Hunting Truth (7 page)

He looked so desperate and so
earnest
that I had no
doubt he thought what he had to say could somehow change things
between us. I was intrigued but I’d vowed to myself to have nothing
more to do with him, to protect my heart if nothing else. Then I
thought that perhaps if I heard him out it would help to answer my
unanswered questions and I’d lose the ache in my chest every time I
thought of him. That I’d be able to walk away with that
closure.

I still couldn
’t speak so I just nodded. The relief that washed
over him was almost tangible. His shoulders sagged and his whole
frame relaxed. He blew out a long breath and raked his hand through
his hair. “Thank fuck for that, Issy. Oh thank you. I just need you
to listen and then make an informed choice about me. About what I
did.”

I felt myself relaxing a little. He didn’t
look dangerous at all. He just looked like the Lucas that I knew
and loved. Had loved. No—still loved. The realization wasn’t
comforting but I obviously just needed his explanation to get the
closure I needed.

“
Okay,” I managed to say. “Let’s do it
now.”

“
Really? Oh, come to the office with me,”
he said in surprise.

I followed him down the corridor to the
little office and sat down opposite the desk.

“
Do you mind if I close the door? I’d
rather nobody overheard my most private thoughts and memories but
if you’re uncomfortable . . .” he said with his hand on the door
handle.

“
No, it’s fine. Close it.”

He closed the door and sat behind the
desk.
He put his elbows
on the desktop and took his head in his hands. “I don’t quite know
where to start,” he muttered into his hands.

I knew what I wanted to know but I
couldn
’t bring myself to
blurt out ‘tell me how and why you killed your mother’ so I kept
quiet. He raised his head after a few moments. “Okay, I’ll just
talk. If there’s anything you want to ask, just interrupt me.
Okay?”

I nodded and tried to sit back in the
chair, but my muscles were so tight that I stayed perched on the
edge.

“
Well, that horrible individual you met was
my brother.
Joel is
older than me by seven years and was the apple of my father’s eye.
By all accounts my parents were very happy. They were fairly
wealthy. My father started up a company that specialized in leasing
commercial property. He would buy run-down properties, renovate
them and then lease them. He dabbled a little with residential
property if there was good money to be made but he mainly handled
commercial properties.

“
He met my mother when they were in their
mid-thirties. She was a former ballet dancer and had travelled
internationally until she retired from dancing. From what I know,
they had a very happy marriage. They settled in Seattle, had Joel
and life was perfect for six years. Then my mother found that she
was pregnant with me at the ripe old age of forty four. I’m told
that the risks of taking a pregnancy to full term were explained to
her but she refused to terminate the pregnancy. My father was only
interested in her wellbeing and urged her to terminate but she held
fast.

“
The pregnancy was fraught with
complications. She spent half of the pregnancy confined to bed
rest. A nanny was appointed to look after my brother. They already
had a maid to do household chores but they appointed someone to
cook for them too. Anything to enable my mother to rest and the
household to function smoothly. Anyway, she went into labor
unexpectedly just before she was full term. The placenta had
detached and she hemorrhaged badly. She was rushed to hospital
where an emergency caesarean was carried out.

“
I was saved although I was very ill and
had to receive specialist care. My mother didn’t survive the
surgery. She’d lost too much blood and her body went into shock.
She died not long after I was delivered. That’s how I killed her. I
can show you her death certificate.”

His voice was thick with emotion as he
spoke and I could see he was fighting back tears. His words pierced
my heart and suddenly, without thinking, I shot up out of my chair
and dashed around the desk. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled
him into my body. I stood there, stroking his hair when his tears
finally broke through the dam. Massive sobs wracked his frame and
he clung to me until there were no more tears. I felt like a
complete bitch but that was nothing compared to the hatred I felt
for his brother at that moment.

“
I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Are you okay?” I
whispered when his sobs ceased.

He pulled me onto his lap and embraced me
with those big, strong arms. “I am now.”

We sat in silence for a while before he
continued
, “So you see,
technically my dear brother was correct. I did kill our
mother.”

“
Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Circumstance
killed your mother. How can an innocent baby be blamed if their
mother dies in childbirth? That’s madness.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Tell that to
Joel. He and my father blamed me from that moment on. My father was
keen to give me away for adoption but the nanny persuaded him to
keep me. From what I’ve heard she emotionally blackmailed him with
the scandal that would ensue if word got out. He agreed to keep me
but he never came to see me. He never laid eyes on me from the day
I was born to the day he died.”

“
Oh my God, Lucas, that’s terrible. I
appreciate that he must’ve been distraught to lose your mother but
to punish you for years . . . your brother told me that he pined to
death after your mother’s death and pinned that on you
too.”

“
I guess there’s some truth in it. My
father began to drink heavily after my mother’s death. He died from
conditions arising from his alcohol dependency. So if it was my
fault that she died, then it follows that it was my fault
that
he
died.”

“
That’s ridiculous. Neither of their deaths
were your fault. And it’s so sad. I was deprived of my parents from
a young age when they died. You technically still had one of your
parents as you were growing up but they chose to deprive you of
parental love and affection. I’m sorry, I know he was your father
but that is unforgivably cruel.”

He sighed.
“You don’t know the half of it. Once I reached
kindergarten age, I was sent off to a boarding school over a
hundred miles away. I wasn’t allowed home for the holidays, except
at Christmas, and then I was locked in my room and only saw the
maid when she brought me my meals.”

I hugged him tighter still.
I couldn’t comprehend what I
was hearing. I knew that I’d been emotionally and physically abused
by my aunt but this seemed so much worse. It had to be worse when
it was one of your parents who emotionally abused and neglected
you. Suddenly, Lucas’ antisocial behavior made sense. For one
thing, he’d never been socialized as a young child and for another,
he’d suffered emotional abuse. My heart swelled for him. It was a
wonder that he hadn’t gone off the rails completely as an older
child. Then I remembered that his brother had showed me his
juvenile criminal record. I asked him to continue with his life
story.

“
I was quite a sullen child—” he
began.

“I wonder why!” I exclaimed.

He smiled and squeezed me. “I was
incredibly unhappy and withdrawn. I was bullied constantly at
school, especially as I got older. The school found out and told my
father. They kicked out the worst offenders but my father left me
there. Other bullies stepped up to take their place and it just got
worse. I decided to fight back by spending every spare moment in
the gym. Over the years, I got very fit and very strong. One day
when I was fourteen, I decided to fight back when a load of them
jumped me on my way back to my dorm. All of the anger that I’d kept
bottled up came out and I hurt them. I hurt one of them badly. He’d
made my life a living hell and, in a moment of pure rage, I laid
into him until my frustration and anger was gone. I was told that
I’d be kicked out immediately but they couldn’t get a hold of my
father. Then the ringleader’s parents decided to take further
action. So I ended up in juvenile prison. I fully deserved it and I
learned from it.

“
In juvie, I took up boxing and karate.
Both taught me the self-control and discipline that I’d been
lacking. It was also at that time that I found out my father had
died and nobody had told me. My legal guardian was now Joel, who
hated me more than my father. He’d inherited everything. I wasn’t
included in the will. During that year, I learned that it was Joel
who’d insisted I was sent to juvie when he could have agreed to
make other arrangements for me—the judge had taken sympathy on my
situation after the school wrote a report detailing the bullying
I’d suffered. He also arranged to have me transferred upon my
release to a school where abuse from staff and older kids was rife.
It was hell. I soon ran away and severed my ties with him forever.
Or so I thought.”

“
So you left school at f
ifteen? What did you do? Where did you
go?” I couldn’t believe it.

“
I was lucky that I looked older.
My muscular physique helped. I
got casual work that paid in cash on construction sites, mostly
laboring. I slept rough most of the time. But then I heard about
organized fighting. Some of the guys would bet on these illegal
fights. Bare knuckle brawling it was. It was suggested that I would
make good money. And I did. I was good at it. My size, strength,
fitness and discipline were a winning combination. I made a lot of
money in a short space of time.”

I was horrified.
I simply couldn’t imagine Lucas fighting illegally
for money. “So you never finished school?”

“
Nope.
I saved up my money and was lucky enough to get some inside
information on a development that was planned for some wasteland. I
used my savings to buy some of the land cheap and then made a
killing when the developers wanted it. My price was very high. From
then on, I bought properties and land when I could and resold when
I needed the capital. So that’s how I got started. That and a lot
of luck got me to where I am today.”

I shook my head in awe.
“Lucas, that is amazing. Despite all the
odds, despite all that life could and did throw at you, you made a
success of yourself. More of a success than most people who are
handed life on a plate.”

“
Like my brother, you mean. He’d almost run
my father’s company into the ground on several occasions. He has no
business acumen and no respect. It didn’t take much to finish him
off really.”

I cocked my head to one side.
“Finish him off?” And then the
penny dropped. “He’s the one that you wanted to exact revenge on!
I’m right, aren’t I?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Although after his
recent actions, I’ve regretted it greatly. If I could turn the
clock back, I would leave well alone. Nothing is worth losing you
for, Issy. No matter what he’s done. He’s nothing to me. You are
everything. My life. It was a childish vendetta and I should’ve
known better.”

He pulled me into him and I allowed him to
tilt my chin and kiss me. Softly. Chastely. But a kiss that rocked
me to my core. In that tiny kiss, I knew how much I wanted this
man. How much I needed him. How much I loved him. I snuggled into
his chest and nuzzled my face into his neck.

“
Why were you so hell bent on revenge? I
don’t understand why you bothered if Joel was ruining his company
all by himself and yours was flying high. I thought you were better
than that, Lucas.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “I wish I was. But
in my defense, I had significant provocation. When Joel heard that
I’d started up in the business, albeit in a different state, he did
his best to ruin it. He spied, lied and bribed his way into any
deals that I was involved with and used our father’s reputation to
make my life a misery. That’s why I changed my name and came to New
York. It’s easier to get lost in the crowd here and there’s good
money to be made if you know what you’re doing. He almost ruined me
twice before I cut my losses and reincarnated as Lucas
Hunter.”

I began to
better understand his need for revenge and I knew
that my theory about why he’d chosen his new surname, which had
come to me in the restaurant the day Angel had come home, was
right. I thought I’d check anyway. “Lucas? Did you choose the names
Hunter and Orion out of motivation for revenge on your
brother?”

He nodded. “Yeah
, and the nanny that I had when I was a youngster
told me that my mother wanted to call me Lucas, not Luke. She
didn’t like the sound of Luke. My father changed it when he
registered my birth. Apparently, he said I wasn’t worthy of the
name she’d chosen after I’d killed her. I overheard the maid
talking one day. My father even refused to allow my name to be
included on her gravestone. It states beloved mother of Joel but no
mention of me. Perhaps that’s fair, seeing as she didn’t actually
get to meet me.”

I squeezed him tight. This man was more
emotionally fucked up than I was and yet, bar his need for revenge,
he was doing brilliantly in life. Even his need for revenge was
understandable, given the circumstances. He was an inspiration
really and I felt so badly for walking out on him. For not trusting
him or at least giving him a chance to explain. I’d been so pissed
at Angel for running away and not trusting me or Chad or at least
hanging around to find out the truth, yet I’d done the same. I
thought back to Daniel’s words about him being broken. I wondered
what had reversed his emotional decline but I couldn’t ask him
without betraying Daniel. Thinking about Angel made me realize that
she’d be worried. I’d only gone to the bathroom and that was ages
ago.