Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [57]
"I wonder that, too," a woman said from behind her.
Paige whirled around. The woman in the doorway looked very familiar, a little like Jasmine, and a little like ... her father. "Who are you?" she asked with a shaky voice, even though she already knew.
"I'm Alyssa Chen." The woman gave her a hard, angry look. "I think I might be your sister."
Chapter Eleven
Sister? No.
Elizabeth was her sister, her only sister. Not this petite Asian woman, who was beautiful, exotic, and furious. There was no mistaking the anger in her brown eyes when she looked at David. Paige instinctively moved closer to the bed, feeling as if she had to protect him.
"He doesn't look like me." Alyssa walked around the other side of the bed and stared down at David Hathaway. "Not really. Maybe a little in the nose."
And in the shape of her face, and the freckle at the side of her nose, the Hathaway freckle. Elizabeth had had one. Paige did not. It bothered her that Alyssa did.
"I can't believe he's my father." Alyssa looked over at Paige. "How long have you known about me?"
"Since last night. I found out my father paid your college tuition. When I saw your mother, she didn't deny it or corroborate it. She said nothing."
"My mother is very good at saying nothing."
Paige heard the bitterness in Alyssa's voice and saw something else in her face: fear. "When did you find out he was your father?" Paige asked.
"This morning. My mother always refused to talk about my father. But she was afraid you were going to tell me the truth, so she told me first." Alyssa stared down at the man in the bed. "He never came by to see me, never wrote to me, never gave me anything that I knew about, although I guess he gave my mother some money."
"Quite a bit of money, actually."
"It couldn't have been all that much. We didn't live well."
Paige felt guilty, as if that was her fault, as if she should apologize for being the daughter he had raised and supported. But it wasn't her fault. And, to be fair, it wasn't Alyssa's fault, either. The man between them was the only one to blame.
Alyssa didn't say anything for a moment, then murmured, "I should go."
Paige wanted her to go, wanted to be able to pretend that she'd never come at all, but as Alyssa turned toward the door, she knew she had to stop her. "Wait. We need to talk."
"About what?" Alyssa asked warily.
Paige wasn't sure. Where could they begin? There were so many questions to ask. "About everything. About your mother and my father. About us."
"Look, just because we found out we're half sisters doesn't mean we have to have a relationship. I doubt we have anything in common."
"We have our father in common."
"You had everything. I had nothing. I don't want to like you. I'm not even sure I want to know you," Alyssa said.
Her blunt words hurt, but in a way they mirrored exactly what Paige was thinking. Wouldn't getting to know Alyssa only cause trouble? Her mother certainly wouldn't like it. Her grandfather would be furious. And her father ... Her gaze drifted over to her father. What would he want? Had he ever thought about introducing them? Of course not. That would have meant admitting he'd cheated, confessing to his infidelity. He couldn't do that. He couldn't jeopardize his marriage. And what did that mean? That he had never loved Jasmine, that she had never been worth giving up what he already had? It seemed the most likely answer. An affair was an affair. A marriage was forever, or was supposed to be, anyway.
"I'm not sure I want to know you, either," Paige said finally. "I'm also not sure we have a choice. Something is going on between your mother and our father -- even now. He went to see her only hours before he was attacked."
"The police already spoke to my mother. She told them what she knew."
"Did she tell you about