Beautifully Forgotten (36 page)

Later that day, Trace walked into Charles’s campaign headquarters. He’d waited for a day when Ember wasn’t working because he didn’t want to upset her and he couldn’t be sure how this conversation was going to go. Charles’s secretary greeted him and stood.

“Please follow me. Your uncle is expecting you.”

Charles was on the phone when they entered his office, but immediately ended the call.

“Trace, it’s nice to see you.” He stood and shook Trace’s hand. “Please have a seat.”

Trace didn’t return the greeting and instead got right to the point. “What’s your connection to Heidi?”

Trace noticed that, though the man paled slightly, he wasn’t surprised by the question.

“The boy, Seth . . . he isn’t your father’s. He’s mine.”

“Come again?” Trace had definitely not been expecting that.

Charles walked to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Scotch and two glasses, before returning to his desk and pouring them each three fingers. He drank the entire glass before he poured another.

“Let me start from the beginning. When I met Vivian, she was like no one I had ever known. She came from nothing and yet held herself like a queen. Though my affection for her was genuine, it was my money and connections that she sought. I didn’t mind because she was fun to be around and she did like me in her way. When we got together, she didn’t hesitate to change her appearance, even going so far as to model her makeover on my sister . . .” He rubbed a hand over his head. “Hell, even her name Vivian was chosen because of how close it was to Victoria. Obviously there was a little hero worship there.

“For a time we were happy, but then Vivian really took to her new image and started focusing more on the social life her connection to me offered. I found myself alone often.”

“And that’s when you met Heidi,” Trace concluded.

“Yeah, she was young, fresh, and sexy as hell and she was interested in me, a man pushing forty.”

“And you didn’t think that was odd, a girl falling for a man old enough to be her father?”

“There was a part of me that wondered, but it was heady to be desired by someone like her. Anyway, our brief affair ended almost as soon as it started.”

“And then she drops the bomb that you’re going to be a father.”

“Yeah, but it was how methodical she was that made it clear to me that she had planned it.” He pushed from his desk and walked to the window. “She was only sixteen.”

Trace was incredulous because that was brazen even for Heidi. “Shit. She set you up for blackmail.”

“She knew that if my affair with her got out, my career and life would have gone up in smoke, so she made her proposition.” He turned to Trace. “If we paid her a monthly sum, she would keep quiet.”

“And you agreed.”

“Vivian wasn’t about to give up the lifestyle she had become accustomed to and insisted that I agree. She didn’t even care about the affair, only about the idea of losing her status in society. That was a hit, but one I should have seen coming.”

“So why the hell did Heidi tell me that Seth was my father’s?”

“She was fixated on you and even moved herself to St. Agnes to be closer to you. By claiming her child was your father’s, it gave her a hold over you. I knew what she was doing but I didn’t stop her; yet another opportunity I had to help you that I didn’t take.” He paused for a minute before he added, “I need you to know that I didn’t help you when your father was alive because I was dealing with this shit with Heidi, but I should have, because nothing comes close to the horror that animal inflicted on you and your sister. I’ll have to live with failing you and Chelsea for the rest of my life.”

Charles sat back down, but there was conviction burning in his eyes. “I didn’t kill her. I was willing to pay for my sins, but we weren’t the only ones she was blackmailing.”

“How do you know that?” Trace asked.

“She took delight in it. She made it her job to find dirt on people and exploit them with it. We were small potatoes compared to the others.”

Trace’s thoughts turned to Dane and how he believed Heidi had been blackmailing his family. But how had she met them, since Dane seemed too afraid to have made the introductions? “Do you know if Heidi knew the older Carmichaels?”

“Yeah, meeting them was part of her blackmail demands.”

“What does that mean?”

“She wanted to be introduced to rich and powerful people, that family specifically. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she was blackmailing them too. It was what she did.”

He wasn’t wrong, but Trace moved on. “You said you didn’t kill her. Do you think Vivian could have?”

“And miss a gala because of a jail sentence? No. Vivian is many things, but she isn’t a killer.”

“It’s going to come out about you and Heidi. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do about Seth?”

“You mean, am I going to claim him as my son?”

“Yeah. He’s at St. Agnes. Did you arrange that?” Trace asked.

“Yes, he’s a ward of the state with Heidi gone, but at least at St. Agnes he has a friend. Seth deserves more than me. I’ve never been there for him and his life is in turmoil enough without adding me to the equation.”

Trace studied the older man for a minute. It wasn’t often that people took him by surprise, but it seemed that Charles Michaels wasn’t as much of a selfish prick as he’d thought. “Would you consider making me his legal guardian?”

Surprised flashed over Charles’s face. “You would do that?”

“I’ve sort of been doing it already. Might as well make it legal.”

“I think Seth is very lucky to have you. I’ll take care of it.”

Trace stood. “Thank you for sharing that with me. It couldn’t have been easy. It might get out about you and Heidi, but it won’t be coming from me.”

It was as close to absolution as Trace could offer before he turned and walked out.

Trace walked into his apartment to see Chelsea in the living room watching television and eating ice cream. She turned to him and smiled, her lips covered in chocolate.

“Hey, Trace.”

He walked over and knelt down in front of her. “Chocolate, chocolate chip, yum.”

“You look sad. Why are you sad?”

“Not so much sad, but thankful. I love you, Chelsea.”

“I know that.”

He grinned before he pressed a kiss to her forehead and stood. “Where’s Ember?”

“Sleeping.”

He walked down the hall to their room and saw Ember curled up in a ball on their bed. He closed and locked their door before he kicked off his shoes and climbed in. He pulled her to him and held her close.

“Hi.” Her voice was still soft with sleep.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”

“I’m not.” She looked up at him and immediately sat up. “What’s wrong?”

He told her about his meeting with Charles and his talk with Lucien. He watched anger and sympathy play across her face.

“I couldn’t imagine losing a child, but for someone to lie about it . . . To have lost all that time . . . Who would do such a vile thing?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t know, but that’s what we’re going to find out.”

“I want to help.”

“I knew that you would. I told Lucien that you could do the research into what nurses were on call the day Darcy delivered. Your uncle can give you the details, since Darcy’s already hired him to start the search.”

Trace was silent for a moment, prompting Ember to ask, “What?”

“I’ve asked to become Seth’s legal guardian. I should have talked with you first before—”

She pressed her finger to his lips. “Absolutely.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’ve already been acting like his legal guardian, so let’s make it official.”

He grinned. Ember asked, “What’s that grin for?”

“That was the exact argument I used on Charles.”

“Great minds think alike.” Ember’s expression turned serious. “What about Darcy and Lucien?”

“They’re finding their way.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because we did.” And then he shifted and rolled, pinning her underneath him. “Please remember that you’re pregnant.”

“I will.”

“You’re showing; there’s a little swell.”

“I wasn’t sure that you noticed.”

“I know every inch of your body. Of course I noticed.”

And then to prove his point, he lifted her nightshirt up and over her head and pressed a kiss at the base of her throat. He licked her along her collarbone before pressing kisses down the valley between her breasts to her navel. He palmed the small swell of her belly before he lowered his lips and kissed her right in the middle of it.

“I know I didn’t have a great role model, but I promise you that this child will never doubt that he or she is loved.”

Ember wrapped his face in her hands and lifted his gaze to hers. “I know.”

Darcy was pacing outside of Lucien’s office. She was trying very hard to keep her temper in check, but she had heard about the meeting Lucien had called with his friends and how a strategy had been hashed out to find their child—and she had not been included. She knew Lucien’s intentions were in the right place, but she was not going to be forced to stand on the sidelines while he took control. Her head snapped up when she heard the heavy footfalls coming from the down the hall.

“Where have you been?” she said in way of greeting.

He tried to move into her, but she stepped away from him. “Lucien, you’re keeping me out of the loop.”

Determination moved across his face. “That’s not my intention. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“I’ve kept myself safe for fourteen years.”

She saw irritation in his expression. “Things are different. Our child is alive and we’re actively searching for him or her, which is going to make the kidnapper nervous when they learn of it.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to be so high-handed. I will not be kept from this.”

Anger replaced irritation. “We have no idea who the fuck we are dealing with, but based on what they’ve done to us so far, I’m betting there is very little this person wouldn’t do to get whatever the hell it is they are after. If you think for a second that I am going to sit back and watch as you step into potential danger, you are out of your fucking mind.”

Her anger rose to match his. “And if you think that I’m going to take a step back just because you and I are sleeping together and your inner caveman is coming to the fore, you are out of your fucking mind.”

His voice turned icy. “If I were being a caveman, I would have already knocked you over the head with my club and put you over my shoulder. Not that the idea doesn’t have some merit.” She realized it wasn’t just anger pouring off him, but hurt too. “I think I’ll call it a day.”

She watched his long strides carry him away from her as anger and remorse warred inside her.

D
arcy paced her office. It had been over a week since she and Lucien had had their heated words. She knew, even without him needing to say it, that he was leaving her in the dark because he was trying to keep her safe. Despite the thoughtfulness behind his actions, it still pissed her off.

Darcy tried to run the scenario of the kidnapping in her head. There were quite a few people who had to be involved just to get the baby out of the hospital. She knew Ember was looking into the nurses, so she focused on her mom. How was she approached? The person had to have been watching her to know what would persuade her. Darcy had never paid attention to her mom’s activities as long as she and her boyfriends had stayed away from her. The part of the entire mess that Darcy was hung up on was: Why would anyone care about two teenagers? Why meddle so much in their lives when they were literally nobodies?