She opened for me instantly, and we kissed madly for only a few seconds before she pulled away.
“What?”
“They’re all watching.”
I didn’t much care. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Are you?”
“Yeah. We’re okay.”
“Ryan, I found Juliet. She’s here with me. But the others…” She choked and then cleared her throat, her eyes glistening. “We have to help them.”
“We will.”
She looked toward Talon. “Where’s Joe?”
“Still at home. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything as soon as I figure out what the hell is going on here.”
“I understand.” She lowered her voice. “That woman is crazy. She keeps a doll in a bassinet that she swears is a baby. I don’t know who she is.”
“Ruby,” I said. “She’s my mother. My other mother. She’s Daphne Steel.”
* * *
The housekeeper, a Jamaican woman named Marabel, took the two boys to get cleaned up and fed. Daphne saw to their needs herself, convinced they were young Joe and Talon, with a woman who appeared to be her nurse supervising. She clearly wasn’t distraught over a missing young Ryan.
The thought left a lump in my throat.
Now, Talon and I sat in the office—Talon’s office at home—to hear our father’s side of this twisted tale.
“First, your mother,” he said to us.
“Uh…which one?” I hadn’t meant to sound sardonic, but my words came out with an edge to them.
“I’m sorry. Daphne. If I’d had it my way, Ryan, you would never have known Daphne wasn’t your mother.”
“Would that have been fair?” Talon asked.
“Wendy broke a promise to me by telling you,” he said to me. “When I found out, I got your number and tried to call you to explain, but you didn’t say anything.”
“I was speeding across Colorado at about one-sixty when I got your call. A call from my dead father. Then my Porsche went over a cliff. Sorry I couldn’t get back to you. And by ‘sorry,’ I mean fuck you.”
He ignored me and turned to Talon. “None of this is fair.”
“And whose fault is that?” I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. Not only had my father come back from the dead, he’d brought Daphne with him.
“Mine,” he admitted.
“We knew you as a man of honor,” I said. “A man who instilled in us a work ethic like no other, the value of a job well done, the importance of being a good man with integrity. You’re none of that.”
He said nothing.
“You let my mother hurt my brother,” I continued. “How can I ever forgive you for that?”
“I’ll explain everything as well as I can, but I don’t expect your forgiveness. I never did, though I hope you might grant it. I never meant for you to find out I was still alive. But then things went terribly wrong.”
“Then they went terribly wrong?” I clenched my hands together. “Things have been terribly wrong for a while. You’ve had Daphne here since Marj was two. You deprived our little sister of a mother. The rest of us too, for that matter.”
“Daphne was no longer fit to be your mother. As you can easily see, she lives in her own delusional world now. She keeps a doll that she believes is Marjorie, though she uses her original given name, Angela.”
I well remembered the first piece of evidence we’d uncovered in this whole mess—Marj’s original birth certificate that listed her name as Angela Marjorie Steel. Marjorie had never known her real name because her certificate in the database had been altered to read Marjorie Steel, with no middle name.
“Wendy”—I refused to say “my mother”—“told Jade that Daphne named our sister Angela because when she was born prematurely, she knew she’d be an angel soon. Then, when Marj lived, she decided not to call her Angela after all because it would be a bad omen.”
“Your mother—”
“She’s not my mother!”
“I was speaking of Wendy, who is your mother.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d rather not lay claim to any of my so-called parents, including you.” I gripped the wooden arms of the chair I sat in.
“Ryan,” Talon began.
“Tal, don’t try to stop me from having my say here. My life has been shattered into a million pieces and—” I sighed, feeling like complete crap. “I’m sorry. You’ve had to deal with way worse shit than I ever have. I’m being selfish.”
“That’s big of you, Ryan,” my father said.
“I said it out of respect for Talon, not for you.” I gripped the arms of the chair again, my ire rising. “I lost all respect for you when I found out about my true parentage.”
My father sighed, his eyes glassy. “I’m not sure I can do this now. Let’s all sleep on this.”
“Are you serious?” Talon this time. “I just find out that both my parents, who I thought were dead, are instead alive and well, and you want us to sleep on this?”
“Your mother is far from well. That should be patently obvious.” Bradford Steel rubbed at his forehead. “I swear to both of you that I’ll tell you everything, but not until your brother and sister are with you. I can’t go through this twice.”
“They’re not coming here,” I said. “This place isn’t safe for Marjorie, and Joe’s wife is pregnant. His place is home with her. So get it off your chest now, Dad, or goddamnit, I swear I’ll beat you into tomorrow.”
“Ry…” Talon rubbed his palms on the black pants he still wore.
“What? You think just because I’m the most jovial Steel brother I can’t have a fucking temper? I may not be as dark as you and Joe, but Jesus Christ, Tal, this motherfucker owes us an explanation.”
“Yes,” Talon said. “He does.”
Our father cleared his throat. “And you’ll get it. Back home. If Marj and Joe can’t come here, we will go home to them.”
“We’re not going anywhere until you release every woman and child who is being held against their will in that place,” Talon said, his dark eyes glaring. “I can’t believe you ever had a hand in this.”
“I would release them all in a minute,” he said. “But it’s not that simple.”
“Make it simple, then,” I said. “Make it simple and get it done. Or I will kill you where you sit.”
He didn’t bat an eye at my words. “You have every right to. Believe me, I’m working on it.”
“Start talking, Dad,” Talon said.
“In the morning. I’ll tell you what I can. The rest when we’re all together. That’s the best I can do.”
I stood, advancing toward my father behind the desk. I wasn’t the biggest or the strongest of the Steels, but right now I was the maddest. I pulled my father up by his shirt collar. “You’d better thank God Joe didn’t come with us. Talon will keep me in line. But no one keeps Joe in line.” I threw him back in his chair, walked to the door, and left, rage consuming me.
What I needed at the moment was not in that office.
It was somewhere in this house, though, and I was going after it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ruby
I was back on the deck with Juliet and Marabel when Ryan stalked outside.
His eyes were feral, primal.
The way he looked at me…
Juliet cowered against Marabel.
“It’s okay,” I said to her. “He’s here for me.”
I knew what he wanted, what we both wanted and needed. I expected him to yank me out of my chair, but he pulled me up gently.
“Come with me.”
I looked toward Juliet. I didn’t want to leave her, but my physical needs were bearing down on me. I needed to be with the man I loved, and the look in his eyes told me he needed the same. She was cuddling Beauty, and Marabel gave me a slight nod. I took that as my okay.
The guesthouse sat in the distance—the guesthouse that was Ryan’s home, or at least looked just like it. Would it be furnished the same way? Would it be furnished at all?
As we walked toward it together, I knew I’d soon find out.
“I want to scoop you up in my arms and run to that house,” Ryan said quietly. “But I don’t want to upset Juliet.”
“I appreciate that.” Though part of me longed for the same. I’d felt so helpless since I’d been brought here, so unable to have any control. And now, with Ryan, that’s what I longed for. To submit to his control.
What the hell was wrong with me?