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Her movements slowed and her gaze drew back to mine. “What message? What has Adele got to do with this?”
I breathed steadily. “If you calm down, I’ll tell you.”
She shot Vivian a final spite-filled glare, then nodded at me. “Go on then.”
I released her arms and she folded them across her chest, narrowing her eyes at us both. “Explain to me what the fuck is going on.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets, making sure Vivian was standing firmly behind me, and caught my breath. Elspeth wasn’t ready to hear all of this, but she’d left me no choice. She’d backed us into a corner and now there was no other option but to break her damned heart. “Before she left the island, Adele broke into her father’s vault and found some documents relating to me and Hector.”
Elspeth tightened her arms. “What kind of documents?”
I breathed steadily, trying to bide my time as though that might soften the blow. If it was at all possible, Elspeth perhaps cared more about my status than I did.
“Our birth certificates, and…” I hesitated, knowing the blow that was about to come.
“And what Rupert?” she demanded, stamping her foot.
“And Sinclair’s will.”
“You mean, your father’s will?” she asked, her eyes narrowed.
“No,” I said slowly. “Sinclair’s.”
She shook her head and glanced erratically at Hector, then at Minty and Vivian and then back to me. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“Iris and Sinclair are not our parents,” I said, enunciating each word carefully. “They stole us.”
Elspeth blinked a few times then huffed. “That’s nonsense. Of course they’re your parents. They have been for as long as I’ve known you. Adele has always been a troublemaker, and she’s always hated this island and everything it stands for. She’s just trying to stir up problems.”
I stepped forward and rested my hands on the tops of her arms noticing her flinch as I did. “Elspeth, think about it. Do Hector and I look anything like Sinclair or Iris? Or Ossian? Are we like them in character and temperament? Do you seriously doubt there’s any possibility we might not be blood-related to them?”
Elspeth glanced from me to Hector. “There might be a possibility but why would they do that? It sounds ridiculous and doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sinclair wanted a second son to become a deputy to Ossian, for when he takes over as Chair of the Consortium.” I didn’t want to refer to Ossian in the past tense just yet – Elspeth had enough to wrap her head around.
“How does that explain Hector?” she said, arching a brow.
“As far as we know, our real parents were asked to leave, but they fell on hard times and came back. Iris and Sinclair paid for their silence and a home for life in return for their second-born child.”
Elspeth’s gaze roamed over the three of us. “Are you for real?”
When none of us responded, she let out a long sigh. “Who are your supposedly real parents?”
“We don’t know. We know their names but we don’t know them.” Hector stepped forward. “But Adele is trying to find them as we speak.”
“Have you spoken to Iris and Sinclair about this?”
“No,” Hector and I both said in unison. “And we don’t plan to yet,” I added. “We have other news to break first.”
Elspeth unfolded her arms and planted her hands on her hips. “Like what?”
I gestured to one of the sofas. “I suggest you sit down.”
Elspeth shot an icy glare at Vivian before reluctantly sitting on the nearest couch. She crossed her arms and legs and pursed her lips.
“You know I was always looking for a way to change things, to stop Ossian and to make this business better?”
Her eyes darted to Vivian then back to me. “Yes.”
