“Stop it, Luke. Let me explain—”
“You just did. But here’s the abbreviated version. You slept with another man while you were married to Dad—sorry. Tom. It’s going to take some time to get the principal players and labels straight.”
She held her head high. “Even condemned criminals get an opportunity to defend themselves. If you’ll just give me a chance—”
“I’m thirty years old. Seems like you’ve had plenty of chances.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Neither you or Tom felt the need to explain to me that I’m living a lie.” It wasn’t a question.
“Because you’re not. Your father and I had problems in our marriage. We worked them out. We both love you very much. Never doubt that—”
“Don’t have doubts? That’s asking an awful lot. You’ve let me grow up in a fantasy. Hell of a way to get a reality check, by the way. From the family attorney. Give me one good reason why I should believe you now?”
She laced her fingers together, and he was struck by her dignity in the face of his angry tirade. As soon as the thought entered his mind, he pushed it away. She’d cheated. She’d lied. How could he admire anything about her?
She drew in a deep breath. “Whatever ugly names you’re not calling me to my face are no less than I deserve. But know this, Son—”
“Don’t call me that,” he ground out.
“I will,” she said firmly. “You are my child, my son. I love you unconditionally. There’s nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you. I did as any mother would—what was best for you. Your father and I discussed—”
“Which father? Sorry, but you’re going to have to be more specific. I hit the jackpot today. Count ’em.” He held up two fingers. “Not one but two dads.”
She flinched, but ignored his sarcasm, and went on in the same modulated tone. “The adults concerned discussed the situation and felt you would be better off raised in a secure environment with a family who loves you.”
“I fail to see how lies translate into love,” he retorted.
“I hope you’ll come to understand why we made the decision. In time, when you’re less bitter and angry, maybe you’ll see that we had your best interests at heart.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand. Brad promised. He agreed it was best not to say anything—”
“But he did.” Pain and anger knotted together in his gut. “And in a whacked-out sort of way, that’s some comfort. At least he had a conscience. Maybe I got his gene for telling the truth instead of yours to perpetuate a lie.”
“Luke, listen—”
He turned away and walked toward the door. He heard her footsteps behind him. She put a hand on his arm and he couldn’t break her hold without more force than he was willing to use. Meeting her gaze, he put his hand on the knob.
“Luke, you can be as angry as you want at me. But don’t you dare take this out on your father. And don’t pretend you don’t know who I mean. Tom Marchetti loves you—you are his son.”
“When you bury your head in the sand, you leave your rear end exposed,” he shot back.
She went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “I will not tolerate any disrespect toward your father.”
As much as he hated to admit she was right about anything, the truth was Tom Marchetti was a victim, too. He wasn’t the one who had slept with someone else.
“Don’t—” Whatever she saw on his face made her release his arm.
Without a word from her to stop him, he left the house. He walked across the back grass, skirted the pool area ringed with Malibu lights, and stopped beside his sports car parked in the alley.
The anger, pain, bewilderment and betrayal that had dogged him since Maddie broke the news cascaded over him in a tidal wave that threatened to drown him. How could he have not known his whole life was a fabrication? The woman who had taught him right from wrong, who had given him a moral foundation to live by, had lied to him in the most elemental way. How could he not be bitter and furious?
Happy childhood memories washed over him. Times spent with his siblings, his mother—the man he’d never had a reason to question as his father. How could they let him grow up believing he was a part of that? As a teen, he’d been grounded from his car for trying to pull a fast one. Yet she expected him to act as if nothing had changed for him. How hypocritical was that? Everything had changed.
Leaning against the driver’s door, he ran both hands through his hair. His mother had given him the answers, just as Maddie had said. And she was right. He definitely planned to call a lawyer. But a stranger couldn’t respond to the questions he had. In fact, there was one big one at the top of his list, one that overshadowed everything else.
“Who the hell am I?” he whispered into the dark night.
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