“Are you ready, love?” I ask her.
She nods, and I am about to reach for the door handle when Sean beats me to it. I was so focused on Mikaela, that I hadn’t noticed him exiting and rounding the vehicle. I get out first and assist Mik out of the car. We don’t move forward, we wait for the others to join us. Mika is the last to exit the car. We stand there for a moment, the five of us looking back at the two of them.
“Let’s get this crap over with,” Mika says as he reaches for Raeva’s hand.
Mika leads and we follow suit. I watch him stride towards his parents, with the same cold attitude he adopts when we have business dealing with people he doesn’t particularly care for. The expression on his face is stoic, and anyone that doesn’t know him like I do would think that he is completely unaffected by this situation. I have not seen him like this in quite a while, and it is clear to me that this is affecting him more than he is willing to let on. While Mason remains standing at the door, watching on with clear fascination, Audrey starts to walk towards us, as if she can’t stand to wait another second to take her children into her arms. She reaches Mika first and throws her arms around him. He stiffly and awkwardly returns the hug, breaking free mere seconds later. I watch her reaction intently, and I don’t miss the flash of hurt in her eyes. She recovers quickly though and moves onto Raeva, smiling brightly and hugging her daughter-in-law. Her smile is beautiful, as is the woman wearing it, she is a mirror image of Mikaela. It is almost eerie how much each of the Kingsley twins resembles their parents. She reaches Phoenix next, and she smiles at her kindly.
“Hello, Phoenix. Welcome.” She says sweetly. “May I give you a hug?”
Phoenix looks surprised for a moment, but nods. Audrey hugs her as well with what seems to be genuine affection. It strikes me as odd. I have no time to dwell on it because she has reached Mikaela and myself.
“Welcome, Eric. I am so happy to see that you two are still as in love as you were as kids,” she says with a wink before reaching up to hug me.
I lean down since I tower over her and return the hug. Mikaela is next.
“Love bug, I am so happy you’re here,” Audrey tells Mikaela as she pulls her into a big hug.
Tears start to trail down Mik’s face and I resist the urge to sweep her up and comfort her, giving her the moment with her mom that she’s been longing for.
“Let’s get inside,” Audrey says as she releases her daughter.
Mikaela reaches for my hand, and I take it, lacing our fingers together as we make our way into the enormous mansion.
Mason still lingers at the door as we approach. He doesn’t speak, he merely steps aside and lets us pass. It’s unnerving and I suspect that that is exactly his intent. I notice a slight smirk as I pass him and I have to push down my ever-growing desire to punch him. Asshole. I look around the grand hall as we follow Audrey. And when I say grand, I mean grand. This monumental hall has ceilings that soar to what must be 40-ft and all around us are beautiful leaded glass windows. We follow her into a large room, which must be a formal sitting room. There is a massive fireplace that has been lit up, which combined with the colorful lights that play across the room as the natural light shines through the leaded glass windows, creating a cozy atmosphere. My gaze falls upon the grand piano that is prominently displayed in the room. It’s clearly an antique, yet well maintained. And memories of watching Mikaela play when we were kids flash through my mind and warmth spreads through my chest. Audrey motions at the large suede sofas in front of the fireplace.
“Please, sit. I thought we could sit in here and have a pre-dinner cocktail,” she says pleasantly. “And a virgin one for you of course, Raeva,” she adds.
She turns and starts to gracefully walk out of the room.
“Please excuse me, while I go make our cocktails,” she calls over her shoulder before any of us can object.
Phoenix, Mikaela and I take one sofa, while Mika and Raeva take a seat on the love seat opposite us. Not long after we are all seated when Mason decides to join us and the temperature in the room drops significantly, even with a fire roaring.
“Ah, how wonderful having all of my children together under one roof,” he says as he approaches the couches where we are seated.
“Make no mistake, we are not here for you, we are here in spite of you,” Mikaela bites out.
I raise a brow. I’m not sure I have ever heard her take on this tone before. Ice drips from each word that falls from her perfect mouth. It seems…out of place. Though well-deserved. Mason doesn’t immediately react, he stares at her for long moments as if he’s mulling his response over in his head. Nobody speaks and the silence is almost deafening. A small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. The second that sinister smile appears on his face, my protective instincts kick in. I look at him, eyes fixed on his movements as he takes a small step towards Mikaela.
“You’d think that you’d be nicer to the man that can send you to prison in a moment’s notice if the mood strikes me.”
Mikaela opens her mouth to speak, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
“Don’t let him goad you Mikaela,” I tell her, my eyes still fixed on Mason. “You have not done anything that deserves jail time.”
“Threatening your own daughter with jail time, Mason?” I say, shaking my head. “That’s low, even for the likes of you,” I sneer.
“She did try to kill me,” he counters.
“I’d like to see you prove any of that,” I reply calmly.
He laughs.
“Down, guard dog. I have no intention of sending my little one to the big house.”
“Don’t call me that. You don’t have the right to call me that,” Mikaela says clenching her free hand into a fist.
“Enough,” Mika bellows. “We are not here for him and his bullshit. Stop entertaining him.”
It’s not a request, and none of us are even inclined to argue with him. I look at Mika and see that he is dangerously close to running out of patience. The arrival of Audrey with a tray of drinks is a welcome distraction. She hands everyone a glass of Kir Royal, and some sparkling grape juice for our pregnant Raeva. Once everyone has their drink, she raises her glass and proposes a toast. She brings the glass to her lips and takes a small sip. Audrey looks around the room at all of us, and she beams.
“We have so much to talk about. So much to catch up on. I don’t even know where to start! Tell me everything,” she says excitedly.
Mikaela beams back at her and opens her mouth to respond but before she can speak, Mika loudly slams his glass onto the small table beside him.
“Yeah. I am not going to do that. I came here for answers, and I want them. Now. I am not wasting my time with a bunch of small talk. No offense mom, if you wanted to know what has been going on with us all these years, you could have. And everything I am willing to share with you about my life at this point, you can google.”
“Mika!” Raeva exclaims sternly.
She shoots Audrey an apologetic look.
“What my husband means is, that he needs answers before he’s willing to rebuild a relationship with you. As you can see he has a lot of resentment. But that doesn’t excuse him addressing you this way.”
Mika closes his eyes and I can tell he is reigning in his anger.
“She’s right. I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you. But I am done with this conversation if you don’t start talking now, then I am leaving,” he states, with conviction in his tone.
Audrey looks pained, but she nods her head.
“Okay, I understand. I know you deserve to know the truth. And I am…” she stands and walks toward Mason who is standing next to the fireplace, silently observing everyone. She takes his hand. “We are ready to tell you guys everything.”
I look up at my parents as they stand before the roaring fireplace. The contrast between them is stark. My mother, the beautiful representation of everything that is untainted and good standing side by side with my father, the undisputed represe
ntation of darkness and the epitome of pure evil. Seeing her hold his hand, clutching to him as if he is her world. After everything he has done to her, to us and to countless other people, it makes me sick to my stomach. But as much as I despise having to be in the same room as this vile man, seeing her, knowing that she is alive after all these years, the happiness that courses through me is indescribable. I watch on as the two of them exchange a look, a wordless conversation. Mom nods once, squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath. All eyes are fixed on her, as we watch her prepare herself to tell her story. The room is completely quiet, the phrase “You could hear a pin drop” certainly applies. The air is thick with hostility towards the man each of us seated on the couches loathes and I know that the sole reason any of us are still sitting here is to find out about what happened to our mom. After agonizingly long moments, she finally speaks.
“First, I need you guys to know that I didn’t leave because I wanted to. Hell, I didn’t even leave because I needed to. Even when they tried to make me go, I refused to leave you, my children, behind.”
She pauses and scans the room, looking at each of us for a moment before continuing to speak.
“There have always been a lot of rumors about your father, and while some of them are based on facts, most of them are…embellished. Or even complete fabrications.”
I stifle the urge to scoff. I can’t believe the words I am hearing.
“I was young and quite naïve when I met your father. He was this impossibly beautiful man, who swept me off my feet. I was flattered at first when he approached me, Mason Kingsley was coveted by pretty much every girl I knew,” she gushes with a shy smile. “When he started courting me, I was over the moon. I was the envy of a lot of women, and it was a hard thing for me to get used to. Women, especially when they covet what another one has, they can be quite vicious.”
She looks up at my father, quite lovingly so before she speaks.
“It wasn’t long before the rumors started flying around, and believe me, it was ensured that the rumors reached me. Your father tried to shield me, as much as he could. But a lot of it was out his control, which drove him mad,” she says with a tender smile on her face.
“We fell in love quickly, and we knew we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. We discussed it, on several occasions, even though we had just been together for mere months. We just… we knew.”
Her gaze flickers to Phoenix and remains steadily fixed on her as she goes on.
“The night that Mason proposed to me, wasn’t exactly as one imagined. I was head over heels in love with him, and he was my first love. I dated, some. But never serious, not before your father. So, when he told me about Elly, his first love. I confess that I felt jealous and hurt. I wanted to be the first and it killed me. But I just told myself that even though I wasn’t his first love, I would be his last. What I didn’t realize at the time, is that he didn’t leave Elly, and Elly didn’t leave him, not by choice anyway. It wasn’t until after we were married that I found out that she was forced out, exiled because of status.”
I look at Phoenix, who’s eyes are transfixed on my mother. My mother looks at her with a kind glow to her eyes.
“Did you know that your grandmother worked for the Kingsley family?” she asks.
Phoenix’s eyes widen slightly, and she shakes her head. Mom turns to our father, who’s been silent so far.
“Maybe you should tell this part of the story, my love,” she tells him.
They stare at each other for a moment, and he nods stiffly.
“Your grandmother was my Nanny. She was more like a mother to me than my own mother, no matter how wonderful my own mother was. I spent more time with Esther than my own mother. Esther had a daughter, just a little younger than me. As you can guess, that little girl was your mother. Esther’s husband had died just two weeks after giving birth to your mother, and she was forced to take a job that allowed room and board. My parents were generous people, they gave her the job, even allowing Elly to have her own room and paying for her education.”
I watch him speak with perverted fascination. While part of me wants to believe the sincerity in his tone, history has taught me not to trust a word that comes out of his mouth.
“Elly and I grew up together. We were inseparable. I wasn’t Mason Kingsley, sole heir to the Kingsley fortune. I was just…Mason. She put me in my place when others would just placate me and let me have my way. She was headstrong and beautiful and as we grew older her beauty grew too. And so did my adoration for her. As I grew older, and no longer had a real need for a nanny, my parents had grown attached to Esther and Elly as well. Esther was promoted to maid and they continued to live with us. While my parents paid for Elly’s education, they clearly couldn’t send us to the same schools. No matter how much my parents cared for Elly, social standing just wouldn’t allow such a thing.”
He stops speaking for a moment, turning his attention to the flames that flicker in the fireplace.
“My parents sent me to the best school money could buy. I had the best teachers, the best equipment, the best of everything. While Elly was sent to public school, where she didn’t have the access to the same things I did. But still, she blew me out of the water. Although Elly was younger than I, she skipped two grades, but that wasn’t the only reason she was smarter than I ever was. She was brilliant, even tutoring me on each subject. Learning just came easy to her, as easy as breathing. And here I was, access to the best of everything, and I was struggling.”
He turns his attention from the flames and looks at Phoenix, with a look in his eyes that I can’t place.
“She spends countless hours, teaching me, finding new ways to help me understand. And it worked, my grades were pulling up and my parents were over the moon. After all, as a Kingsley, you do have a reputation to uphold. They were grateful, so grateful in fact that they promoted Esther to house manager, and gave them their very own living quarters in our house. Elly and I grew closer and closer and my boyish admiration for her had blossomed to a full-blown adoration. The time we had spent together, had brought us closer. We fell in love. The day she finally admitted to feeling the same after I confessed my true feelings, was the best day of my young life. I felt like the luckiest son-of-a-bitch on the face of the earth. However, even knowing that my parents adored her, I knew that because of the difference in our status, we couldn’t publicly announce that we were in love and intending to be together. We both did. So, we kept it a secret. I would occasionally take a girl on a date, just to throw off suspicion. And while Elly hated it, she knew that we needed to keep up pretenses. It wasn’t until much, much later that our relationship turned physical. Sure, we stole a kiss here and there. But Elly wanted to save herself for marriage, and I was patient because I knew I intended to be the man to marry her.”
He closes his eyes for a moment as if he’s composing his thoughts.
“We were young and in love and our hormones were raging. It was hard, but we never gave into our urges, not once. But even without the physical intimacy, we grew closer and closer and I wasn’t sure that my world would continue without her. Hiding what we had became harder and harder and by the time we were getting to start applying to colleges, we knew that what we had wasn’t going to go away. We both applied for several universities, but her dream was to attend Harvard and I naturally wanted to follow her. We both applied and I can’t explain how over the moon we were to learn that both of us were accepted into Harvard. We had waited, opened our acceptance letters together. We were so happy and excited, we got carried away and before we knew it, we had broken our promise to wait for marriage. It was just that one time, but we didn’t take precautions. And when we found out weeks later that Elly was pregnant, we couldn’t hide it anymore. We had to confess to my parents, to Esther, what we had done. They were livid. Blaming Elly, accusing her of trying to trap me. They were angry, so angry and tossed insult after insult. How could she be this ungrateful, after everything they had d
one for them? It killed me. And it angered me as well. Esther was fired on the spot, and they demanded that both Esther and Elly be off the premises within the next 12 hours.”
Forever Tomorrow: Kingsley Series Book 4 Page 4
