The Eden Factor (Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Romance Adventure Series Book 2) (27 page)

She and Robert snickered. Marcus,
a faint smile on his face, looked at his wife. "Who was this guy?"

"You may have heard of him.
Carleton Larkin."

Marcus looked at his wife in
surprise. "The actor? Christ, he's old enough to be your
grandfather."

"Exactly what Daddy
thought," Kathlyn's smile faded. "He stuck up for me big-time. We
never saw Carleton again after that."

Robert watched her, knowing the
dark memories clouding her mind. Jason and Kathlyn had been terribly close. She
was very much her daddy's girl. When the relationship turned sour, it was a
gloomy time for everyone.

"You know he always loved
you, Kathlyn," Robert said softly. "Dad was never the same after you
two had your falling out."

Tears instantly sprang to her
eyes. Her composure was very fragile. Marcus reached over and held her hand,
which made the tears come faster.

"He would never let any of
us talk about you because it was just too painful for him," Robert
continued. "It wasn't that he was forever mad at you or hated you; it was
nothing of the kind. It was that any talk of you hurt him to the bone. After he
died, we were going through his study and we found all of these videotapes
behind a false shelf.  Bill and I thought they might be porno movies, but it
turned out that they were a library of every cable show and every news clip you
made. He had them all."

A sob escaped Kathlyn's lips. 
Robert leaned forward and put a hand on her leg. "He also left a tape for
you, Kat. Sort of a good-bye. I think maybe he knew he would never see you again."

She wept into her hand, trying
not to wake the baby in the process. "I was so stupid," she
whispered. "I shouldn't have let it go on. I should have just come to him
and begged for his forgiveness."

"For what?" Robert said
gently. "For not going to law school and becoming a law-shark like the
rest of us? Kathlyn, you were destined for bigger and better things. We all
knew that. No matter how much Dad pretended, he was very proud of you. He
really was."

The pain was raw. Kathlyn
struggled to dry her tears, not wanting her mother and younger brother to see
her with red eyes and black cheeks.  Ethan woke up on her shoulder and was
instantly a happy, rested baby.  She handed him over to Marcus so she could
regain her composure and fix her face.  All she could think of at the moment
was the tape her father had left her, wondering what he had said.  Everything
was growing very heady and almost surreal. She felt as if she was in a dream.

"Did Daddy know about the
twins?" she sniffled, reaching into her purse for her makeup bag.

 "Sure," Robert said.
"He had clipped the article in the paper about their birth and kept it
hidden under the ink blotter on his desk. We found that, too. It was all
dog-eared, like he had read it over and over."

"Ethan's middle name is Jason,"
she said, trying to wipe carefully underneath her eyes.

 Robert watched her try to
compose herself, wondering how much more he should tell her. He opted for all
of it. "There's something else, Kat. Dad left you and the twins some
money."

She looked at her brother.
"That's surprising, considering he had told me I was disinherited. I
didn't come here to scavenge, Robert. I came to see Mom and the rest of you. I
don't need any money."

It was a lie; both she and Marcus
knew it. But Robert merely shrugged. "You're entitled to an inheritance,
just like the rest of us. He set up college funds for both boys in the amount
of one million dollars with me as trustee.  He set up a Swiss bank account for
you, including stock holdings and liquid cash, totaling about one hundred
million. Bill and I got the same. One of his lawyers is coming over to the
house tomorrow to talk to you about it."

The amount of money didn't phase
Kathlyn, but Marcus nearly choked. He knew the Trents had old money, but he
never suspected how much. By this time, the limousine had entered the upscale
community of San Marino and made its way down the wide, well kept stretch of
Huntington Drive. The driver took a couple turns, disorienting Marcus
completely as they made their way down a couple of very exclusive tree-lined
drives. Some of the houses back behind the gates were as large as office
buildings.  Finally, they reached a huge set of iron gates complete with a
gatehouse.  A security guard opened the gates for them and the limousine drove through.

The driveway was like another
street. It was long, lined with trees and flowers in perfect order. Marcus
found himself wondering what  they would find at the end of the driveway
because the surrounding grounds were like an enormous park.  When the house
itself finally came into view, he had to bite his tongue. It was the biggest
damn house he had ever seen. It looked like a museum.  When he thought about
the tents and trailers he had forced his wife to live in, he felt like a damn
idiot. But she had never once complained.

The limousine pulled underneath a
carriage house arch, wide enough for a couple of cars to pass under. There was
a screened-in porch with elaborate woodwork and a massive door beyond. Kathlyn,
unaffected by the surrounding opulence, climbed out of the back of the car with
Trent in her arms. The baby squirmed and she set him down as a couple of men
dashed out of the house and went for the bags in the open trunk. Kathlyn
greeted them both like long lost friends. Trent suddenly took off across the
driveway like an escaped convict and Marcus, with Ethan in his arms, dashed
after him.

Kathlyn watched her husband chase
down the toddler for a moment before turning to run a fond eye over the house;
at almost thirty thousand square feet, the structure was enormous. But she had
grown up here and she didn't realize until this moment how bad she had missed
it. It also made the pain of losing her father that much worse. A squeal
distracted her and she turned to see that Marcus had made the mistake of
setting Ethan down and now both boys were running off in opposite directions.
Robert stopped her from running after them, instead taking on the duty of
racing after them himself. Marcus was after Trent, the further away of the
pair, and Robert went after Ethan.

Kathlyn smiled as she watched her
brother hunt down the skittish toddler. He tried to get the boy to come to him,
but Ethan wouldn't have anything to do with him.

"Just grab him,
Robert," she called to him. "If he gets away from you, we'll lose him
in the trees."

Robert reached out for the boy,
but Ethan screamed and bounded off again. Robert was hot on his heels. Kathlyn
laughed, thinking about going after Ethan herself so the kid wouldn't be
forever traumatized by a stranger chasing after him when a soft hand suddenly
touched her shoulder.

 "Kathlyn?"

Startled, she whirled around to
see her mother. Sallie Trent hadn't changed much in the past fifteen years,
just a bit older and a bit grayer. Kathlyn was so caught off guard by the sight
of her mother that she couldn't say anything; she just collapsed on the woman
and cried.

Sallie Trent cradled her daughter
tightly. Even though Kathlyn was a grown woman with a family of her own and a
stellar career, she still saw the little six-year-old who so badly wanted her
mother's affection.  Kathlyn wept and wept, mumbling something about how much
she had missed her mom, until Sallie finally shushed her. A very stoic woman,
it was merely an attempt to mask her own emotions.

"Kathlyn," she said
softly. "What's the matter with you? You look exhausted."

Sallie wasn't much on compliments
or sweetness. She had always been more of a stiff-upper-lip kind of woman.
Kathlyn struggled to compose herself, wiping at her eyes.

 "I am exhausted," she
said. She drank in the sight of her mother. "You look great, Mom. How have
you been?"

Sallie smiled faintly. "Well
enough, I suppose," she took Kathlyn's hand. "What's the matter,
honey? Why are you so tired?"

Kathlyn jabbed her thumb in the
direction of Marcus and the twins, with Robert, now coming back to the fold.
"That's why," she said. "It never stops."

Sallie was staring at the men
approaching. She had seen Marcus Burton on television, but it didn't prepare
her for just how large and handsome a man he really was. And the boys looked
exactly as Kathlyn had as a toddler. They even screamed like her. To finally
see them brought a lump to her throat.

"They're beautiful,
Kathlyn," she said softly.  "All of them."

"I think so," Kathlyn
replied sincerely. She looked at her mother. "Mom, I don't even know where
to start with all of this. I'm so sorry about...."

Her mother shushed her. "No
apologies, Kathlyn.  There's no need. You're home and no matter what's
happened, that would have made your father very happy."

"You're sure?"

"Without a doubt. He loved
you, Kathlyn."

Marcus walked up at that moment
with Trent in his arms. His cobalt blue eyes were focused on the woman who
looked so much like his wife. Contrary to his nature, which was to be
stand-offish and calculating when he first met someone, he actually smiled at
her. Kathlyn's mother, whose nature was almost identical to Marcus', smiled
back. There was instant approval in the air.

"Mom," Kathlyn had been
waiting for this bittersweet moment for a long time. "This is my husband,
Marcus Burton."

Sallie forgot herself. She put
her arms around Marcus and the squealing baby. "It is so good to finally
see you all," she said quietly.

Marcus felt immediately
comfortable with the woman. He hugged her with one arm, smiling as she fussed
over Trent. Robert lost hold of Ethan and the child made another dash for it.
Sallie was quicker than her daughter and grabbed him. Instead of screaming, as
Ethan usually did with strangers, he just stared at the older woman with his
big green eyes. Kathlyn stood back and watched, tears in her eyes, so glad to
be home yet so sorry her father couldn't be a part of it.

"Yo, babydoll!"

 It was a loud, street-wise
voice, extremely out of place in the ambiance of the formal home. Kathlyn
looked up to see her younger brother come flying down the steps, his tall lanky
blond body heading right for her.  William Dashiell Trent, or Bill as he was
more commonly known, wrapped his sister up in a massive bear hug and danced
across the driveway with her. Kathlyn giggled as he set her down, grabbed her
hands, and began to swing her around as if they were on a dance floor.

"Do the hustle!" he sang
the ensuing song very off-key.  The more Kathlyn spun around, laughing, the
more excited he got. "There she goes! You go, girl, you go!"

Marcus watched the two of them
with amusement. Bill was young, hip, and very animated. He could see a distinct
personality similarity between Bill and his sister. When Kathlyn's dance ended
by her tripping over her own feet, Bill just hugged her again.

"William," Sallie felt
as if she was looking at the two of them twenty years ago, close siblings that
had acted like catalysts against each other. One would goof off, and the other
would follow suit. This time, she'd never been happier about scolding them.
"Stop that, now. Your sister is exhausted."

Bill made an exaggerated face at
his sister. "Why? What's wrong with her? Old age?"

Kathlyn swatted him playfully.
"I'll give you a piece of this old-age, you knucklehead." She grabbed
him by the arm and pulled him toward Marcus. "This is my husband, Marcus.
You'll have to be really nice to me or he’ll kick your butt. Get it?"

Bill shook Marcus' hand.
"That is not fair, marrying a guy from the Global Wrestling Federation. So
what's his stage name? Bloody Big Guy?"

Marcus had to laugh. "Just
call me Biceps of Death."

Bill warmed to Marcus
immediately. "Hey. That's pretty good. Maybe we can talk later. I sponsor
a couple of professional boxers, you know. Maybe we can...."

"Not on your life,"
Kathlyn intervened. "He doesn't have time for that. He's got his hands
full with me."

Bill raised his hand to Marcus in
the street-smart, hip-handshake gesture that Lynn always used.

 "Damn. Ain't it the
truth?"

Marcus responded easily, sliding
his fingers through the man's grip. "You said it, brother."

Sallie cast them all a
condescending glare, but in truth, she was in heaven. It was good to see them
all together again, just like old times when they were all a bit younger and a
bit happier. With Ethan still in her arms, she made her way into the house and
everyone followed.

Though Kathlyn was occupied with
bantering with her brothers, Marcus had to make a conscious effort to keep his
mouth from hanging open as he observed the opulent surroundings. His first
observations had been correct; the house was like a museum. The floor was
marble and very expensive hard wood. Priceless oil paintings hung on the richly
papered walls. He even saw a Gainsborough. Sallie was taking them to the far
end of the house where the solarium was, giving Marcus a chance to peek into
every room they passed. Louis XVI furniture in the Library, massive leather
sofas in what was surely the den. The hallway itself they traveled upon was
nearly as wide as the driveway outside with huge marble pillars flanking it.
When they came to the stairway that led to the upper floor, Marcus had only
seen something of that size in a four star hotel. It was incredible.