Her grip loosened and her fingers began a caress that made his heart beat even faster, if that was possible. She’s here. In my house. At my table. Touching me.

She was quiet so long that he worried she wouldn’t say anything, but then she opened her eyes and met his squarely. He saw honesty, determination, and something else that he didn’t think he liked. It looked like shame.

“I am not the person you think I am,” she said quietly.

It was not what he’d expected her to say. “Who do I think you are?”

“Nice. Kind. A good person.” Her jaw tightened. “A worthy person.”

His first reflex was to deny her words, to insist that she was that person. But this was important. And maybe the reason she’d rejected him all these months.

He gentled his voice as much as he could. “Why aren’t you that person, Dani?”

“Did you know that Deacon was married once before? Before Faith?”

Diesel frowned at the non sequitur. “No, I didn’t.”

“Only for a few months. Her name was Brandi. She was an addict, but she lied and told him that she was clean. He was a lot more trusting back then. I knew that she was using, but I knew that Deacon wouldn’t believe me if he didn’t see it with his own eyes.”

“So you set it up so that he would? See with his own eyes, I mean.”

She looked away. “I knew her dealer. We all went to the same high school.”

“Wait. Deacon got married in high school? Was Brandi pregnant?”

Her gaze shot up, horrified. “No. I never would have tempted her with drugs if she’d been pregnant.” She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t like that. Deacon was a senior. I was a sophomore. Bruce and Mom had just died, and they left us the house. But Uncle Jim said we needed to sell it. Deacon didn’t want to. He wanted to get a job after graduation and support us—Greg and me. Greg was just a baby. And . . .” She let out a breath. “Jim didn’t want him. Greg, I mean. Greg doesn’t know this, and Deacon and I promised we’d never tell him.”

“He’ll never hear it from me,” Diesel said. “Why didn’t Jim want him?” But he thought he knew and the very notion made him angry.

“You know we carry a syndrome, right?” she asked.

He nodded. “Waardenburg. A genetic syndrome that causes deafness and loss of pigment in hair, skin, and eyes. I looked it up right after I met you.”

“To explain our family freak show,” she muttered.