Beautifully Forgotten (44 page)

“Why?” Dane asked.

“Your family used to be good friends with my parents, the kind of friendship that transcends generations. When my father and your grandfather were younger they’d made an agreement—an arranged marriage to protect their collective wealth. It was really very selfish, but they were both old-school. So one of the Carmichael sons would marry one of the Spano daughters. When the time came, I was the unlucky one, since Lily didn’t prefer men, and Elizabeth was too young and immature. It was on my twentieth birthday that I was told I was to marry Nathaniel. I didn’t know him well. We’d said hi at the various functions we’d attended with our parents, but we certainly hadn’t dated at all and didn’t know each other well enough to marry. I fought it, but your grandfather was a very powerful man, even back then. He also had this way with people. He could make them do what he wanted, but made them feel as if it had been their idea all along.

“My parents threw a long weekend party to announce the engagement. Married life at first was wonderful. Nathaniel was very attentive. But when we had a child, he changed. He was a playboy before I married him, and after he grew bored, he went back to being one. When I realized that my husband was sleeping around again, I went to your grandfather and told him I was leaving. I can’t believe I had the nerve to do so, but I had something on him. He was livid, but for the first time he was scared too.”

“What did you have on him?” Dane asked.

“I’d caught him one night during that long weekend in my sister Elizabeth’s room.”

“He slept with your sister?” Lena said, horrified.

What his mother said next seemed like a rehearsed answer to Dane, and her eyes, for the first time during their visit, were shifty.

“Yes, and he didn’t want that to get out. I didn’t understand why, because it wasn’t like she was underage. My guess was he didn’t want our father to learn of it because he had no intention of marrying Elizabeth. He didn’t believe in marriage, at least as it pertained to him, so he let me go, but the cost of leaving was my son and my family’s silence.”

Uncle Josh moved from his spot at the back of the room. “Your sister was murdered not long after that weekend. Did you ever consider there was a connection between that weekend and her death?”

Dane watched the change in his mother’s expression from guarded to resigned and what looked like relief despite the fear in her gaze, “Of course I did, but if he was capable of what I feared, then he was capable of anything. And he’s also a judge with a DA for a son, which makes him pretty untouchable. Any attempt I made to expose him would have been taken out on my son.”

“Then why speak up about it now?” Dane asked.

“Because there is something worse than the fear of death and that’s not being able to look yourself in the mirror. I may be late to the game, but he needs to pay for what he did.”

Dane waited until his grandfather left for the evening before he hunted down his dad. He found him in his bedroom, dressing.

“Can I talk to you?”

“I’m on my way out. Can this wait?”

“I saw Mom.” Dane still couldn’t seem to get his head around the fact that he had seen his mother. For him, it felt like the first time because he had been so young when she’d left. She was beautiful and when she smiled, he could see himself in her face. For so long he’d harbored animosity toward her, but to learn that she had been manipulated by his grandfather enraged him. Just one more reason for him to hate the old bastard.

His dad stopped straightening his tie and turned to Dane. “When?”

His question jarred Dane from his thoughts. “Yesterday. What can you tell me about her sister, Elizabeth?”

Pain flashed across his dad’s face and he settled on the edge of the bed. Suddenly he looked years older.

“She was a good kid and a very talented actress. She thought Belinda was just the greatest, and me by extension. That she was murdered seemed senseless. I think what made it even harder was that her killer was never found. Her father, your other grandfather, put everything he had into finding the murderer and even now, thirty-two years later, he still hasn’t stopped.”

“Did you ever wonder why Grandfather allowed Mom to leave, particularly with how anal he is about appearances?”

“Yeah, it’s crossed my mind a time or two. Why?”

“Mom told me that she saw him with Elizabeth the weekend of your engagement announcement.”

Dane watched his father’s various reactions to that statement; he was prepared for the verbal lashing he assumed would ensue because he had listened to the whore, as his grandfather often called his mom.

“What exactly did she see?”

“He was having sex with Elizabeth.”

Rage transformed his face, turning him an unhealthy shade a red, and then he reached for the closest object and hurled it at the wall. “Son of a bitch.” He looked like he was getting ready for a really good rant when he stopped suddenly and turned to Dane.

“Holy fuck, that actually clarifies a few things.”

“Like what?”

“After that weekend, Elizabeth was always coming around. I thought, at first, that she had a little crush on me, but thinking back on it now, it wasn’t me she became animated around.”

“Grandfather.”

“Yeah. She must have developed a crush on him. I always wondered, especially with his hatred of Belinda, but it makes sense now it wasn’t so much her, but the fact that she was a constant reminder of Elizabeth’s unwanted attention.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with her death?” Dane asked.

“I think if Elizabeth threatened him . . . yeah, I think he’s capable of anything.”

Trace returned home from class to find his wife entertaining two men. Brandon and Seth were settled on the sofa on either side of Ember as they played Wii. She looked up at him just as he leaned over and pressed a kiss on her lips. His eyes found Brandon who looked envious and he winked before he went to the bedroom to change.

He asked, “Are you hungry?”

Before Ember could answer, Brandon and Seth both said, “Starving.”

Chelsea came out of her room holding a book and when she saw Trace, she smiled. “Hi, Trace. Seth was just going to read to me.”

Trace had sat Seth down after his talk with Charles and told him everything. He took the news really well, but Charles was no more a father to Seth than Douglas had been to Trace, so he couldn’t really blame him for his lack of enthusiasm. Seth did seem somewhat excited about coming to live with them, and Chelsea was thrilled to have a cousin. She and Seth had hit it off instantly.

“Let me get changed and I’ll whip something up.” Trace started from the room and Ember followed after him, closing the door behind her. He turned to her right before he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the bed. He saw when her eyes moved to her name on his chest. He loved that she looked, every time. Her eyes turned to his and he could see that she saw far more than she let on. She asked, “Something is on your mind. What’s going on?”

“Just some scheduling conflicts at the school.”

“That’s not what’s putting that look in your eyes.”

He moved to her and wrapped her in her arms before he touched his lips to hers. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” She tilted her head and studied him as understanding dawned. “You’re worried, still?”

“Let’s just say I’ll be happy when there’s a little Ember in that crib and you are warm and naked next to me in our bed.”

She reached for his face. “This is our first child. It’s all scary, but everything will be fine. You have to have faith.”

“I’d rather have you instead.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me. When I’m ninety, I’ll be asking you where I left my teeth.”

He said nothing in reply, but he knew his face was saying plenty. He watched her face as she realized where his thoughts had gone with her last statement and he grinned in response.

“Oh my God, at ninety? Are you serious?” she said.

“No teeth and that mouth . . .” He glanced down before looking back up at her. “Fuck yeah.”

His finger played with her pebbled nipple through her shirt, his grin turning into a naughty smile. “You’re saying one thing, sweetheart, but your body’s saying something else.”

“There are children in the other room.”

“Yes, and that’s the only reason why you’re not flat on your back already.”

“Poetry, you speak in sheer poetry.”

“I’ll give you poetry.” He reached between her legs, but she stepped back from him and shook her head.

“If you start, I won’t be able to stop.”

His eyes burned like fire in response. “I’ll call them a cab.”

“I promised them food, but after, I’m all yours.”

He grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Remember that,” he said before he strolled off to their closet. “Did Brandon agree to the blood test?”

“Yes. That’s why he’s here. I think he’s feeling conflicted. Excited that he may have found his family, and terrified at the same time. I think he’s worried that Lucien and Darcy will be disappointed.”

Trace didn’t hide his incredulity. “That’s impossible.”

“Yes, but he’s a young kid facing a major life change.”

“True, so it’s a good thing that he has you in his life to tell him otherwise.”

“Isn’t it weird how I even know him? I become friends with a boy who turns out to be Lucien’s son. It’s almost like someone orchestrated it.”

Trace walked to her and drew her close. “I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that someone did.”

“Really? You don’t think it could be life working in mysterious ways?”

“I’ve no idea, but there’ll be nothing mysterious about how I plan on working you over later.”

He saw lust flash in her eyes along with humor before he said, “Yeah, I know poetry.” And then he kissed her.

Lucien couldn’t believe he was voluntarily in the DA’s office, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The man himself was sitting behind his desk when his assistant escorted Lucien into his office.

“Lucien Black is here for your three o’clock.”

Lucien watched as the older man’s head lifted. There seemed to be the slightest hesitation, almost surprise, before he stood.

“Please have a seat.”

Lucien heard the door closing behind him as he sat across from the DA. Horace took his seat before he asked, “You mentioned having some information regarding the Elizabeth Spano case.”

“Yes, but it’s an awkward situation.”

Horace leaned back in his chair. “How so?”

“The information I have concerns your father.”

Lucien didn’t miss the calculated look that flashed in the DA’s eyes. “I’m guessing by that look that you aren’t surprised to hear that he may have been involved in her death.”

“My father is a tyrant who uses his influence to manipulate people.”

“And capable of murder?” Lucien asked.

“I can’t discuss the case with you, but I believe he is capable of anything, including using his courtroom as his own personal negotiation table. He doesn’t uphold the law; he twists and bends it to get what he wants.”

Lucien was probably crossing a line when he said, “And he believes that he’s untouchable, with one son a DA and another a senator.”