide. “It…it has Mom’s name. But… There’s something wrong, Liam.”

  “Tell me.”

  The room went silent, and everyone stared. “What is it?”

  “It doesn’t have Dad’s name. It doesn’t say Timothy Montgomery. It has some guy named Steve on it. Who the fuck is Steve?”

  At the sound of a shocked gasp behind Ethan, Liam turned. There was his mother, her face dead white, her hand over her mouth, and his father, Timothy Montgomery, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

  Liam blinked, staring at the man who had his chin, his build, and his eyes…and wondered what the hell had just happened.

  Chapter 4

  “Liam,” his mother began. He held up a hand, needing to collect his thoughts. He didn’t want to have this conversation. Didn’t want whatever she obviously had to say to come out of her mouth.

  He swore he could hear everyone breathing as one. Could hear their rapid heartbeats as they all tried to calm themselves so they could figure out what to say and what to do. Or figure out what should be said at all.

  Liam turned his head away from his parents, needing to focus on something else so he wouldn’t say something he’d regret later. Instead, he looked at his brothers, his sister, and wondered what he could say to make this better for them.

  He was the big brother, the one who fixed things. But he was so damn afraid that he wouldn’t be able to fix this. Bristol looked over at him, her blue eyes wide, her dark hair pulled back from her face. He let out a breath, then turned to Aaron, his brother’s blue eyes narrowed as his jaw tightened, his dark hair messy around his face for the first time in a long while. Then Liam turned to Ethan and looked at his blue eyes, dark hair, and strong jaw.

  All blue eyes. Yet Liam had hazel ones.

  Just like his mother’s family.

  Or so he thought. So he’d been told.

  Jesus Christ.

  “Liam,” his father began. Liam looked up, wondering what this man could possibly say, what the hell was going on. Because there was no way anything could be said at that moment to make things better. Not one single fucking thing.

  “I need a minute.” Liam put down the footrest of his chair and stood up, wincing at the pain in his arm and in his head. He was fine. He hadn’t been hurt too badly. But now it felt like he’d been knocked for a loop, confused as all hell regarding what was going on.

  “Let me see that,” Liam said, putting his hand out to Ethan. His brother hesitated. “Hand over the damn paper, Ethan.”

  Ethan met his gaze, and his face paled as he handed over the birth certificate. Both of their parents reached out as if they wanted to stop him.

  But there was no stopping this.

  “I…the fuck?” he whispered to himself, looking down at the paper in his hands.

  Steve Stark.

  Who the hell was Steve Stark, and why was he on Liam’s birth certificate? Why hadn’t he seen this before? Was this just a mistake? Liam looked up at his mother’s tear-filled eyes and then at the strong line of tension in his father’s jaw and had a feeling it wasn’t a mistake.

  But a mistake had been made. Many of them.

  This just wasn’t one of them.

  “What am I looking at here?” Liam asked, his voice surprisingly steady. See? He wasn’t going to blow his lid and burn the house down. Though he damn well wanted to.

  Bristol was suddenly standing by him, her hand on his back as she rub
bed small circles. He couldn’t feel it, not really. He couldn’t feel much of anything. This had just been blown out of proportion. Or wasn’t anything. It had to be.

  Marcus stood by Bristol’s side, and Liam had a feeling the other man, as well as Lincoln, probably wanted to leave. But they didn’t. They were family, too—at least that’s what Liam’s parents said over and over again. They were family.

  Then what the fuck did that make Liam?

  “Who the fuck is Steve Stark?” Liam asked, ignoring the way Aaron and Ethan moved closer to him.

  They were either all trying to be strong for him, or were just as confused as he was. He didn’t know which. But he needed fucking answers.

  “Maybe we should all sit down?” Timothy Montgomery said, his voice low, steady. Way too steady.

  “Maybe you should tell me what I’m looking at first and then we’ll sit down. Then you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on. Because this has to be a mistake, right? Ethan got the wrong piece of paper, or there was just an error. But with the way Mom is crying, and how you look so fucking pale? Yeah, I’m going to need some answers.”

  “Liam,” Aaron said, his voice low.

  “No, you don’t get to be the calm and steady one. Not right now,” Liam said to his brother, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t angry at Aaron, wasn’t mad at any of his siblings. But then again… Were they really his siblings? Jesus Christ. His chest tightened, and he fought to keep breathing. Fought to keep thinking.

  “I think we should go,” Lincoln whispered, and Liam looked out of the corner of his eye as Marcus gave the other man a tight nod. The two of them left, leaving just the Montgomerys in the house.

  It was quiet as they closed the door behind the men, and Liam wondered what the hell anyone could say to make things better. That was usually his job, making things better, even if Aaron was generally the cool and collected one. Ethan was the one that always seemed as if he had things figured out, even if he was sometimes the funnier one. Bristol tied them all together and cared for them all.

  But Liam couldn’t really make sense of anything just then. Couldn’t focus.

  “Okay, we’re going to do this,” Timothy said, letting out a breath. “Before you were born, your mother and I had been dating for a while.”

  Liam looked up, wanting to tell Timothy to stop. He wanted to tell his father to stop. He didn’t want to hear the words. Didn’t want to look down at the piece of paper that was now crumpled in one fist. He didn’t want any of this. But there was no turning back from the secrets. No turning away from the things that would hurt. He had learned that long ago. His whole family had.

  And now, he couldn’t run away. Couldn’t walk out the door like Lincoln and Marcus had done.

  They had the option to leave because they weren’t blood.

  Though now Liam was afraid that he could just walk away, too. Because maybe he didn’t have that connection at all.

  “We’d been dating for a while, and while we loved each other, we fought. A lot.”

  Timothy reached out and grabbed Francine’s hand, giving it a squeeze. Liam just stood there, blinking.

  None of the siblings spoke. It was as if they were waiting for Liam to react first, or they just wanted the story.

  He didn’t know. Wasn’t sure he cared. All he could do was try to listen through the pounding in his ears. Try to breathe through the fact that it felt like his stomach was about to revolt. Maybe he should have eaten something with his final pain med. Perhaps he should just leave.

  “We loved each other, but we were young. Sometimes, when you’re young, you do stupid things.”

  “We broke up,” Francine said, raising her chin. “We had actually broken up. We weren’t on a break like anything Ross did with Rachel.”

  Liam watched as Francine met Bristol’s gaze. His mother smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. Liam didn’t know if his sister smiled back, but he knew the two had a connection, and Francine wanted that comfort.

  But Liam didn’t care. Not yet.

  Maybe not ever.

  “Your father and I had been broken up for a few weeks. It felt like it had been the day before, and yet it felt like months. It just hurt. I didn’t know how much I loved him until I didn’t have him anymore. So, my friend and I went out, and I got drunk. I decided to drink my worries away, and I had too much fun.”

  Francine let out a hiccuping sob and then straightened her shoulders, looking like someone Liam had never met before. “I slept with someone else. Only once. But one night was enough. We were safe, but I got pregnant. And then, the next month, your father and I got back together. We were back together for about a month when I realized that I was pregnant with you. And because of how things stood, we knew it couldn’t be your father’s.”

  Liam just blinked, trying to process everything that had just been said. “You had a one-night stand when you got drunk and slept with some man named Steve? And you still married Dad?” He said the word Dad, but it didn’t feel right. And he could tell the others felt the same way because both of his parents flinched.

  But they weren’t his parents, were they? Well, his mom was, but his dad couldn’t be. At least, not by blood. What the fuck? He couldn’t focus.

  “We got married after you were born, something you’ve always known.”

  Liam gave a tight nod. “Yeah, I knew that I was born before marriage, that’s nothing new to me.”

  “Your dad and I had a lot of issues while I was pregnant, trying to come to terms with what we were going to do, and how we were going to be with each other. And because of that, and because we didn’t really know what was right or wrong, we put Steve’s name on the birth certificate.”

  “So, this man Steve Stark is my father?”

  “No, this man at my side is your father. He’s the one who raised you. He has been your dad your entire life, Liam. That doesn’t change. A name on a line, someone I only saw twice in my life, doesn’t change that.”

  Liam straightened. “Twice?”

  His mother raised her chin again, her eyes dry. “I found him again so I could get him to sign over parental rights. He had his own plans, and I wasn’t part of them. I didn’t want to be part of them. When your father and I got married—”

  “You mean Timothy,” Liam cut in, his voice sharp.

  “Liam,” Bristol whispered.

  Liam looked down at his little sister and shook his head. “No, not now.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, tried to collect his thoughts. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think like he knew he should. Jesus.

  “So, let me get this straight. You slept with another man, got pregnant, and while you and this guy,”—he pointed at Timothy—“were trying to figure out exactly what you were going to do, I ended up with some other man’s name on my birth certificate. The one I have right here.” He shook the piece of paper in the air. “So, why the hell was Timothy’s name on my birth certificate? I mean, the one that I’ve been using this whole time.”

  “Because I adopted you,” Timothy snapped. “Your mom and I got married, Steve signed over his rights, and I adopted you. And in the state of Colorado, you can get that changed on the birth certificate, especially within the first year. I am your father. I was the one who raised you. Your mother and me. I have always been your dad. You are Liam Montgomery. You’re not that guy, Steve’s.”

  “No, because he didn’t want me, did he? Instead? You’ve all been lying to me. For how long? I’m thirty-five fucking years old, you guys. You didn’t think that maybe I might need to know this at some point in my life? What if I had done one of those AncestryDNA kits that are all the rage right now? What if I had figured something out on my own? Why the hell did I have to figure it out this way?”

  “Liam, it’s not what you think. We have always been your parents.”

  “That’s not really the truth, is it?” Liam took a step back, the hollowness in his chest expanding as he tried to fight for breath. Bristol g
rabbed his hand, and Ethan and Aaron each put their hands on his shoulders, but he pushed them away, needing to be alone. Needing to think.

  “Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Timothy said, and Liam shook his head. “You guys need to leave.”

  “No, we’re going to talk about this.” His father raised his voice and glared. “Yes, we should have found a way to tell you what happened, but we didn’t. That’s on us. But, like you said, we’ve had thirty-five fucking years with you. I’m your father. I was there when you said your first word. Dad, by the way. I was there when you took your first steps. I taught you how to ride a fucking bike. I was there to take you to your first job. I helped you learn how to drive. I have always been there. Your mother has always been there. We’re your parents. Not some guy whose name was on your birth certificate for a month of your life.”

  “I need you to go,” Liam whispered, his voice hollow. His hands shook, and he just looked down at the piece of paper in his fist, the one that said the wrong name but was actually the right one.

  Despite that, he was a Montgomery. At least, that’s what he had always thought.

  The Montgomerys stayed together, were there for each other, no matter what. They each had a tattoo with the family’s crest, for God’s sake. An M and an I for Montgomery Ink and the Montgomery iris. It was the design that every single Montgomery had somewhere on them. His was on his arm, combined with the rest of his sleeve, and yet…was it even real? Was he a fucking Montgomery at all?

  “Go,” Liam whispered. “Just, go.”

  “We’re going to talk about this,” his father said. “We’re going to give you time, but we’re going to talk about this. Because you’re my son. No matter what you’re thinking right now, you are my goddamn son.”

  His mother reached out, but Liam took a step back, afraid of what he might say if she touched him. He didn’t hate her. He didn’t hate anyone. But he couldn’t think.