“What’s this about?” I asked, not wanting to spend any more time than necessary with my brother.
“Why don’t we all have a seat?” he asked, gesturing to the chairs.
The last thing I wanted to do was sit down and have coffee with my brother. Demokritos took a seat, the arrogance oozing off him and making me sick. I sat down as well when the lawyer sat behind his desk, his hands clasped together as he looked from me to my brother.
“We’ve got a minor situation,” the lawyer started.
“What situation?” I snapped.
“Your brother, as a representative for your family, has filed to dispute the estate,” he said slowly, as if he was treading lightly through a minefield.
I smirked. I had anticipated exactly this very thing happening. “That’s unfortunate because I’ve already spoken with my attorney, and there is nothing he can do about it. The will is binding. The estate is legally mine, and there’s nothing he can do to change that.”
I could feel the anger radiating off him. I knew he was furious, and I didn’t care. I had known he would try to come after the estate, divide it up, and sell it off in chunks to make himself richer. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Mr. Conway nodded his head. “I agree. However, because this is a family situation and I hate to see families torn apart by something like this, I agreed to call you in to see if there was a compromise that could be made.”
“What kind of compromise?” I asked, not hiding my irritation.
“Maybe you could give him an interest in a portion of the estate,” Conway offered.
I smirked. “Never going to happen.”
“Asshole,” Demokritos grumbled under his breath.
“Are there some art pieces that you would be willing to transfer to the family?” the lawyer asked.
I turned to look at my brother, knowing I held all the cards. I pretended to think about it. “I don’t think so. The collection should stay together. It’s what he would have wanted.”
Demokritos raged. “You prick! You asshole! Who do you think you are?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I think I’m the guy who inherited an estate, and I plan on keeping it whole and intact. I won’t allow you to poach anything from him. If he wanted you to have one of his art pieces or the house in general, he would have left it to you, but he didn’t.”
“That’s because you brainwashed him,” Demokritos spat. “You made him believe you were an innocent victim. He took you in because he felt sorry for you, not because he loved you.”
I refused to let him see how his words stung. “All the same, I have it and you don’t. If that’s all, I have work I need to get back to.”
“Actually, that isn’t everything,” Mr. Conway said.
That got Demokritos’ attention. “What is it?” I asked.
“I have a packet here for a Nicole, but there is no last name. I didn’t see anyone in the family with that name. Do you know who this woman might be?”
I nodded. “I do. I’ll make sure she gets it.”
“I’m sure you will,” my brother grumbled.
“I’m sorry to see a family torn apart by estate matters, but I do hope you can all work something out,” Mr. Conway offered.
Demokritos looked at me with the same disdain he always did. His lip was curled with disgust as he looked me up and down. “If you hadn’t been cast out by the family before now, you would certainly have been ostracized after this little stunt.”
I stared back at him. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we don’t need to worry about you kicking me out of the family—again.”
Demokritos snarled, getting to his feet. “This isn’t over. I will not let you tarnish his memory.”
“You’re the one doing the tarnishing. Let it go. Let him rest in peace.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he said and walked out the door, slamming it hard behind him.
I turned back to face Mr. Conway and could see the pity on his face. I didn’t want pity. “The packet?” I asked before he could say anything about the situation with my family.
He opened his desk drawer and handed it to me. “You’ll make sure she gets this?”
I nodded my head. “Absolutely. We’re very close.”
“I am sorry for your loss. If you need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to call me. I expect your family will be looking for loopholes in this matter. I am very good at what I do, and I don’t expect them to find anything, but that doesn’t mean they won’t keep trying.”
I got to my feet. “Thank you. I expect there will be more attempts. I’m not worried.” I took the packet and walked out of the office.
I wasn’t looking forward to more confrontations with Demokritos, but I expected it was inevitable. I didn’t think he cared so much about the money or the collection of antiques my grandfather cherished.
It was the simple fact it had been given to me. It killed him to know I might have been loved by someone. He hated the idea of me having anything.
Chapter 26
Nicole
I was moping on the couch, trying my hardest to get interested in the book I had picked up at the used bookstore yesterday, but it just wasn’t happening. My mind refused to comprehend the words. It kept going back to the incident over the weekend. It hadn’t happened again since, and I had almost convinced myself it was a fluke. Then, I had gotten on the internet and done a little research.
Now, I was more positive than ever that I was pregnant.
I knew I should get my ass off the couch and go get a test. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was scared to know for sure. If I knew for sure, I would be forced to take action. Technically, the action had already been taken, but I still had to come up with a plan and figure out what to do next.
“Are you going to sit there all day?” Alena asked, coming out of the bathroom.
I looked up at her and shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What’s wrong with you? You never sit there. Is the TV broken?”
“No, I didn’t turn it on.”
“You’re not reading that book, so what are you doing?”
“I think I’m pregnant,” I blurted out the words. Saying them to another person made it all feel very real.
She flopped down on the couch beside me. “What?!”
I slowly nodded. “Yep.”
“Wow. That’s, um, unexpected. I guess I should have explained the birds and the bees and how all that worked.” She grinned.
“Not funny,” I pouted. “I screwed up.”
“It doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” she said gently.
“Alena! I can’t be a mother!”
“Why not? You’ll make an excellent mother. You already mother me to death.” She laughed.
I shook my head. “I never had a mother. I don’t know what mothers do.”
“I think it is an instinct,” she said. “God tells you what to do.”
“I don’t know. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“What does your boyfriend say?” she asked.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I retorted.
“The man got you pregnant,” she said with a grin on her face. “You sleep at his house most days, and you spend every weekend with him. I don’t know what you call it in America, but here in Crete, we call that your boyfriend.”
“Rand doesn’t know,” I confessed.
She winced. “Are you planning to tell him?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I know he doesn’t want to be a father. We’ve occasionally talked about kids and families, and he always says he isn’t made to be a father. I can’t dump this on him and expect him to change who he is.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not dumping anything. He was a part of making that child. If he didn’t want to be a daddy, he should have taken precautions.” She sounded very much like a mother herself.
“I know. I know. I don’t know what to do.”
“I’m happ
y for you. I know you’re going to be an excellent mommy. Your little baby is very lucky to have you.”
I looked down at my stomach. “What if—”
“Don’t even say it. You are not your father. You will never be like him. You’re a kind, gentle person, and your child will be okay.” She touched my hand. “Genetics don’t make you who you are. You make choices that decide who you are, and from what I have seen, those have been some great choices.”
I looked up at her, offering her a watery smile. “Thank you. I’m scared. I’m terrified I’m going to make this child miserable and be a complete failure at the mom thing. I’ve never even babysat before. I was always too worried to be around children in case, well, you know.”
“Don’t be scared,” she said. “Millions, billions actually, of babies have been born. You can do this. Whether Rand wants to be a part of the journey or not is up to him, but I know you can do this, and you always have me.” She patted my hand before getting off the couch. “I have to go to work. Don’t sit in here and stress out all day. It isn’t good for the baby.” She smiled before walking out the door.
I groaned. “Great, I’m already damaging the poor thing.”
I settled back, trying to concentrate on the book and relaxing. I didn’t want my baby to develop heartburn—if it even had a heart. Regardless, I was going to start taking care of myself, eating right, and trying to limit the stress. I didn’t know if the latter were possible, but I wanted my baby to have the best start in life.
A knock on the door forced me to leave the couch, which I wasn’t happy about. I had been enjoying doing nothing, or at least trying to enjoy it. I didn’t do nothing very well. I tended to like to be doing something. That something was supposed to be reading. Unfortunately, I’d been staring at the words, none of them really sinking in.
“Hi,” I said with surprise when I saw Rand standing at the door.
“Hi, you’re here,” he stated.
I smiled, nodding my head. “Yes, I am. You found me. Were you looking for me?”
“I went by the house to see if you were there. When you weren’t, I came here.”
He was acting odd. “Come in. What’s up?” I did my best to sound totally casual.
“I was hoping we could talk,” he said.
I hated when anyone said they wanted to talk. Talking was never good. Talking meant someone wanted to tell you something you weren’t going to like, and by wrapping it up in a little “talk” package, it was supposed to be easier to deal with. It wasn’t. It never was.
“Sure, have a seat,” I said, picking up my book and moving it to the table.
It was then I noticed he was carrying a large manila envelope. My brain that tended to think negatively of almost every situation automatically assumed the packet was my termination papers. He was making it official and sending me on my way. I was pissed and relieved at the same time. If he was firing me and ending whatever it was we had, I didn’t have to tell him about the baby. I could go home and live my days as a single mom.
No. No, I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that. I would leave and then send him an email and tell him about the baby. He wouldn’t be obligated to be a father—something I knew he didn’t want—if I was in another country. He’d have a good excuse for not being in the child’s life, and we would both move on with our lives.
The idea made me miserable. I kind of liked the guy, and I really kind of liked hanging out with him. I especially liked sex with him, which was what got me into my current predicament, but that was not the point.
“Nicole,” he said my name.
I blinked, snapping myself out of the little daydream. “Yes?”
“Are you okay? Are you sick?”
“No, I’m fine. What did you need to talk about?” I spoke curtly. I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. If he had something to say, I preferred he just get it out in the open.
He handed me the envelope. “My grandfather left this for you.”
“What? Me? What is it?” I held it in my hand and stared down at the blank envelope.
He chuckled. “I have no idea. I didn’t open it. I guess the tables have turned, huh?”
“What?” I asked, looking up at him with confusion.
“We met when you gave me a letter from him, and now, I’m giving you one from him,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, yes,” I murmured, wondering what could be in the envelope.
It felt heavy, thick with what I assumed was paperwork. I bounced it in my hand to test the weight.
“Are you going to open it?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Nicole, he left this for you.”
“How did you get it?” I asked. “Was it in his desk?”
“No, it was with his estate lawyer,” he answered.
“Oh.”
“Do you want me to open it for you?” he offered.
I shook my head. “No. I can.”
I took a deep breath, preparing to read a letter from beyond the grave. The idea made me panicky, anxious. I was sure I would burst into tears, and I didn’t want to turn into a gurgling idiot in front of Rand. With shaking hands, I slowly ran my finger under the sticky part of the envelope and pushed it open. I reached in, clasping the papers with my fingers, and pulled them out.
There was a short letter on top from Alec.
“What does it say?” Rand asked softly.
I read the words aloud. “Dear Nicole, I hope I am the one giving this to you. If I’m not, it means I’ve already joined my lovely wife and my lawyer is giving this to you. I had hoped to see this through to the end, but time is not an old man’s friend. If you are reading this, it means the man I hired was successful. I’ve had many false leads over the past year, and I didn’t want to tell you what I was doing until I knew for certain I could give you an answer. Since you’re reading this, you have an answer. Your mother has been found.” My vision blurred as I shook my head.
“Your mother?” Rand asked. “I thought she died when you were a baby?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I don’t know. I mean, I thought that’s what happened, but I didn’t know. He looked for my mother?” Shock made my head swim.
I thumbed through the paperwork, which was essentially the paper trail my birth mother had left behind. There were copies of email communications back and forth between the lawyer and the investigator, along with instructions from Alec. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
“You didn’t know he was looking for her?” Rand asked.
“No! I didn’t know it was an option. I assumed she was dead.”
“Did your father tell you she was dead?” he asked, clearly confused by my own confusion.
I sighed, running a hand over my face. “Sometimes. It’s complicated and a really long story, but I never knew for sure. I don’t remember her at all. There weren’t any pictures of her in the house. I assumed she died. This—this means she was alive all this time.” The realization slammed into me.
I could feel tears streaking down my face, but I was helpless to stop them. It was all so much to take in. I didn’t know how to process it. I was hurt and so angry I could have screamed.
“My grandfather can be a very determined man,” Rand said. “I’m sorry he wasn’t the one to be able to give this to you.”
I put the papers in my lap and looked at him. “I don’t understand. I have no words. I’m so confused.”
He reached out and pulled me to him, holding me against his chest as my world spun out in front of me. Everything I thought I knew had been a lie. I couldn’t make sense of it. None of it made sense. How? Why? Those two questions kept echoing through my mind as I tried to come to terms with the fact I had a living, breathing mother back in the United States.
A mother who never once tried to contact me.
Chapter 27
Rand
I had so many questions. I couldn’t understand how someone would think their mother was dead when she was very
much alive. Had Nicole been kidnapped, and she didn’t know it? Maybe her mother had abandoned her, and her father was trying to protect her. Telling a little girl her mother was dead was pretty harsh, but there had to be a reason for it. I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around the situation and imagined Nicole was having a harder time than I was.
I wondered what made my grandfather think to look for the woman. She’d obviously given him some clues about her life that sparked his curiosity. That was very typical of him. He’d get an idea in his head and research it until he knew every last detail. She had likely said something that made him want to find the woman. I wondered what those stories were. It heightened my own curiosity about her.
“Your mother—” I started, having no idea how to even approach the subject or what questions to ask. “Did you know her name?”
“I knew her name, but I wasn’t sure if it was real or not. My dad didn’t like talking about her, and he told me so many different stories, I never knew what was real and what was made up. I remember having some conversations with Alec about her, but I never thought he would actually go looking for her.” Her answer only added more questions to the growing list.
“I see. Is this good news or bad news?” I figured I’d start there and base my questions and comments around the idea cheering for her or comforting her.
She rubbed her face. “I don’t know. I just need some time to process it all. I’m just kind of overwhelmed right now. I need to read through all the paperwork. I can’t believe he did that. He never mentioned it to me—not even once. How could he keep that a secret from me?”
“I think he wanted it to be a surprise. He wouldn’t have done anything to hurt you.”
“I know he wouldn’t do it to be mean, but he knew it was a part of me that I didn’t want to revisit.”
“I’m sure he had a plan,” I insisted. “He was probably planning some big surprise. A good surprise.”
She looked up at the ceiling. “Argh! This is all so much! Don’t you ever think there’s a point where you’ve had too much?”
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