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“About James.”
His mouth thins.
“Your uncle,” he growls deeply, sighing as he looks away into the crackling fireplace.
“Yes,” he finally grunts. “At least, I suspected. And then Noel told me, once. And then again when he’d… confirmed,” he mutters.
Something pinches inside of my heart. I think somewhere, deep down, I was hoping to bring this up and have Adrian laugh it down—to tell me Noel was a crazy, paranoid psycho who imagined the whole thing. That my mother was utterly and completely devoted to my dad, always.
That I was Thomas’s daughter. Not my uncle’s.
Fuck you, mum. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.
Adrian sighs.
“Don’t hate her, Ella,” he growls, like he’s reading the emotions on my face. “She made a mistake—a big one, but we all make them. James was also an insidious little fuck who almost certainly took advantage of a situation.”
He frowns, rubbing his jaw as he leans forward.
“Your mother was a good person, Ella. I mean that. She was golden.”
“She lied—”
“She lied to Thomas because she loved him, deeply. I’m not condoning it, believe me. I was furious when I found out my suspicions were correct. But she wasn’t evil. Just human. And all of us are flawed, believe me.”
My eyes drop to my drink, the emotions surging inside.
“Thomas was your father, Ella,” Adrian grunts quietly. “Any fucker with a pair of working balls—or even justone—can do their ten-second bit to help create life,” he spits. “But it takes a man to be a father. James was a pathetic, disloyal coward. Yourfather—Thomas—was the biggest, bravest, and most selfless man I’ve ever known.”
Tears bead at my eyes as he leans forward, clinking his glass to mine.
“To Thomas,” he growls. “Your true, real father.”
I turn away, wiping a tear at my shoulder before taking a heavy sip of scotch.
Adrian sighs as he leans back. Suddenly, the door to the office behind me swings open. I whip my head around, stiffening as an absolutely stunning woman floats through the door in an equally gorgeous deep green sleeveless gown.
She looks to be in her mid-thirties, or maybe forty with enviable genes. Long, raven hair drapes down over one shoulder, and her eyes—the same deep green as her dress—glint warmly in the firelight.
“Are you ready for dinner—”
She jumps a little when her eyes land on me.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”
“Love,” Adrian purrs, pure adoration and possessive need in his voice as he smiles at her. “Come in, please.”
Her brow puzzles as she closes the door and crosses the room, past my couch, to stand next to where Adrian is sitting.
“Celeste, this is Ella.”
Her eyes widen, her face lighting up.
“MyGod,” she shakes her head, smiling widely. “I’m sorry, given the context, I didn’t even recognize you.”
She beams at me.
“I’ve seen you on TV. But, up close…” she smiles. “You lookjustlike them both.”
