His Stolen Secret (His Secret: A NOVELLA SERIES Book 2)

by Terri Anne Browning

  My chin started to tremble, but I clenched my jaw. “Yes, Daisy, he did like to play. And I hope that Derrick is up in Heaven playing with my daddy right now.”

  “Daddy liked to play tag,” Lily murmured, her eyes darkening with sadness. “He would chase us around and around the yard at our old house. But we were faster. Daddy could never catch us.”

  “I remember,” I said with a smile as I cupped her cheek. “You two had the best daddy ever.”

  “I miss him,” Lily whispered, her chin trembling. “I wish he was here.”

  Me, too.

  Behind us, I heard an elevator ding as it arrived and stood, hoping Amber would be on it. As I turned, I saw the lovely blonde walking toward us in heels that probably cost me six months’ rent. Her smile was warm as she held out her hand to me.

  “Triss, it’s so good to see you again.” I shook her hand, and her smile dimmed. “I’m just sorry it is under such circumstances.”

  “Yeah, I would have preferred that myself.”

  I held out my hand, and Daisy instantly took it. Lily tucked herself against my leg, drawing Amber’s eyes to them both. Her eyes went almost as wide as the receptionist’s had.

  “Who do we have here?” she murmured, crouching so she was on their eye level.

  “This is Lily,” I introduced. “And this is Daisy. My sisters.”

  Amber offered them each her hand one at a time. Daisy shook it without so much as a blink of her eyes, but Lily hesitated, looking up at me and waiting for my nod before shaking hands with this stranger.

  “Wow, girls, you’re so polite.” Amber smiled sweetly at them. “I have a son who just turned six. His name is Jamie.”

  “I’m six,” Lily told her, growing a little more comfortable with this new person. “Six and a half. My birthday is March tenth.”

  “How exciting!”

  “My birthday is before that,” Daisy told her, not wanting to be outdone by her sister. “Mine is January third. When’s yours?”

  Amusement was flashing through Amber’s eyes. “Not until June, I’m afraid.” She straightened, her smile fading. “We should go on up. Mrs. Prescott has been waiting.”

  I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Oh, how terrible for her. Let’s go up then, shall we? We don’t want to keep her waiting more than necessary, do we?”

  Amber led us over to the elevators, dark amusement twinkling in her eyes. “No, let’s not do that.”

  I pressed my lips together, wishing that I didn’t have to do this now—or ever, really. However, it couldn’t be avoided. Therefore, I stepped onto the elevator with the girls once it opened and held on to them tightly as we rode up to the sixth floor.

  “We’re in the conference room,” Amber said once the elevator let us off. She guided us down a long corridor and paused outside of a closed heavy door, her eyes falling to my sisters once again. “Would you rather leave the little ones with my secretary? Or Leo, my husband? Kids tend to like his company. Jamie adores him.”

  Hell, I would have loved to have left the girls with one of those people, to have spared them having to see that there were bad people out there that looked like nice, respectable human beings. But Daisy started shaking her head, and Lily clung to my leg.

  “No, Triss, don’t leave us,” the older girl whispered. “It’s scary here.”

  I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, babies. I’m not going to let you out of my sight.”

  “Okay,” Amber said with a resigned nod. “Let’s get this over with, then.”

  As soon as the door opened, I heard Nancy’s voice and froze where I stood. “… girl never could tell time. Always inconveniencing people. She has only ever thought of herself.”

  “Mother,” Kim’s voice reached my ears. “She probably just hit traffic. She was driving down from Buffalo.”

  “Such a god-awful place,” Nancy grumbled, her tone full of all the contempt she had for me.

  All I heard were the two other women, which made me wonder if a third was in there or not. Had Dom not shown up? Would I get at least one reprieve and not have to face him that day?

  Amber stepped into the room, clearing her throat. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs. Prescott.” She turned back toward me and narrowed her eyes when she saw I hadn’t moved. “Ladies?”

  “Triss?” Lily breathed my name.

  “Are you okay, sissy?” Daisy whispered, looking worriedly up at me.

  I swallowed, hoping to calm the jumble of emotions swirling around in my head and my stomach. It had been over six years since I had seen Nancy; seven since I had last seen Dom. I couldn’t latch on to just one of the thousands of emotions trying to fight for supremacy in my heart right then. Anger. Fear. Rage. Hurt …

  The hurt was the worst. The hurt I couldn’t hide behind. It was like a living entity that wanted to consume me every second of every day, and right then, it was winning the fight I had always struggled against.

  “Well?” Nancy snapped in her harsh, authoritative tone. “Where is the little bitch? We’re wasting time here.”

  My spine stiffened at what she had just called me. I stepped into the conference room with the girls at my side, my gaze blocking out everything and everyone until it landed on the woman sitting at the head of the table.

  Dressed in a black designer dress, with her hair perfectly styled, and her neck and ears dripping in expensive jewelry, her finery couldn’t hide the lack of a soul that left her dark gray eyes dull. Her face didn’t show a single sign of having aged a day since the last time I had seen her. She must have been keeping her plastic surgeon in business on a monthly basis with how firm her face looked.

  “Hello, Nancy.” My voice was cold, which had the girls tightening their hold on me. “Long time, no see.”

  Nancy’s perfectly emotionless face twisted in outrage. I hoped she was remembering that last meeting as clearly as I was.

  “So, you have finally graced us with your presence. Come on, then; let’s get this over with. I have an appointment at noon.”

  “Oh, trust me, this couldn’t possibly be over faster than I want it to be,” I assured her with a sneer.

  “Mrs. Prescott, Triss …” Amber motioned at the table with her hands. “Can we please sit down as adults? I promise you I will get you both out of here as quickly as possible, if you would only cooperate with me a little.”

  Feeling like a child getting scolded, I reluctantly focused on the table she had indicated. I didn’t look at Nancy again. Instead, I focused on the woman sitting beside her.

  Kim looked much better than the last time I had seen her. She had gained a little weight, which she had desperately needed, considering how underweight she had become after her first year of college. Her rich, mahogany hair was long and flowed over one shoulder, her makeup was expertly applied, and her dress was just as expensive as her mother’s. My stepsister wasn’t decked out in jewelry, though.

  Kim met my gaze for only a fleeting moment, gave me a tight smile, and then quickly looked away. But not before I saw the shame in her eyes. Not before I had seen the regret.

  I didn’t call her out on it, didn’t demand she tell the room and the world why she had those feelings to begin with where I was concerned. No, I just let my sneer say everything I couldn’t put into words while two innocent little girls were at my side.

  Then, as if my eyes couldn’t help themselves, they finally found the only other person in the room. I held myself as tightly as I could to keep from letting my body flinch in reaction to seeing Dominic Balor sitting so quietly at the table on his mother’s other side. His face was blank, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  As if he wasn’t as destroyed at seeing me as much as I was at seeing him.

  Seven years. That was how long it had been since I had last seen this man. Seven years since he had blown my world into a pile of ash that I was helpless to put back together.

  He scanned me over then smirked in that way that had always made me
want to smack his handsome face. That smile was the same he had given me the first time we had met, when he was trying to be a jerk but I had knocked his socks off with my sass, and then we had quickly become best friends. It told me things that words couldn’t express.

  He wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted me to think. Dom hid behind that smile when he wanted to keep what he was feeling from the world. He knew I would see it for what it was.

  Lily shifted uneasily beside me, and I realized I had tightened my hold on both girls to the point of discomfort. I hastily released them and crossed to the large table, taking a seat at the end opposite the other three, putting as much distance between them as I possibly could.

  Lily took the chair to my left, and I pulled Daisy onto my lap, knowing she wouldn’t sit in her own chair without finding some kind of trouble to get into.

  As Amber finally took her seat in the middle of the table, she laid out five thick documents. One for each of us?

  Lily sat forward, putting her hands on the table and looking longingly at the stack of blank copy paper and several pens only a small distance away. “Can I please draw, Triss?” she murmured so softly I knew the others couldn’t have heard her.

  “Amber?”

  The other blonde lifted her head.

  “May the girls use that to keep distracted?”

  She beamed at me. “Of course. Have at it, little ones.”

  Lily brightened. “Thank you,” she murmured and stood long enough to gather the paper and pens so she could share with Daisy.

  While the girls got comfortable, I could feel eyes drilling into me. Turning my head, I found Dom’s eyes right on me, but it wasn’t his I worried about. Nancy was glaring daggers at me. I couldn’t help noticing how her gaze went from me to the girls. I locked an arm around Daisy, trying to protect her, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t my baby sister who my evil stepmother was so interested in.

  Lily, unaware of the attention she was getting, was now off in her own little wonderland. She had already drawn a rough sketch of trees and a small pond. Her hands moved effortlessly as if her fingers weren’t even her own. I knew that, when she drew, she didn’t use her head, but her heart, which was why she was so talented, even at such a young age.

  “Okay.” Amber tapped her knuckles on the table beside her, drawing all eyes but the little girls’ to her. “Sadly, we are here to go over the will of Mr. Robert Daniel Prescott. You four are mentioned within it, and so, as I have been directed by the late Mr. Prescott, you must all be present for this initial reading.”

  “Robert told me he changed his will to cut his daughter out,” Nancy interrupted, shooting me a disgusted look.

  Amber pressed her lips together in irritation. “Actually, Mrs. Prescott, your late husband has changed his will several times throughout the years. We recently finalized his latest version.”

  If the girls hadn’t been with me, I might have laughed at how pale my stepmother turned right then and there before she closed her mouth and turned her gaze away, looking at anything but the people in the room. I didn’t have a clue what could make her look like she had seen a ghost.

  “Before I start on the will”—Amber shifted something out from under the document she had in front of her—“Mr. Prescott asked me to read this letter to everyone. I have no idea what is in this letter, as it was sealed when he gave it to me.” Her eyes drifted over to the girls. “I’ll ask you all to remain calm and respectful of young ears if whatever is in here upsets you.”

  When no one spoke, she opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of stationary. Even from where I was sitting, I could see the masculine writing that belonged to my father. My heart lifted into my throat as I prepared myself to hear what was quite possibly the last words my father had to say to me.

  THREE

  Dom

  IF I COULD HAVE HELPED it, I wouldn’t have been there. However, my mother had begged me to attend the reading of her late husband’s will. Plus, Amber had told me I had to be there before she could read it since Robert had insisted, and I had a bequest from him.

  I didn’t want whatever he had thought to leave me. The man had become a kind of mentor to me over the years, and all I really wanted was to have him back. He had been taken far too soon, and deep down, I felt responsible for his death. I was a doctor, for God’s sake. I should have recognized the warning signs, should have acted sooner. Maybe then my stepfather would still be with us.

  But, as a doctor, I knew that death was a tricky motherfucker.

  So, I had come, not so much for my mother, but for Robert.

  And Triss.

  I didn’t want to admit it, but it was the truth. I hadn’t seen her in seven years. I wanted to see for myself if she had changed. Wanted to see with my own eyes if she was the same girl who had nearly killed my sister.

  As soon as she had walked into the room, I had known she was still the same. Even without having spoken to her, I could tell. The pink she had once had in her long, blonde hair was gone now, and her face had lost what little baby fat she had once carried in her cheeks.

  Was she still doing drugs?

  Anger burned through my chest, even as I worried about her. She looked exhausted, rundown, and practically malnourished. Still, even as I noticed how unhealthy she appeared, my heart raced as if I had been running all morning. Lower, my body was responding to just being in the same room with her. I was still unable to control my reaction to her, obviously.

  I hated that she could still affect me so effortlessly. I should have been too disgusted with her after everything she had done. Hell, she hadn’t even had enough respect for her father to attend his funeral.

  Amber unfolded the letter Robert had left for us, and I forcefully pulled my gaze from Triss to my friend. She scanned over the contents, and then snapped her head around, her gaze going straight to Kim. I followed her eyes and saw the way my sister flinched and shrank back at whatever look she saw on Amber’s face. I knew the two hadn’t ever really gotten along, but that look was full of anger and maybe a little disgust.

  Clenching her jaw, the older woman turned back to the letter in her hands and began reading. “My dearest Triss, if you are reading this, it’s because I have passed on to the next world. My doctor recently told me that my heart is not as strong as it once was. I blame myself for that. It stopped working properly the day I allowed Nancy to force you out of my life.”

  A small sound came from Triss, and I was helpless not to look at her. She had turned her face away, but I could still see that her chin trembled.

  “I thought you said it was addressed to all of us,” my mother snapped.

  Amber lifted her eyes from the letter. “Mr. Prescott said that it was. He also made it a point to ensure you were all here for this. If you won’t sit through it, you will automatically forfeit the contents of the will bequeathed to you, Mrs. Prescott.”

  “For heaven’s sakes,” my mother grumbled. “Continue if you must. Let’s just get this over and done with already.”

  Amber began reading again. “With each passing day, I can feel that my time on earth is limited, and the countdown is rushing up on me too quickly for me to set things right with you, my dear daughter. For the longest time, I let myself believe the lies, the deceit that was so blaringly untrue I am ashamed of myself for being led to believe them in the first place.”

  “What does that mean?” my mother muttered as she fidgeted with her handkerchief, twisting it in a way that told me she was nervous.

  My eyes narrowed on her, trying to read the woman who had given birth to me. What was she so agitated over? I knew she didn’t like Triss, but the way she was acting was too uncharacteristic for her to simply be because her stepdaughter was now in the same room with her.

  Amber didn’t acknowledge my mother’s interruption. “I didn’t even give you a chance to defend yourself before I threw you out of the house that day, Triss. I have regretted that every day since. If I had only listened to you, then none
of the pain I have caused you and myself would have had to happen.”

  “Stop,” Kim whispered.

  Amber was deaf to her. “An odd suspicion has been eating at me for some time now, and a year ago, I hired a private detective to help me find the answers I was too afraid to ask you. What he uncovered showed me that I should have trusted you all along.”

  “Please.” Kim was crying now. “Amber, stop.”

  “I now know that it wasn’t you who gave Kimberly those vile drugs that nearly ended her life. She had gotten in with the wrong people at college—is still involved with them from what I can tell—and had brought them home with her. You were innocent of everything. My investigator has informed me that nothing he has uncovered even suggests that you have ever done drugs. Nancy, my pathetically greedy wife—”

  “That is enough!” Nancy stood so quickly her chair tipped back. I reached out, stopping it from crashing to the floor. “I will not sit here while you read such nasty lies to us about my daughter.”

  Amber blinked up at her, not in the least unnerved by my mother’s cold temper. “Oh, but it gets so much better from here on, Mrs. Prescott.”

  My mind was racing with what Amber had read so far. Kim had overdosed on a mixture of drugs seven years ago. She had nearly died, probably would have if I hadn’t been home that day and heard her. Triss had been with me, and we had gotten my sister to the hospital together. It had been one of the scariest days of my life.

  It was later, after my mother and stepfather had returned from their weekend away, that the same drugs had been found in Triss’s room. Whatever I had been feeling for Triss had withered and turned to dust then and there. How could I possibly love someone who was responsible for my sister’s close encounter with death?

  At least, I had told myself that my feelings had died. As soon as she had walked into the conference room, my heart and body had made a liar of me.

  Now …

  Now Robert was telling me—from the goddamn grave, no less—that it hadn’t been true? That Triss wasn’t the one responsible?