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Fiona looked as if he’d punched her in the gut. Shocked and worried and maybe even about to get sick.
“You didn’t know,” she whispered, looking around as if to make sure they weren’t overheard. “Damn it, I’m so sorry. You really didn’t know.”
Because he felt like he needed to sit down, he did. Walked to the edge of the drive and sank down onto the manicured lawn.
“Micheline’s really not my mother?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Seriously,” he mused. “All these years...”
Fiona remained silent.
While he realized what she’d done by dropping this bombshell on him, as a distraction it sure as hell worked. For a moment. He wasn’t even sure if he believed her.
“I’m not sure whether to feel relieved or what,” he said. “But first, you sure as hell better tell me what you know. After that, I want the truth about you. All of it.”
She sat down next to him, tucking her legs under her gracefully. “Micheline switched you at birth with another baby. No one really knows why.”
Though his head had started to ache, he nodded encouragingly. “What other baby?” he asked, his voice a rasp.
“Ace Colton. You’re really a Colton.” She took a deep breath. “And Ace is actually Micheline’s biological son.”
“Ace Colton? Of Mustang Valley’s founding family? That Ace Colton?”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “Honestly, I didn’t intend to shock you. I thought you knew.”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “Despite the way everyone in Mustang Valley reveres them, the Coltons are almost as self-serving as Micheline.”
Fiona sighed. “Not really. Not even close.”
Jake let himself digest this for a few seconds. Then, his natural skeptical nature kicked in. “And you know this how?”
“Apparently, Micheline marched into Colton Oil and confirmed it for them recently. The family tried to keep it under wraps, but some of the news—of a baby switch—leaked. No one knows yet what her motive for doing that was.”
Again, he wondered where Fiona got her information. When he asked her, she simply sighed. “Word gets out. People talk.”
“People? Are you telling me Micheline has someone working inside Colton Oil?”
“That I don’t know for certain. But it’s possible.”
“Anything is possible,” he drawled. “As to why she’d do something like that, Micheline has a reason for everything she does. I?
??m sure we’ll all find out soon enough.”
“Most likely we will,” she agreed, the picture of innocence.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’ve been avoiding answering all of my questions about you. Finding this out is a hell of a big distraction, I’ll admit.” Grimacing, he shook his head. “But I’m still not planning on letting you off the hook.”
She shrugged. “I don’t blame you. But you have to understand, I can’t always give you the information you’re asking for.”
“Why not?”
The sun had just begun to rise above the horizon, bathing them in a warm, orange glow. Despite the bright light, he couldn’t read her expression as she stared at him.
“I just can’t,” she finally said. “As I said, I’m not sure how much I can trust you.”
This earned a bitter chuckle from him. “Micheline’s son who isn’t her son? The one who, despite every awful thing I’ve seen her do, still came running back when she said she was dying of cancer.” He shook his head, allowing the familiar bitterness to fill him. “That actually explains a lot. As a kid, I always wondered why she never seemed to love me.” Even now, saying that out loud hurt. “I wonder what her end game is then. She’s probably not even sick. Even before I left, I wondered how much of that was real.”
