Page 63 of The Other Side of Green

Rhian waved her cell at us, rolling her eyes. “Men are utterly useless. Here you go, paternity testing.”

I stopped mid stride. “How, without my dad?”

Another eye roll.

“Siblings can be tested to see if they have DNA similar markers.”

Siblings… the word made me queasy.

“Me and Lyra?”

Rhian granted me her third eye roll. “I’ve spent three minutes Googling. I’m not an expert,” she smirked. “Yet. Give me another five.”

“Okay. You do that. I’m going to go and talk to her.”

“Jack.” Evan reached for my arm. “Don’t you think you should slow down? Just have some space to process all of this. You’re charging full steam ahead without stopping to think.”

Okay, so he was right, but what else was there to do?

“Any other suggestions?” I fired back.

“Speak to Luca, find out what he knows? Rhian and I will see what we can find out from Doctor Google.”

“I’m not sure I can talk to Luca without murdering him.”

“I’d probably suggest not doing that. The idea here is to find out Lyra isn’t actually your sister and you haven’t just participated in incest, and then go get your girl. I think murdering her actual brother would fuck that plan and then some.”

Another fair point.

“Luca?” I almost winced.

“Luca. Start at the beginning. He was the one who told Lyra, find out what he knows.” I nodded. “You guys okay here?”

“Sure.” Evan smiled wild. “Can’t wait for a home cooked meal.”

“Anyone asks where I am—”

He cut me off. “You’ve gone to blow off steam, you’ll be back soon.”

“Thanks, Evan.”

He clutched my arm. “I know this seems like a nightmare, but I agree with you, I just can’t believe it. The most important thing is for you to stay out of trouble while it’s sorted out.”

“Me, trouble?” Somehow, I found a grin within me. It hurt to pull it out and paint it on my face.

“Right. Brother. Truth. Girl. In that order.”

I nodded, almost numb and turned for the bedroom door. “And make sure my mom doesn’t get a whiff of this.”

Rhian pulled a face.

“Something to say?” I demanded.

“No.”

“Good.”

“Just don’t you think there are enough lies flying around at the moment?”