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“That’s not true.” I hiss again and stand up before realizing there’s no place to go. I regard the bear, not wanting to go near it.
“Please, do you seriously think I’d make this up? Sit down.” She points a tapered finger at my chair. “The truth hurts. Are you certain you want to hear the rest?”
I nod once and press my tongue between my teeth as I retake my seat.
Constance lets out a long sigh. “The will decrees that everything is passed to Victor’s first wife, who was no longer living thanks to his idiot son. The wreck wasn’t caused by your father—Vic Jr. arranged and carried out that plan. Your father was trying to find you. His son was already jealous of your mother. Victor didn’t realize the plan his son set into motion until it was too late. By killing your parents, Vic Jr. thought he erased the competition. Apparently, he stashed your mother away. I had no idea. I thought they both perished.”
“So did I,” I say faintly.
There’s a moment of silence before she continues. “Victor finally married Vic Jr.’s mother, but that freakish young man knew that if you appeared, he’d lose it all. He probably could have held onto everything, but not without bloodshed. Victor named you in his will. Nothing was left to his son or his second wife.”
I blanch. “What do you mean? What’s in Victor Campone’s will?”
“It’s written there in black and white—Avery Grace Campone is the sole heir of every possession, every business venture, everything.”
“That’s not my name.”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is the legal name with which you were born. Avery Stanz doesn’t exist. It’s how your mother kept you hidden for so long. Have you ever seen your birth certificate?”
I make the same excuse my Mom made so many times, and it had seemed reasonable back then. “It was lost when we moved. I have one. I could have gotten another one, but the hospital where I was born burned down. Since it was before records were digital, there’s no copy.”
Constance smiles faintly, as if amused.
I add, “But the hospital burned, that part is true. I looked it up.”
She sighs and shakes her head sadly at me. “Be that as it may, I can guarantee you weren’t born there because the hospital where you were delivered is still standing in the center of Long Island, entirely unscathed—Good Samaritan Hospital.”
“That can’t be...” Shock fills me, and I don’t know what to believe. After a moment of silence, I extend a palm toward her, urging, “Please continue.”
Even if the story isn’t true, I want to hear the rest. Maybe parts of it will make sense. Maybe there are kernels of truth lodged in with the lies. I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell them apart. And what do I say to my mother after all of this? I can’t be angry at her for any of it. She lived in fear for so long. I just want her to feel secure and try to be happy and play with her granddaughter.
“Your brother was livid.” Constance’s expression goes dark. “He watched his father never give up on you, and the nail in the lunacy coffin came with the reading of the will. People say your brother’s eye was twitching for days and he’d laugh when anyone tried to talk to him about it. After that, everything was downhill. He tightened his leashes on every business he had his fingers in and squeezed until you popped up. And lucky me, you were attached to my son.”
“Sean found me.”
Her icy eyes bore into mine. “I’d done everything I could concoct to keep Sean away, and you lured him in and held him here. He was never supposed to remain in New York.” There’s a fight brewing beneath the surface, but then she douses it. “It was my fault. He saw your file and knew I was interested in you.”
“You had a file on me? What for?”
Constance sighs deeply and presses her fingers to her forehead. “Because Victor was searching for you. I thought you were an asset to be played. I didn’t know you were his daughter until later. I was misinformed of your significance. The short version is that all of this is yours.” She extends her arms, palms up, gesturing to the room.
The words fall upon me like a tidal wave. I don’t understand. “Say what, now?”
“Everything.” Constance arches a brow at me while placing her palms on the arms of her chair. “Your brother buried the lawyer who delivered the news, but the court already had the will. This is yours. Every asset is yours. Every mob affiliation is also yours, although I assume you’ll pour glitter on it. I’d suggest you sell it off if you don’t want it. Letting it sit is not a good plan.”
I blink, shocked. All of this belongs to me? That can’t be. “Can’t another relative contest the will?”
Constance shrugs, which is odd for her. “I suppose your mother could challenge it, but I doubt she would. She tried to hide you from that man for twenty years. It would require admitting she was still married when my nephew shot her first husband.”
I nod slowly and study at the dancing flames within the hearth. I don’t want it, all this. It’s blood money. Curiosity makes me ask, “How much is there?”
She laughs. “About as much as I have. Let’s leave it at that.” She steeples her fingers and meets my gaze. “Now, a secret for a secret. What do you know about my fortune?”
It takes me a moment to shift gears. I turn toward her and glance into her face. “There’s a new Ferro to add to the succession for the estate.” I force a smile, not sure how she’ll react and place my hand on my belly.
Her stony countenance lightens for a moment as her fingers touch her lips and a giggle escapes. “A baby?”
“Yes.”
“Does Sean know?” She appears truly delighted. I expected her to challenge the baby’s legitimacy, to claim it belonged to another man. But she doesn’t do that at all. Doesn’t even hint at it.
I shake my head. “I’ve not been able to tell him yet. I didn’t know if he’d want her. I mean, with everything that happened…” I trail off, leaving the painful memories out in the open.
Constance rises and steps toward me in two long strides. She wraps her arms around me and says into my ear, “He’s ready.” When she pulls back, she adds, “Tell him. It’s time to lay old wounds to rest. It’s time to put this chapter in the past. I’ve not seen him so fiercely devoted to anyone. Ever. I would have thought he’d hold his heart back after all that ugliness, but somehow Sean persevered and I know the exact reason.”
“What is it?”
“It’s you, Avery. You brought that man back to life and vanquished the monster he was becoming.”
I glimpse at the carpet. “He was always a good man underneath.” I glance up at her. “I wanted to be like him, and bury myself in that darkness. I never wanted to feel anything ever again. Instead of learning how he did it—”
Constance sniggers. “Your glitter rubbed off on him, and now he’s all rainbows and sunshine, which appears to be contagious.”
I snort a laugh. “Yeah, something like that.”
“A word of warning,” Constance asks me if it’s alright and I can tell she’s sincere. I nod in assent, and she continues. “Sean still thinks his life is made of eggshells that will swiftly crack if he makes a wrong move. Strong women don’t like to be handled gently.”
She levels her eyes to mine. It’s the nicest thing she’s ever said to me, and I don’t doubt her genuineness. Something passes between us, a mutual understanding that we both will do anything necessary to protect our families, which will soon be one and the same.
Constance lifts a brow and smirks. “Knock him on his ass because this little event here tonight scared the shit out of him. He’ll want to play it safe. Don’t let him. You brought him back from the deep. Now you have to hold him here.”
CHAPTER 18
The rest of the night passes in an exhausted blur. Sean’s brothers appear on the site. Peter rushes at Sean and throws his arms around him. Jon doesn’t wait his turn and slams into the two of them.
When they break apart, Jon promptly scolds his oldest brother, slapping Sean in th
e back of the head which makes hair fly into Sean’s eyes. “You should have said something! I would have been here.”
Peter gives more of the same, another swat the back of Sean’s head with an exasperated expression on his face. “You should have said something! You scared the hell out of me. Mom called me. Mom. Do you know how weird that is? I thought you were dead.”
Sean doesn’t know what to do with the onslaught of affection. That crooked grin lights up his face as he punches them both in the arm in an affectionate sort of man-hello. Then he says to Peter, “You have a new wife.” Sean inhales deeply and runs his hands through his hair, glancing between his brothers, confessing, “I didn’t want to suck you two into this. I didn’t want to pull you back into this shit. It’s been messy.”
Peter nods before he glances at me and walks over, leaving the other two talking softly and exchanging more man-punches. Peter’s wearing a crisp white button-down and his face is covered in stubble. There are lines on one side of his cheek as if he’d been sleeping.
