Page 68 of One Wild Ride

I hadn’t lied to her about that. I was about to leave with Aria—who was hiding out in my bedroom working on the mural. We were meeting Henrik Payne to pick up the keycard to his old condo. He had agreed to a quick closing and Henrik agreed to let Aria stay there until the sale was finalized in a few weeks.

“The man you know as your father, Zachery Hawthorne. The one that died in the plane crash twenty years ago was not your actual father. Your real father was his brother, August Hawthorne. He died in a car crash six months before you were born.”

Whatever bitterness I had for my mother drained away to something much worse—emptiness. I felt hollow and my throat tightened as I tried to speak, to cry out, but nothing came. I stood, watching as my mother’s tears dried and she composed herself.

“He was the man I loved, Alexander, you have to believe me. Yes, I may have lied to you over the years, but I am telling you the truth now. Even today, I still miss August. He was everything Zachery wasn’t. He was charismatic,” she explained as she stepped closer to me, “and intelligent, and so talented. Do you know you get your love of art from him?”

She reached over and placed her hand on my arm. It felt strange and normally I stiffened or pulled away from her touch, but my soul needed to feel her. And I suspected she needed my warmth, too.

I struggled to control my emotions, to process what she told me as I asked her what I needed to know, “Why haven’t you told me before? I deserved to know.”

“There were so many times I wanted to tell you everything. Your father, your real father, discovered something. Something that very powerful men in this country would never want the public to know.” She sighed and gestured to the chairs for us to sit.

Once we were seated she continued, “One of the powerful men was his father and later, his brother. Their hands were dipping into political pockets, criminal elements, and terrorist organizations. They took their power as a free pass to do anything they wanted. They were nothing more than white-collar criminals but more elite. A powerful CEO may go to jail, take the fall once caught after years of debauchery, rape, and stealing, but twenty others would continue in his place.”

Her jaw tightened as her face flushed. “August threatened to go to the CIA and the press. To expose their criminal activity. You know what his father, your grandfather, did?”

“No.” My voice quiet as the heavy weight of her words sunk in.

“He had August killed. The police said it was an accident. A drunk driver that drove away from the scene but that drunk driver managed to get out of his car, moved with perfect gait, and reached into your father’s car to make sure he was dead.”

I shook my head. “But how would you know that?”

“Because my sister, Bradley’s mother, was out for an early evening walk with Bradley who was only a year old at the time. She saw the crash and started to run off to get help but looked back just as she turned the corner to see what that driver did. I promised her, as she feared for her safety and the safety of her son, that I would keep it a secret.”

I rubbed my forehead and sat back in my chair. “My God, was that why you hired Bradley?”

She nodded. “His mother told him a long time ago. He wanted to make sure you were safe. Especially after he heard what happened to your sister.”

My eyes widened. “Sister? I don’t have a sister.”

For the first time in almost twenty years, my mother’s eyes softened. Her whole body relaxed as a tear trailed down her cheek. She reached up and cupped my face with her hands. “You do. They took her from me after your birth. I thought she died during birth but she lived. It was your grandfather’s way of threatening me. That he had the power to take everyone I loved away whenever he wanted. Why do you think I kept you hidden for so long?”

“We were twins?”

The slight nod from my mother had my world spinning. The only thing I could think of doing was leaving. So, I did. I left my mother and went to get Aria. I needed time to process everything. But more importantly, I needed time to find out if what my mother said was true or just another evil trick.

I feared that this time it was no trick.

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