Seth wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “She bought it? She must be an idiot.”

“Maybe. Or maybe she’s a soft touch. Either way, the sister didn’t buy the whole package. She wanted to check things out for herself. So she came to St. Chris.”

“She’s here?” Seth’s head whipped up. “I don’t want to see her. I don’t want to talk to her.”

“You already have. Sybill is Gloria’s sister.”

Seth’s dark-blue eyes widened, and the angry flush faded from his cheeks. “She can’t be. She’s a doctor. She writes books.”

“Nonetheless, she is. When Cam and Ethan and I drove down to Hampton, we saw her.”

“You saw her? You saw Gloria?”

“Yeah, we saw her. Hold on.” Phillip laid a hand over Seth’s rigid one. “Sybill was there, too. She was posting bail. So it all came out.”

“She’s a liar.” Seth’s voice began to hitch. “Just like Gloria. She’s a damn liar.”

“Let me finish. We agreed to meet them both in the morning, in Anna’s office. We have to get the facts, Seth,” he added when the boy snatched his hands free. “It’s the only way we’re going to fix this for good.”

“I’m not going.”

“You can decide that for yourself. We don’t think Gloria’s going to show. I saw Sybill just a little while ago. Gloria had given her the slip.”

“She’s gone.” Relief and hope struggled to beat back fear. “She’s gone again?”

“It looks that way. She took money out of Sybill’s wallet and split.” Phillip glanced over at Ethan, judged his brother’s reaction to the news as angry resignation. “Sybill will be in Anna’s office in the morning. I think it would be better if you went in with us, talked to her there.”

“I don’t have anything to say to her. I don’t know her. I don’t care about her. She should just go away and leave me alone.”

“She can’t hurt you, Seth.”

“I hate her. She’s probably just like Gloria, only she pretends to be different.”

Phillip thought of the fatigue, the guilt, the misery he’d seen on Sybill’s face. But he said, “That’s for you to decide, too. But you need to see her and hear what she has to say to do that. She said she’d only seen you once. Gloria came to New York and you stayed at Sybill’s place for a little while. You were about four.”

“I don’t remember.” His face went stony with stubbornness. “We stayed in a lot of places.”

“Seth, I know it doesn’t seem fair.” Grace reached over to give the hands he had balled into fists on the table a quick, reassuring squeeze. “But your aunt may be able to help. We’ll all be there with you.”

Cam saw the refusal in Seth’s eyes and leaned forward. “Quinns don’t walk away from a fight.” He paused until Seth’s gaze shifted to his. “Until they win it.”

It was pride and the fear of not living up to the name they’d given him that stiffened his shoulders. “I’ll go, but nothing she says is going to mean dick to me.” With eyes hot and brooding, he turned to Phillip. “Did you have sex with her?”