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Her hand flew to her stomach, and her head felt woozy. “That can’t be. I couldn’t be Nicholas’ sister.”
Carleene barked out a laugh that sounded too forced, too loud, and too shrill for the room. “Don’t be stupid. You were always such a mousy little thing, but I never thought you were an idiot. Nicholas was not a Campisi.”
David stepped around her chair and stood next to her, tall, arms crossed over his chest, the figure he made was simply magnificent. “Nicholas was a Valeria.” He almost crooned.
“Well, you’ve been doing some research,” Carleene sneered.
Her head spun. “I don’t understand.” Her hands shook as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Why? Why all this bullshit all these years? Why didn’t you tell me any of this mother?”
Her mother’s head rose from looking at her blankets. Her jaw tightened. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You see, that’s where your mousiness came from,” Carleene barked out.
David seemed to grow impatient with Carleene’s speed of telling all she clearly came here to say. “Why did you and Nicholas really want Kiera all these years?”
“Well, I found out that Rosemary and Stephan, my husband, had an affair when I found a letter she’d written to him. Oh, she professed her undying love for him, and she had his daughter, and she looked so much like him. Blah, blah. It was sickening. But, you see, I’d already had Nicholas, and he was around thirteen at the time. Stephan didn’t know that Nicholas wasn’t his son. By this time, I could barely stand to look at Stephan. He was sickening to me. Then I found out he’d been carrying on with this disgusting bitch, and I decided to make you all pay.”
“Oh. My. God. Mother, is this true?”
Her mom finally looked directly into her eyes, the tears streaming down her cheeks further confirmation.
Carleene clearly loving all this drama smiled sickeningly and continued. “When Stephan died suddenly, I found out that he had known that Nicholas was not his biological son. He’d had a blood test done and knew you were his only legitimate heir. He’d begun divorce proceedings before he died, but he didn’t live long enough to see that through.”
“You killed him.”
Carleene raised her hand to stop her comments and laughed when she flinched.
“You’re still fun to play with Kiera; I’ll give you that.”
“I’ll interrupt you right now and tell you that you either get to the story without all of your antics or your little stage show here is over.” David’s voice rose, his chest heaving. His breathing was ragged, and she knew he was working hard to control his temper. She held her hand out to him and was relieved when he took it. He sagged onto the foot of the bed but held her hand against his knee.
“Oh, don’t go getting all alpha now, David.” Carleene dismissed him, and she felt his hand twinge.
“Bottom line, I only wanted his money. He’d done well for himself, for our family. But as time went on, I worried that you’d find out one day and come along and try and take what belonged to Nicholas and me.”
“It didn’t belong to you.”
“It did!” Carleene yelled. “It was all mine. I deserved it, not you. You were just a mistake!”
“Carleene! Stop yelling.” Rosemary finally found her voice.
Carleene ignored Rosemary and continued. “Then your father, well not your father, but Franklin Donnelly decided that our company owed him something because of Rosemary’s open thighs.”
Her mother gasped, then spat. “That’s enough.”
Carleene waved her off with a flick of her hand. “He stole money from us. He said it was your right to have it and he was going to keep it safe for you. I told Nicholas that he had to marry you. As your husband, he would be entitled to the money if you suddenly passed away.” Carleene looked her in the eye. “Who knew you’d be so resilient?”
Shaking and swallowing the bile that she was sure would come up, Kiera counted out her breathing as Dr. Troy had taught her. David kneeled beside her chair and turned her chin so she faced him. “We can leave.”
She shook her head. Softly, she replied, “I need to hear this.”
“Nicholas hated you. He hated me, I think, for forcing him to marry such a meek, uninteresting woman. I encouraged him to go have his fun. What did it matter? The marriage was only for your money anyway. Oh, he had some beautiful women in his life. Voluptuous, funny, smart, amazing women. He was so handsome.”
She seemed to go in her mind to a place and time far away. Her face took on an almost serene quality, and she was amazed at the transformation. Never in all the years that she’d known Carleene did she look so peaceful.
“Then Vanessa, my beautiful Vanessa.” Her hand covered her heart and her eyes filled with tears. Could it be she did have a heart?
“During the marriage, we moved all assets into the companies and trusts. As time went on, you were none the wiser about your parentage, and your mother was too embarrassed to say anything. She didn’t want you or your fath … Frederick to know what she’d done. So much so, that she was willing to let you pay for her mistakes. Of course, Frederick was just as complicit as Rose. He knew what you were going through, but he owed us money, and since you were the spawn of Stephan, he decided you deserved it.”
