True, Carlos was a handsome man, but as far as Diana was concerned, the brother who held her attention was the big one. Now he was truly a beautiful specimen, but the look he directed at her led her to believe she would never be able to experience all that delicious black manliness. Too bad, she thought, but it didn’t matter, she was about to be reunited with her one true love.
Lorna Ernesto’s penchant for young men was the first real piece of information that had turned up. That in itself was of no consequence to Diana. Lorna’s protection of her famous son at all costs was something entirely different. A bribe offered to the right people had produced all she needed to blackmail the Ernestos’ into seeing things her way. Now their usefulness was at an end.
“As you no doubt heard, my husband will be coming for a visit tomorrow. By that time, I will expect you to have issued a statement retracting each and every lie you told about that poor young woman.”
Lorna was outraged. “How do you expect us to do that without my son looking as though he’s a fool?!
“That is not my concern. What is my concern is that you do it.” Diana felt her irritation rise. She wanted them out of her house and to never have to deal with them again. “It’s quite simple, you do what I want, or I will ruin you.”
“If we put out the statement you suggest, we’ll be a media laughing stock,” Lorna raged, still the most vocal member of her family. “I don’t want that woman anywhere around my son, but I’m prepared to take the child. My son has worked too hard for you to swoop in and ruin everything we’ve worked for!”
“You, your son and his career mean nothing to me. I will call you tomorrow at noon. At that time, you will have a statement prepared to announce to the media. You will have one hour to carry this out, or I will send an anonymous statement detailing everything I know about one, Carlos Ernesto.” Diana’s patience was at an end. If these provincial nobodies thought to test her, she would have no recourse other than to carry out her threat.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Carlos spoke for the first time.
“Because I can,” Diana replied. “Nothing personal, but you, Carlos are a means to an end. Elaborate I know, but I needed to get and hold the Kingdom’s attention,” Out of sight of the Ernestos’, she pressed the call button under her desk.
“I won’t allow you to do this to me!” Carlos shouted.
At the same time, Adonis entered the room.
“Please escort these people off my property.” For a moment, Diana thought the silent Curtis was about to protest. A moment passed as he rose from his seat and regarded her with a level of disdain identical to the look she remembered receiving from her sons.
“Whatever storm is coming for my family, we’ll deal with it and we will get through it. I’ve spoken to one of your sons, and I wonder if you can say the same. I guess only time will tell.” Those were the first and last words Curtis Ernesto ever spoke to Diana.
Chapter 27
MacKenzie was the first to break the silent tension that seemed to hold everyone in its grip. “There is something seriously wrong with that woman.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Jake looked at her and thought about the way she was with Noelle. Then he thought about how he and his brothers had been treated by the woman who had given them life.
“What is it, Jake?” MacKenzie asked.
Jake looked over at his younger brother who held his gaze for a few moments and then nodded. By mutual agreement, he and his younger brother had never spoken of their time spent with Diana.
In the past when Jackson had probed, he and Josh had clammed up. He knew their silence frustrated their father, but they had always stuck to their pact, only giving as much information as was necessary to placate Jackson.
Turning first to Jason and then his father, Jake gave them a barely perceivable smile before he bowed his head. When he began to speak, he held all their attention.
“Josh and I spent around three years with Diana. She moved us around a lot. We didn’t go to school. Occasionally we had tutors. When we realized that we were smarter than most of them, we lost interest.
There was one tutor, a man. He was kind to us, not that bright, but he was kind. Josh and I discussed it. For some reason, we thought he would help us get away from Diana. That was one of our biggest mistakes.”
Breaking off, Jake glanced between MacKenzie and Aviva. “Diana is probably one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. However, she is also completely incapable of any form of affection towards her children. I’m an intelligent man, yet I’ve never been able to work out why she hates us so much.”
“It’s her loss, Jakey darling. She has no idea what she’s missing.” Aviva said, blowing him a kiss as she cuddled closer to her husband.