Or so I thought.
Things settled down a bit and my mother had gone back to work. I never confronted my mother about what I’d found.
Then a few days ago, I found something that had chilled me to the core.
Life insurance policies.
$50,000. One for each of us.
Why had my mother wasted what little money she had purchasing them?
After the fire tonight, it all made sense to me.
I swallowed hard as I looked at my sisters. The thoughts running through my mind were so terrifying I didn’t dare speak of them.
Staring at my mother, I just couldn’t believe it. How could the mother who had supposedly loved us so much….
Try to kill us?
I knew I had to do something. What if my mother tried it again? I knew my mother was sick and twisted. I didn’t want to go anywhere with her again.
But how to get us away from her without telling my sisters?
“My God, Sasha, I had no idea.” I sat in amazement. I’d been so caught up in my own troubles I never stopped to think Sasha had a traumatic past too.
“Yeah, Ayden, I’ve had my share of shit, too. I’m sorry for the things you went through, but shooting up isn’t going to help. I’ve lived through a lot and I don’t use.”
“Ever?” I asked skeptically. Sasha was a party girl and I found it hard to believe she never used drugs once.
“Of course I experimented a bit when I was younger, but never hard stuff. I saw what it did to my dad. Essentially, drugs are what destroyed my entire family. If my dad hadn’t died, my mom wouldn’t have gotten sick. My dad’s death is what drove her over the edge.”
“So what happened to your mom?”
Sasha walked over to the bar and poured herself a drink. She threw it back in one swallow. “I don’t like to talk about that,” she murmured.
I nodded as I looked down at my own glass swirling the liquor.
She sighed. “I want you to know, Ayden, I don’t share my story with many people. I’m a private person.”
“Of course.”
Sasha ran her hands through her long brown hair. “After the fire, I brought myself to confess everything to my grandmother. She told me my mom had been sick before. Apparently, she suffered from bipolar disorder since she was a teenager. But this time was different, according to my grandma. She said that the death of my father sent her into what she called a ‘psychotic depression.’ She defended my mother, of course, that was her daughter by stating ‘Lorraine would never hurt her own children’, but she did take us in.”
I pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit one. “So, was your grandma good to you?”
Sasha nodded wiping her eyes. “Yes, she was. My mother, however, wasn’t so lucky. She ended up on the streets afterward when went to live with my grandma. She quit taking her medication and completely lost touch with reality.”
“Is she still around?”
Sasha shook her head sadly. “No. When I was 17, my grandma received a visit from a policeman. Apparently, they found my mother’s body washed up on the banks of the Black River. She’d drowned.”
“Sasha, I’m so sorry.”
She nodded tears coursing down her face. “The thing was she hadn’t always been a bad mother. She was once a great woman. She was hard working and she loved us. It wasn’t her fault things turned out the way they did.”
“But she tried to kill you and your sisters.” The words emerged from my lips before I could stop them.
“Yes, but I blame my father’s death and the mental illness for that. She wasn’t in her right mind.”
I took a long drag on my cigarette. “I’m sorry, Sasha. I’m glad you told me. That means a lot to me.”
Sasha walked over to me and knelt before me. “I told you because I want you to stop using. Bad things happen, but don’t destroy yourself over it. Did you know after everything that happened to me I went on to college? I had dreams as a young girl of becoming a doctor. I wanted to help people.”
“Wow. So did you go?”
Sasha smiled. “I did, but I found out medical school wasn’t for me. I became an RN instead.”
I sat back stunned. There was so much about this fantastic woman I didn’t know. How did I not know that? “Are you really?”
She nodded. “Yes. Don’t you wonder where I go when I leave here?”
“Yes, I do, but I never considered what your occupation was. I’m sorry, Sasha. I underestimated you. I thought you wanted to keep our relationship strictly sexual.”
“Initially, I did too, but I find myself in the unfortunate position of being in love with you.”
The words simply hung out there.
Sasha blushed furiously standing up. “I’m sorry, Ayden, I didn’t mean to—”
Overwhelmed with passion, I gripped her shoulders tightly. “It’s okay, Sasha. I love you, too.”
Stunned, she stared at me in disbelief. “What? You don’t have to repeat it back to me, Ayden.”
“I know I don’t, Sasha. I’ve been feeling the same way. I just didn’t know how to deal with it. I haven’t really loved anyone since Trish died.”
“What about Amber?”
“That wasn’t love.”
Sasha grinned from ear to ear. “Ayden, I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll stay with me. Don’t leave.”
Tension fell over the room. It was so thick I could cut it with a knife. She glanced back at my works which were sitting on the kitchen table. The black balloon was filled with heroin just calling out to me. “I’d love nothing more than to stay with you, Ayden, but I can’t. Not with that around.”
I sank down into the chair. I pushed the balloon away from me. Gripping the table with all my might, I tried to fight the urge to use. I wanted to flush the heroin down the toilet and never use it again. My head throbbed perspiration ran down my face.
Sasha pushed my hair off my face. She bent to plant a kiss atop my head. “Ayden, I love you, but I won’t sit back and watch this happen again.”
I nodded feeling my tears mix with sweat. I longed to jump up from the table and grab her. I wanted to hold her tightly in my arms and never let her go.
But the twisting and the pain in my stomach wouldn’t allow me to.
The next day after Sinister and I finished our morning drug run, I gave him the bad news. After I told him, I sat behind the wheel of my Mercedes not saying a word. I knew he was pissed and he had every right to be.
“So, you want me out? Today?”
I nodded.
“Shit, Donovan, you and me we’re brothers. How can you do a brother like this?” His mouth turned down. Spreading his hands wide, he dropped them on his lap.
I eyed his beefy hands hoping he wouldn’t decide to pummel my face with them. I was strong and knew how to handle myself in a fight, but Sinister was in a class by himself. “I know. It’s just that…all the drugs…”
Sinister laughed. “We just went on a fucking run! That’s bullshit, man. It’s your fucking brother. That rich asshole. He wants me out. Doesn’t want his precious newfound baby brother mixed up with the likes of me.” Sinister slammed his fist on the dashboard.
Now I was nervous. I just wanted to get out of being in an enclosed space with him.
I opened my car door, but he grabbed my arm before I could get out. “Be man enough to tell me the fucking truth. It’s your brother, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. But it’s more than that. Sasha is going to leave me if I keep using. I want to get clean. I promised her I would.”
Sinister let go of my arm.
We both got out of the car. Walking around to the front door of the house, I unlocked it. “You can get your stuff. I’ll wait out here.”
He shook his head and spat on the ground.
I watched as the wad of saliva soaked into the dirt.
“You fucking asshole. Now that you’re a Blackthorne you think you’re so high and mighty, but yo
u’re not. You’re still the same junkie ex-con as I am. You think if I’m gone you’ll get clean, but you won’t. You’ll always come back to your first love…heroin.”
I stood silently for a moment as his words sank in. A part of me wondered if he was right.
After several minutes, he came out and hopped on his Harley. Gunning it, he sped off down the highway.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Eighty One
Ash
We were so close to finding her I could feel it. As we walked up to the aging building, I prayed that someone in here would know something about Amelia.
Sitting down in the air conditioned office, we both were full of hope the little nun across from us could help.
“Sister,” I began.
“Call me Sister Tabatha. Who are you looking for again?”
“Our half-sister, Amelia.”
“Amelia? You don’t have any last name to give me?” The nun dressed in a full habit furrowed her brow.
“Her mother’s last name was Cooper.” Ayden gave me a dubious look. We’d been in and out of so many different children’s homes.
“Well, that’s something at least. And you say she was born in 1975?” The nun shuffled over to an ancient row of filing cabinets.
“Yes, in California.”
The nun pulled open the drawer with a loud squeak.
“When was the fire?” Ayden asked.
“Fire?” The nun echoed as she thumbed through a stack of files.
“Yes, there was a fire in November 1986. Her mother, Rita died in that fire.” I pulled a copy of the newspaper article from my pocket.
Taking a pair of reading glasses out of her desk drawer, the nun scanned the paper. “Rita Cooper? Fire? Oh my….” The nun’s hand shook as she dropped the paper. It floated down to the desk below.
“What is it?” We both nearly leapt out of our chairs. After months of searching, it looked as if we might have a solid lead.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She removed her glasses to blot them with a tissue. “I remember how tragic that was. That little girl you’re talking about…Amelia…she was in and out of care so many times. Her mother, that Rita, she was…oh, what’s the word I’m looking for…” she trailed off.
“A whore?” Ayden supplied.
The nun waved her hand. “I wanted to say an impure woman, but yes, that’s what she was. That poor little girl I can still remember that haunted look she had. She was such a beauty, long dark hair with intensely blue eyes. I will never forget those eyes.”
Ayden swallowed hard and stared at me.
“You think this is her?”
I shrugged.
“This sounds like it could be our sister. Do you have any information on her? Who adopted her?”
The nun hesitated. “I’m not really supposed to release any information. Adoption records are sealed.”
I sighed. “Look, Sister Tabatha, we’ve been looking for Amelia for months now. She may be our half-sister. We only recently discovered we’re brothers.”
The nun raised her brows. “Really? Well, you two look so much alike I can’t understand why you just came to that conclusion.”
“There were circumstances beyond our control,” Ayden interrupted. “We just recently met each other.”
“Pieces of our past need to come together,” I finished.
The old nun sighed. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. The sky was bright blue outside and the sunlight streamed in through the window making it appear as if she had a halo.
A sign from God?
I dismissed it, but hoped I could convince her to let us have the information. “Please, Sister Tabatha, if you have anything in those files about Amelia it would mean the world to us if you let us know.”
She bit her lip as she glanced over at the filing cabinet.
Ayden took a different approach. Taking his wallet from his back pocket, he pushed a wad of cash across the desk. “Sister, we’re willing to make this worth your while.”
She stared at the wad of bills as if it were a pack of snakes sitting atop her desk. “Son, I have no more use for that then I do a box of condoms. Get it off my desk.”
His face reddened with embarrassment. He quickly removed the cash.
I glared at him.
“I work for the church, boys. I’ve dedicated my life to God. I don’t know how much you boys know about nuns and what they do, but my needs are very basic. I don’t use cash and I don’t need it. I’ve lived here since I was 18 years old. My only needs are for nourishment and the well-being of my body. I seldom leave these premises.”
“Yes, Sister Tabatha. I apologize for my brother’s insensitivity. Please we just want to know who adopted our sister.”
The nun gazed at me for a moment and nodded. She rose from her chair and retrieved a file folder yellowed with age. “This is all I have on Amelia Cooper. Says here her mother’s name was Rita Summers. Father unknown. Birthdate is October 16, 1975. Her birth name was Amelia Starr.”
I leaned forward.
“Starr? Middle name?”
The nun nodded.
“Birthplace was California?”
“Yes, it says Los Angeles.” The folder shook in her gnarled hands. “Amelia was brought here in six times in 1986 for abuse, neglect, improper care…”
“And you sent her back?” I asked shocked.
She looked down. “It was the way things were then. Reunification was the goal. Services were offered and Rita kept her. Maybe today things would be different I don’t know.”
“So who adopted Amelia?” Ayden leaned forward impatient to get going.
“It says here that we took Amelia in after the fire. She stayed here a few months before being adopted by a family in California.”
“So she was sent to live in California?”
The nun nodded passing the folder to me.
Hurriedly, we both poured over the contents. Amelia was sent to live with Giovanni and Camilla Moretti in La Jolla, California.
“So the Morettis adopted her?”
“Yes.”
We noted the address listed for the Morettis.
“Thank you, Sister Tabatha. You have been a tremendous help.” I extended my hand.
Her aging grip held my hand. Her watery blue eyes crinkled with her smile. “I’m glad I could help. That little girl has haunted me for years. She always looked so unhappy. Maybe finding her brothers will give her some peace.”
I nodded anxious to get on a plane to San Diego.
“Oh, one more thing.” She handed us a faded Polaroid picture of a girl about twelve years old.
“Oh my God,” Ayden whispered.
“What?”
“Those eyes.”
I gazed at the picture of the young girl with shining dark hair and sharply blue eyes.
“She’s beautiful, but what about her eyes?”
There was a faraway look on his face. He hesitated before replying, “Nothing. She’s just striking is all.”
But that didn’t set right with me. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
Pushing nagging thoughts of Ayden out of my mind, I drove home to Amber. I had been craving closeness with her lately. It was like I couldn’t get enough of her.
“Ash! The modeling agency called! They have enough models booked for us to have our first runway show next week!”
“Are the designs ready?” I asked dropping my phone on the counter.
“Yes. I’m so excited!” She clapped her hands.
“If you’re happy, I’m happy.” I smiled walking up to her and kissing her passionately. I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the bed. Throwing her back onto the bed, I pressed my mouth on hers making her swallow her choked moan. My tongue searched hers and caressed it roughly, as I grabbed her breasts still covered by her tight t-shirt. “Amber,” I groaned my hands roaming up her legs.
“Please, Ash, I want you.” She murmured her fingers entw
ined in my thick hair.
Her hips inched towards me making my cock throb.
“Fuck me, Ash,” she whispered as she spread her legs.
Immediately, I pulled her tight wet panties off throwing them to the side. Pushing her legs further open, I glimpsed her pink pussy glistening with wetness. I fell upon her my tongue flicking her hardened clit. My tongue delved deeper into her wetness probing her core as she cried out. Her hands slapped the slick fabric of the bed cover clutching it in her hands as her head rolled side to side with pleasure. Her copious juices drenched my face as I continued to lick her willing pussy. Sucking her sweet clit into my mouth, I felt her juices spill out onto my tongue and face. She writhed beneath my touch as I strummed her into a long, slow orgasm that shook the bed.
She was the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted. I never got tired of feeling her quiver beneath my touch.
My dick throbbed painfully against my pants. I continued to lap at her cunt until she clawed at my back with her long fingernails. I could feel her body tense up then begin to shake as she came against my tongue.
“Ash!” she cried.
I couldn’t hold off any longer. I stripped my pants off and fisted my cock vigorously for a moment before plunging inside her. Amber’s legs locked around my waist as I thrusted inside her as deeply as I could. She was as soft as velvet, slick with juices, and tight as a glove. I shuddered as I felt myself melt into her.
Pumping hard in and out, I leaned up on my elbows gazing down into her face. The moonlight cast a silvery glow to her face making her look even more beautiful. I pushed her hair from her face and brought my lips to her forehead. Inhaling the scent of her silky hair, I continued thrusting. Her hips were raised trying to capture as much of my cock as she could.
“More, Ash,” she whispered.
I felt her tits jiggling beneath me as I fucked her. I pinched her nipples hard before I leaned up on my hands to drive into her even deeper. She gasped as I filled her like I never had before.
“Oh my God,” she cried out straightening her legs her ankles beside my shoulders.
Darkest Sin Page 67
