Читать книгу Six Of The Best Of Desire 2016 - Maisey Yates, Andrea Laurence - Страница 32

Six

“You won’t believe what I’ve dug up!”

Brooks and Carson were talking business in Carson’s office when Graham charged in with his bold declaration. Carson had been waiting for this moment since he turned over the shoe box to his older brothers. It had been nearly a week since the discovery and his encounter with Georgia.

After giving Graham the box of paperwork, Carson had returned his focus to Georgia. Work had sucked up the majority of their time, as usual, but he was looking forward to the weekend and having another chance to meet up with her outside the office. At work, she was too tense. Despite the fact that he didn’t care if anyone knew they were seeing one another, she still wasn’t comfortable with it.

The contents of the shoe box had slipped his mind as the final paperwork on the hospital property went through and the finishing touches were put on the plans. Then Graham burst through his office door and it all came back to him.

Graham flopped into a chair at the table where Brooks and Carson were sitting. There was a light of excitement in his blue eyes, like he’d get when he had a breakthrough in a legal case. They’d given him the box because sorting through paperwork and finding clues was his specialty as a lawyer. Carson would’ve fallen asleep before he found anything important.

“Well?” Brooks prompted after several moments of silence.

“Well,” Graham began, “as I went through everything, I was surprised to find a few months’ worth of pay stubs from Elite Industries. Apparently Mom went to work there right before Brooks and I were born and stayed until seven months before she had you, Carson.”

Carson frowned. She’d never mentioned that, not once in all those years. Not even when they complained about their competitor around the dinner table. “I thought she worked as a waitress at the café with Gerty.”

“She did until she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy with Brooks and me. She went back to the diner again after her time with Elite. It looks as though she was laid off from her job after six months, although I don’t know why. The paperwork I found showed she was given a very generous severance package and a glowing letter of reference from her boss when she left. Guess who she worked for at Elite? Starts with an S...”

Carson’s stomach started to ache. He didn’t really want to know where this was headed.

“Sutton Winchester?” Brooks guessed with as much dread in his voice as Carson was feeling.

“Yep,” Graham confirmed, nearly boiling over with excitement. “She was his executive assistant.”

Carson pushed up from his chair and shook his head. “I need a drink. Anyone else?”

“I think we all could use one,” Brooks said.

Carson busied himself pouring them each a finger of scotch over ice. He carried the three short tumblers to the conference table and flopped back down into his chair with a sigh of disgust. Without waiting on his brothers, he took a large sip of the scotch, savoring the burn as it rushed down his throat into his empty stomach.

“So Mom was his executive assistant? That’s a big leap from a coffee shop waitress,” Brooks noted with a frown as he picked up his own glass.

It was. How could she have possibly qualified for a job like that? Knowing what Carson knew about Sutton, the answer wasn’t one he wanted to consider. Would his mother really have accepted that sleaze’s secretarial position when it came with sexual duties? Especially when she was seven months pregnant with twins? Or was she already his lover long before she went to work for him?

“Carson?” Graham said with concern in his voice. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

He understood why. He could feel the blood draining from his face as the reality of their past solidified in his mind. He hadn’t had enough scotch to handle this. No wonder their mother didn’t want them to know the truth. No wonder she said their father was a horrible person. He was. Still, he had trouble believing it could be true. It just couldn’t be. And yet...he knew the truth almost instinctively.

“He’s our father,” Carson blurted out.

Brooks narrowed his gaze suspiciously at Carson. “How can you be so sure?”

“The letter I showed you guys the other day from the box. It talks about hurting her, missing her terribly and how sorry he was about everything that happened. How she and the boys would be better off without him. It’s signed ‘S.’”

“That’s still a bit of a stretch,” Brooks argued. “There are a lot of people with a first name starting with S in the world.”

“Yes, but we’re talking about Sutton Winchester here. I don’t know if I told both of you, but when he demanded that Georgia meet with him, he offered her quite a sweet deal to come work for Elite Industries. The job came with a million-dollar signing bonus and the role of his mistress.”

Graham’s mouth dropped open, his glass of scotch hanging in his hand midair. “Are you serious? That old dog!”

Carson nodded gravely. “If that’s how Sutton recruits employees and lovers, it all makes sense. Say he met Mom at the diner and they started an affair. When she ends up pregnant, he offers her the job as his assistant so she would have medical benefits and maternity leave. Being on her feet all day carrying twins had to be rough on her. I can see why she would accept the offer, especially if she was put on bed rest or something until you two were born.”

Brooks looked at him thoughtfully. “If he went to all that trouble when she was pregnant the first time, why would he fire her when she was pregnant with you? It seems inconsistent.”

Carson shook his head. “I don’t know why. But I think it all goes back to the letter I found in the shoe box. It sounds to me like it might not have been Sutton’s decision to let her go.”

“Well,” Graham said, “he was married at the time. Do you think his wife found out about his family on the side and made him put an end to all of it?”

Brooks chuckled. “Have you met Celeste Van Houten? She’s one icy-cold woman. I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“We need proof,” Graham argued and ran his fingers through his blond hair. “If we want to know the truth, once and for all, we’ll need a paternity test. I doubt the old man will just go along with it to be nice, especially when it would mean we’d be eligible for a chunk of that multimillion-dollar estate of his when he dies. There’s no way I can compel a paternity test just on the basis of our mother having been his employee at the time of Carson’s conception. We need something that shows they actually had an affair.”

“Who would know aside from the two of them?” Brooks asked.

“That’s a tough one. Sutton wasn’t likely to broadcast what he was doing, even though it looks obvious to us.”

“Someone would have to know,” Carson insisted. “Maybe someone who worked for Sutton at the time at his office or his house.”

“That’s someplace we can start,” Graham agreed. “I’ll do some more digging and see what I can find. Maybe we’ll luck out and find someone who still remembers that far back. It’s been thirty years.”

Carson knew Graham was trying to be upbeat, but he could hear the discouragement in his voice. The odds of finding someone who knew about their mother’s relationship were pretty low. Most of Sutton’s employees were probably paid handsomely to keep their mouths shut. But if anyone could track them down, Graham could.

“It’s more than we knew a week ago,” Brooks said.

“That’s true,” Carson agreed. “I just wonder what the point of it would be.”

“What do you mean?” Graham asked.

“Well, we take the paternity test and we find out he’s our father. Then what? I don’t see this ending well.”

“It won’t, at least not for Sutton,” Brooks said. “We’re going to make him pay for what he did to our mother and to us.”

“How?” Carson asked. “The man has no conscience.”

“That’s true,” Brooks agreed. “But he does have a multimillion-dollar estate and we would be rightful heirs to it as well as his three legitimate daughters with Celeste. We go in and demand our share as his penance. I don’t care if we blow it all in a year, as long as we pry it from his cold, dead hands.”

“Wouldn’t most of the estate go to his wife?”

Graham shook his head. “Celeste is his ex-wife now and has been for a couple years. Her lawyers have already seized her share. The rest of his estate most likely goes to his daughters. No matter what, Sutton can change the will to include us if he wants to. We just have to give him a little encouragement.”

Carson tried not to frown. It all made sense. Sutton deserved it. He just didn’t like it. “Okay,” he said. “We find a way to push for a test, then go after the estate. There’s just one downside to all of this.”

“What’s that?”

“If we’re right, it means that Sutton Winchester is our father. Mom warned us up one side and down the other to stay away from our father. She said he was dangerous and we were far better off without him in our lives. I always thought that maybe she had exaggerated and that when we met him, we’d find he was a better man that we expected. But if it is Sutton... I worry that our worst fears about our father are about to come true.”

* * *

“Georgia?”

Georgia looked up from her barely touched dinner and found Carson looking at her with concern. She was lost in her thoughts and he’d caught her not listening.

After fantasizing about time alone with Carson for so long, she was letting it slip through her fingers. Tonight he’d insisted on taking her out to dinner someplace nice. He was wearing her favorite navy pinstripe suit. For some reason, that color against his tan skin made his green eyes pop. He was looking so handsome and yet she could barely focus on a word he said.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay? You seem...distracted tonight. Are you having second thoughts about the two of us being seen together publicly?”

Georgia shook her head. She had a lot on her mind, but surprisingly, the budding romance between her and Carson was not one of her worries. “No, no. I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind tonight.”

Carson nodded and picked up his wine. His plate was empty and the server came by to take it away. Georgia let him take hers, as well. She didn’t have much of an appetite and hadn’t since she’d gotten that phone call. The universe had basically ground to a halt at that moment, but no one seemed to notice but her.

“Want to talk about it? I’m all ears,” he said, taking a sip of his wine.

She was almost afraid to talk about what had happened out loud, but she did want to share it with someone. Carson was the only person she’d told about her past, and he might really understand what was going on and how important it was. The only other person she could tell was her former caseworker, Sheila. She’d avoided that call, however. Somehow she worried Sheila wouldn’t think this was a great development.

“Okay,” she agreed. “Well, yesterday evening, I got a phone call. From my mother.”

Carson perked up in his seat. “Your mother? Really?”

Georgia nodded. “I could hardly believe it myself. I’ve gone twenty-six years without her in my life, and then all of a sudden, she calls me out of nowhere. She said she saw my news conference about the hospital last week and hunted down my number to get in contact with me.”

“That must’ve been quite a shock.”

“You have no idea.” She’d actually been in tears. She held it together as long as she could, but once she hung up the phone, she’d bawled like a baby for twenty minutes. It was so surreal to pick up the phone and hear the voice of someone claiming to be her mother. She didn’t even remember what her mother’s voice sounded like, but it didn’t take long to figure out she really was talking to Misty Lynn Adams.

“What did she say?”

“Well, it wasn’t a long call, but she said she was getting her life back together and wanted to reconnect with me. I get the feeling this is part of a recovery program she’s in to stay clean and sober. She wants to come to Chicago and see me.”

“Wow,” Carson said, reaching across the table to take Georgia’s hand. “That’s really great. How do you feel about all this?”

That was the difference between telling this story to someone who grew up with both parents and telling someone like Carson, who knew what it was like to live without knowing your past. Anyone else would’ve asked if she was excited and happy. Those weren’t quite the words for it. Cautious was more like it. Hopeful, but not too much. Being hurt as many times as she had made her loath to jump in with both feet, but she was going to try.

“It’s a mix of emotions,” she admitted. “I want to see her and ask her some questions, but I don’t think we’re about to be best friends or anything. That’s going to take time, if it’s even possible. My mother is pretty messed up. I don’t know how long she’s had her act together, but if she relapses, I don’t want to get caught in it.”

Carson nodded sympathetically. “I understand. You want to know your family and have that relationship, but there’s a reason why they haven’t been in your life. Sometimes you wonder if it isn’t for the best.”

“Exactly. But I’m going to meet with her. I sent her some money to take the bus here from Detroit and she’s going to stay with me for a few days. We’ll see what happens.”

At her words, Carson frowned. He was silent as he watched her face for a moment. “Georgia,” he said at last, “is giving her money a good idea? And letting her stay with you? She’s a virtual stranger.”

She tugged her hand from his and buried it under the table. “I’ve thought of all that. It was only a hundred dollars for the bus ticket. If she blows it on drugs and never shows up, it was a relatively cheap lesson learned. But I have to have a little bit of faith if this is going to work.”

“But staying with you,” he pressed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

What little enthusiasm Georgia had about this development with her mother was starting to wane in the face of Carson’s skepticism. What did he want Georgia to do? Hide the good silver? She didn’t have good silver. Most of her money had gone into her loft and that was one thing her mother couldn’t take, no matter how hard she tried.

“What are my choices? If she can’t afford a bus ticket, she can’t afford a hotel. I’d have to pay for it, too. It’s only for a few days, Carson. If I feel remotely uncomfortable having her there, or leaving her there alone, I’ll get her a room somewhere, okay?”

Carson flinched at her sharp, defensive tone. “Listen, I’m sorry to be such a pessimist, Georgia, but I guess it’s just a by-product of how I grew up. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t,” she insisted. “I know I have to tread carefully with Misty, but I could use your support. I’ve encouraged your search for your father, and I’d really appreciate your support as I look into my own past.”

Carson got up from his side of the restaurant booth and sat down beside her. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. “I support you one hundred percent. Don’t ever doubt that. I’m just worried about you, is all.”

Georgia eased into his embrace, letting her anxieties fade away in his arms. She supposed he was right to feel cautious about the whole thing. There wasn’t much point in jumping to Misty’s defense when she knew nothing about her. “Well, thank you. I’m not used to anyone worrying about me.”

“You’d better get used to it, although I’ll admit I could be just a little on edge after what Graham found. My mom had warned us that our father was a terrible person, but I never could’ve imagined that it could be Sutton Winchester. Of all the men in Chicago...”

Georgia had been quite stunned to hear the news herself. After he told her the rest of the story, it had made sense. Carson had Sutton’s mischievous green eyes, but she didn’t want to tell him that. At this point, she got the feeling he didn’t want to have anything in common with Sutton, especially common genetics. “What are you guys going to do?”

“Graham is going to try to track down someone who might remember the two of them being together back then. If we’re successful, we’ll push for a paternity test to know once and for all.”

Georgia nodded absently as he described their plans, but she could tell the brothers had little idea what they would do with the truth. “So if he is your father, then what?”

As she predicted, Carson frowned slightly. “I don’t know. I doubt we’ll be invited over for Thanksgiving dinner with his other children. If we play any role in his life, we’re going to have to fight for it. I think Graham and Brooks are more willing to battle than I am. I just keep thinking of my mother’s warnings. She kept him out of our lives for a reason. All things considered, do you really want him in my life?”

Georgia nodded. “I know I’m taking a risk by letting my mother come see me. It might work out, or she might be the same junkie who abandoned me. I’ve done pretty well without her. At the same time, I won’t let myself give up on her. With your parents, you stand there and let yourself get kicked in the teeth again and again in the hope that they will finally stand up and be the people you always dreamed of. That child in you is always craving that love and acceptance you didn’t get. If you give up on that, what’s left?”

“Everything else,” Carson argued. “Your mother was a broke, messed up kid who had no business taking care of a baby, but Sutton is the richest guy in Chicago. What’s his excuse? Sutton knows that we’re his kids. He hasn’t once sought us out in all these years. No birthday cards, no child support, not even a little lenience in business dealings. Why would I want a man like that in my life?”

“You won’t know for sure until you get to know him better.”

“I’ve never had a father, Georgia. I don’t know whether it’s better to have a lousy one and know the truth than to never have one and always wonder.”

“I understand. With the truth come things you may not want to know. I’m giving my mother this chance, but considering my father impregnated a teenage runaway with a drug problem, I think I’ll go with never knowing him. That way I can keep the fantasy father in my mind. I’d rather not know than find out he was her customer, or her drug dealer, or that he raped a young girl with no one to turn to.”

Carson carefully considered her words and then took the final sip of his wine. “Well, in the end I don’t get to make the decision, because there’s more than just me in the equation. My brothers want to see this through no matter what. Like it or not, I will know if Sutton is my father. As for what comes after that... I guess that all depends on dear old Dad.”

Georgia nodded and finished her drink. They were both in limbo when it came to their parents. She hated that feeling. For years, as she bounced from one foster home to the next, she had both hoped and worried that her mother would get her act together and take her home for good.

She had been excited about her mother seeking her out. She had made the first step, which is something Georgia had been adamant about. It wouldn’t have taken much to track down her mother, but she didn’t want to. Knowing that her mother had gone to the trouble of finding her felt good. Still, she was scared. And after talking to Carson about Misty’s visit, she wasn’t feeling as optimistic.

Georgia could already tell that she would spend all night lying in bed worrying about this. Her mother was due to arrive on Friday, so that meant days of anxiety until she knew for certain. She needed a distraction. Something to keep her mind off the situation. Work wouldn’t do it, but leaning into Carson’s chest and resting her head on his shoulder gave her a good idea of what might.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” she asked.

“I thought you wanted dessert.”

Reaching up to caress his stubble-covered jaw, Georgia turned his head until his full lips met with hers. She drank him in, letting her tongue curl along his as she gave a soft moan of approval. A sizzle of awareness traveled down her spine, making her suddenly warm and flush in the previously cold restaurant. All thoughts of Misty and Sutton faded away with his touch.

She was right. Losing herself in a night of passion with Carson was just what she needed. What they both needed. “I do,” she said as she pulled away and looked into his eyes with wicked intention.

“Then let’s go.” Carson smiled wide and scanned the bill the waiter had brought. He tossed some cash on the table for it and slipped out of the booth with Georgia’s hand in his own.