by Lee, Nadia
He quickly pulled back. “If that’s all you have to say, you can leave now.”
She flinched and dropped her gaze. “Claude took Eric.”
“I know. I imagine he also wants to give him back to you, so long as he ends up in control of Eric’s stake in the company. The kid gets thirteen percent out of my, Ella and Ashley’s percentages. So it gives Claude something very close to a majority. Of course you won’t be voting in Eric’s stead since you aren’t his real mother or anything. But Claude has no interest in raising a child.”
“I see.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Alex was right, then.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “How is he related to all this?”
“He offered me some advice when I asked him about Claude’s motives.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered him. I could’ve told you.”
“You weren’t answering your phone.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory. Just matter-of-fact.
“Because I don’t talk to people who lie to me!” Daniel clenched his hands then forcibly unclenched them. Getting angry wouldn’t solve any of his problems.
“I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Eric.”
“So why the secrecy? I understand not wanting others to know, but me? I’m the boy’s blood uncle!”
“For the longest time I thought you didn’t come to Istanbul because you were busy and didn’t care. I couldn’t believe how cold you could be, but your family’s not exactly the warm and touchy-feely type, so…”
“Then why did you sleep with a cold-blooded monster like me?” He’d been right all along. Her “I love you” had been a lie. Or maybe she’d honestly believed she loved him…until she came to her senses. Who knew what made women change?
Moisture gathered in Meredith’s eyes, and she blinked. “When we were in St. Cecilia, Ella told me no one had called you. That’s how I knew you couldn’t have come even if you’d wanted to. I struggled with the decision to tell you, but I was afraid I’d lose Eric.”
Daniel looked away, gazing at the glittering evening outside. “Well, now you’ve lost him anyway.” Everyone in the city was probably dreaming of happy moments with families, bellies stretched tight with moist turkey and perfect fixings. People would make lists of things they were grateful for, then demonstrate how fleeting the sentiment was by rushing out to malls even before their meals had fully digested to buy sale items they didn’t need.
Daniel wished he could buy the things he longed for from some cheery mall. Then maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much when things didn’t work out the way he’d hoped. He could wrap this new, deceptive Merry in a box and return her for the one he’d thought he had.
“I’m going to get him back, Daniel,” Merry said. “I’m going to make things right.”
“You needn’t bother. I plan to fight this on my own.” With lawyers and investigators who answered to him because he paid for their loyalty.
“Daniel, please.” She reached out. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I love you.”
He stared at her hand. It was so small and fragile. He should reject it. Years of experience had taught him people couldn’t be counted on to deliver.
“Can you believe in my love?” she whispered. “Can you trust me to make things right?”
He wanted to say no, but his mouth wouldn’t cooperate. As crazy as it was, he wanted to have faith in her words, to believe she was capable of love. He’d seen how she interacted with Eric—Judy’s son, his nephew—and he wanted to believe the warmth she’d shown Eric was love, not the kind of fucked-up mind games his father had played. He wanted to believe she’d spared Eric the horrible childhood Daniel and Judy had gone through out of love. He wanted to believe she was here in his condo out of love.
Anything else would be unbearable.
You’re making a big mistake, Daniel. You’re setting yourself up to get screwed over—again. You have to fight Claude with people you trust.
Except the only person Daniel could trust one hundred percent was himself. Trusting anybody else was such a leap of faith, he didn’t know if he could do it. There seemed to be too big a chasm, a yawning maw with a downward wind that wanted to suck him deep into the bottomless darkness. He wasn’t sure he could claw his way back up if he misjudged.
At the same time, going up against Claude alone would be difficult. That bastard was using Judy’s son as a pawn in what was essentially a family business squabble. He would crush Eric to get what he wanted, and Daniel would rather die than hurt his sister’s son.
Merry hadn’t withdrawn her hand, and he kept staring at it. He was tired of being alone. He longed to believe Merry could be trusted, …that her love wasn’t something she’d used to manipulate him.
Sweat slickened his hairline and back of his neck. He was sick with the need to take her at face value.
“I shouldn’t,” Daniel said, his voice cracking, but he took her hand in his, unable to help himself. Fresh tears in her eyes, Merry stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. She felt so sweet and warm, he clung to her with gut-twisting desperation. He buried his face in her hair, shaky and almost delirious at what he was about to say: “But I do.”
Merry sagged. “You won’t regret this. I swear it.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Meredith made all the travel arrangements. She hadn’t been kidding about making things right, and she knew she couldn’t do it alone or just with Daniel. No, she needed every bit of firepower she could get, and that meant using her family’s influence to get Eric back and make Claude pay for what he’d done, even if it meant confessing everything to them.
The idea of confession had always made her flinch in shame. But now it made her feel light. She knew she was doing the right thing. Secrets had a way of coming out, and she wouldn’t have been able to hide the truth about Eric forever.
So even though the timing and the circumstances weren’t perfect, she’d just have to deal.
Seated across from Daniel on her family’s private jet, Meredith stole a glance. He was in black slacks and a matching sweater. There were dark semi-circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot, but he didn’t smell like alcohol. He wore rimless glasses and worked, his laptop monitor casting pale light on his unshaven face.
If it had been before Claude’s coup, Daniel might have raised his eyes to meet hers and given her a smile or a wink. Now he kept working, like he couldn’t even feel her gaze on him.
Unless she could fix this mess, she’d lose him forever. The idea hurt her inside. She’d never meet another man like him, and it would be all her fault.
Barron’s driver Miles was there to pick them up from the airport. His dark suit looked formal and expensive. There was a distinguished air about him, as though he were a butler to a European dignitary.
If Miles noticed the tension between Meredith and Daniel, or had heard that Eric was missing, he didn’t show it. He drove them to Barron’s home with a Sphinx-like calm and deliberation that provided a stark counterpoint to the angst Meredith was feeling. Daniel spent the time looking out the window, his thoughts obviously not on the passing scenery. Thankfully a text from Kerri took her mind off the tomblike silence.
Everyone’s here already. And since you said you had a big announcement, I made sure nobody would leave the living room until you got home.
Meredith typed: Thanks, K. Make sure everyone has something to drink, too.
Kerri wrote: That scandalous? ;)
Meredith shook her head. If only Kerri knew. Yes.
All right. At least it gives me a good reason to raid Barron’s cellar. I won’t be drinking, but I’m sure the others will appreciate it if the news is as bad as you say.
Meredith sighed. She could use a drink herself, except she wanted to be stone cold sober when she faced her family. She didn’t want to hide behind any fake courage created by alcohol. Her family deserved better, and so did Eric and Daniel.
* * *
By the time Miles parked
the Bentley, it was almost four in the afternoon. In all his years spent in Houston, Daniel had never been to Barron Sterling’s home. The curmudgeonly man had residences all over the world, but this had always been his main base. Barron had splurged on Thanksgiving decorations. Turkey and pilgrim figurines dotted the yard. Each of the pilgrims looked like a Lloyd or Sterling family member. Daniel spotted a ceramic kid with brown hair and blue eyes holding an ear of corn, and felt a mixture of anger and bitter indignation at the fact that Eric wasn’t there.
An orange and brown cornucopia filled with turkey-shaped chocolates and hard candies sat in a foyer with a vaulted ceiling. The main chandelier dripped with fat crystals shaped like turkeys, corn, pumpkins, and ships. A uniformed housekeeper took Daniel’s and Merry’s coats and hung them in the closet. “This way,” the woman said and led them to the back through a wide corridor that smelled like cinnamon, vanilla and roasting pumpkins. Barron had a lot of interesting works of modern art, some of them intriguing enough that Daniel actually liked them.
Daniel and Merry entered a huge living room. Massively large couches and armchairs were strewn in an artfully haphazard arrangement, and a wooden fireplace glowed with cheery flames. A couple of big rugs covered most of the tiled earth-tone floor. A football game was playing on a giant TV mounted on a cream-colored wall. But it was muted and nobody was paying attention. A black baby-grand piano in the corner was playing some ragtime tune Daniel didn’t recognize.
Ethan and Kerri shared an enormous couch with Gavin and his wife Amandine—and there was still room for another person or two, even though Ethan was taking up more space than he deserved with his usual boneless slouch. Daniel knew Gavin by reputation only—he hadn’t had a chance to meet him at Kerri’s wedding. The youngest Lloyd brother had eyes like a hungry hawk, and he rested a hand on his wife’s shoulder absent-mindedly. Amandine held a baby boy in her lap, bouncing him occasionally to keep him from fussing.
Sprawled in an armchair, Justin saw them first and raised his eyebrows in greeting. Dark-haired, with sharp eyes under the brows, he was more or less expected to take over the Sterling & Wilson empire after Barron. Daniel frowned. Seeing the Heir Apparent without a stupendously gorgeous date on his arm made him look almost half-dressed. But of course this was family business.
His brother Nate, who looked remarkably similar to Justin, was busy cracking macadamia nuts into a stainless steel bowl. Barron himself occupied the largest and most ornate armchair in the room. It was almost a throne, easily big enough for two, and he was sharing it with Merry’s mother.
Catherine Fairchild was talking, while her fiancé looked on in rapt adoration. Blaine Davis was the unwanted Pryce, so it didn’t surprise Daniel that the couple was spending their holiday with the Sterling and Lloyd families. Catherine had been married to the oldest of the Lloyd brothers, Jacob, until he’d turned out to be a bigamist. Although the Lloyd family had disowned Jacob, it seemed like they had adopted Catherine as their own.
Catherine stopped, smiled and said, “New arrivals!” Everyone erupted in hellos and how are yous. After the greetings were done, Barron said, “Where’s Eric? Is he in the foyer, grabbing chocolates from the cornucopia?”
Merry made a noncommittal noise, which earned a grunt from Barron. “Somebody should’ve told him we have better things in here.”
“Leave him be,” Nate said. “He’ll join us when he gets bored with the turkey chocolates.”
“Catherine and Blaine were just about to tell us their big news,” Amandine said.
It was a difficult moment. Merry had psyched herself up to tell the family about Eric, but now… “Sorry,” she finally said. “Please go ahead.” Amandine pulled her down to share the couch with the others.
Daniel leaned back against the baby grand piano and watched the family.
Catherine took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling. The woman must bathe in the blood of innocents or something. She looked like she was barely twenty and had an ethereal beauty that was almost surreal . “Well…I’m pregnant.” She looked at her fiancé with a goofy smile, the kind that would’ve made any other woman appear dorky and cute. On her, it merely brought her down a notch to a slightly more mortal version of a goddess.
Stella clasped her hands together. “Oh my stars, congratulations!”
Everyone except Daniel got up and gave hugs and kisses to Catherine. Blaine received several solid thumps on the back.
“What we really need are cigars!” Barron announced after everyone was settled down again. Stella gave him a look. “Later, of course,” he amended. “When the pregnant lady’s not present.”
Catherine laughed, her eyes teary. “Thanks. This means so much to me. I wasn’t even sure if we could have a baby.”
“So is it a boy or a girl?” Nate asked.
“Still too early to know,” Blaine said. “But we don’t much care which. We’re just thrilled.”
“I can imagine,” Stella said. “Oh my… Another baby!” Suddenly she stopped. “Shouldn’t we go out and get Eric? How long does it take to grab some candy?”
Everyone’s gaze zeroed in on Merry. She rubbed her hands on her slacks. “Um.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I really have to tell you all something.”
Daniel waited. What would they do once Merry told them everything? She seemed so certain they’d come to her aid. Daniel hoped she wasn’t wrong, for her sake. He expected people to let him down, but she apparently didn’t. The disillusionment would crush her, and he wished he could take her away before she was hurt further.
* * *
Meredith reached for some warm tea, thick with sugar. She needed something to hold before she could say what she was about to say.
“What’s wrong?” Justin asked.
“It’s complicated.” Meredith bit her lower lip. “Before I start, I want to ask you to not jump to any conclusions until I’m finished.” She waited until everyone nodded. Well, everyone except Daniel, who merely crossed his arms and watched her with hooded eyes. “It’s…about Eric.”
When she didn’t continue, Barron asked, “Is the boy all right?”
“Some of you have wondered about his father.” She took a quick glance at her brothers Ethan and Gavin. Ethan frowned; Gavin leaned forward.
“Did he show up, demanding to see Eric or something?” Ethan asked, his voice tight. Kerri laid a hand on his thigh. Amandine put Jeremy into Gavin’s arms, but it didn’t work.
“I’d like to see him try,” Gavin said, oblivious to the small hand his son had put on his jaw.
“No, it’s nothing like that.” Meredith looked around the room. Most of the people I love are here, she realized. Stella was looking at her, eyes wide, knowing something momentous was coming. Barron was scratching the tip of his nose, but his gaze was sharp and focused on her. Even Nate had stopped crunching nuts.
“Well, then,” Justin said. “What is it?”
“Eric is Daniel’s nephew.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“What does that mean, he’s Daniel’s nephew?” Gavin flicked his gaze over to Daniel. “You don’t have a brother, do you?”
Meredith held up a hand before Daniel could answer. “What I’m saying is that Eric’s not my biological son.”
“What?” Kerri’s eyes had gotten as big as the cookies on the table. Everyone erupted in shock and started talking at once.
“How can he not be yours?”
“But he looks just like you.”
“So you adopted him behind our backs?”
“What are you saying?” Barron finally demanded in a booming voice, drowning out everyone else’s chatter.
“No. Um. I…” Meredith drew in a ragged breath. “He’s Judy’s son.”
“Judy? Judy Aylster?” Justin said.
Meredith nodded miserably, and everyone’s gaze swung again to Daniel, who watched her confession unfold with an impassive face. “Daniel didn’t know until yesterday,” Meredith said.
“I think,” S
tella said, “that you need to start from the beginning.”
Meredith took a deep breath. “It happened a long time ago. A little over ten years.”
A heavy silence fell in the room, and Meredith’s skin prickled with the awareness of how everyone was staring at her. As she told them the story she’d told Natalie, she started to cry. Just as she was about to wipe her tears away with her fingers, Daniel offered her a tissue. The gesture surprised her; she was certain he was still unhappy with her role in his losing control of his company. She took it gratefully and dabbed at her eyes.
Finally, when she was finished with the truth, she looked at her mom. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t. You knew I couldn’t have children, and I didn’t know how you’d react if you knew the whole truth.”
Catherine gasped. “You can’t have children?”
Meredith shook her head. “My uterus is…there’s something wrong with it. My doctor told me it wasn’t going to happen. Mom knew.”
“Why were we never told?” Gavin asked.
“It’s not something you just announce at the dinner table, Gavin. I found out when I was sixteen.” Meredith sniffed.
Stella had left her seat. “Oh, Meredith,” she said, coming to hold her daughter. “My sweet little child.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“So that’s why you called from Istanbul, wanting me to arrange to bring you and Eric home,” Ethan said. “But what does that have to do with him not being here with us?” He turned to Daniel. Ethan’s usually relaxed and affable expression was gone, replaced by something hard and unyielding. “Does it have anything to do with you?”
Meredith said, “No, don’t blame him. It’s Claude.”
“What about him?” It was Barron who spoke.
“He found out the truth somehow, and now he’s demanding custody of Eric.”
“He found out?” Gavin said in awe. “Ethan and I spent a lot of time and money trying to figure it out, and we couldn’t.”
“He may have suspected from the very beginning,” Meredith said. “He was pretty close to Judy.”