Page 58 of Forbidden Desires

I sigh. I try not to think about her, not because I didn’t love her but because it hurts way too much to remember. But for Emerson, I will. “She was fun, madea game out of everything, and you lapped it up. She was the kind of person who always had a smile on her face, such a beautiful smile, and she tried as hard as she could to see the good in everyone. She tried to teach us that as well.”

“She sounds amazing.”

“She was. You’re so much like her.” I smile at my sister. “Sometimes a beautiful smile is covering up a lot of pain and hurt, though.”

“The affairs?” she asks sadly.

“Yep,” I respond with a solemn nod.

“You never told me what you knew. When I read that story, you said one day when I wasn’t so upset you would tell me everything about that night.” She looks at me, hopeful.

“I know you loved our father, and I want you to remember all the good things when you think of him, but he had two sides; one that loved us, our family, and one that was selfish. I don’t know how many affairs he really had. All I know is of two for sure. The first was with Hamilton Prescott’s mama. Me and the boys all saw it.”

She goes white, taking a seat on the sofa, staring toward my fireplace. I think she must be in shock.

I wait for her to process what I’m telling her. I know it’s a lot to learn. “I was only seventeen. It was truly disturbing for both me and Hamilton. For all my buddies.”

“Are you kidding me? You all just walked in on them while…” She shivers like she’s repulsed by the idea.

I go to sit with her on the sofa. “We saw it all.” I shudder at the thought. Still all these years later I’m notable to get the sight out of my head. It was confusing and disturbing on so many levels.

She glances at me as if confused. “You used to be friends with Hamilton Prescott? I thought you two hated each other.”

“We do, but before that, I was close to him and Elliot, Parker, and Noah. The five of us grew up together, played on the same football team. We did everything together.”

“I didn’t realize he was a part of the Raider brotherhood,” she mutters almost to herself.

“Why would you, you were only a little girl when I left, what, six or seven?”

She goes quiet, staring down at her hands. I let her process what I just told her. I know it’s bad, but she needs to know why the Prescotts are determined to run these pathetic storiesin an attempt to get to us. “That is all a lot, Brody. Why does he hate you? You had nothing to do with our parents hooking up.”

“I wish that was the worst part, Em, but it’s not. There’s so much more to why he hates our family.”

She looks at me blankly, and I know she has already heard too much tonight. “What’s the worst part?” She pales and looks like she might puke. “Oh dear God, don’t you tell me we are related to him,” she cries.

“What? No. Why would you say that?”

She clutches her chest. “The affair,” she says, almost breathless.

“No, don’t let your imagination go wild. Dad told me that was the first time with her, and he never saw her again. Hamilton’s too old to be related to us.”

“And you believed him?” she snaps, sounding irritated I was so naïve.

“I guess at the time I didn’t have any reason not to.”

Her breathing is ragged, and I can see the panic washing over her. It’s a lot to take in. I’ve had years to process it all, but it’s so new to her. “Well, let’s both pray that’s the truth then,” she whispers.

I observe her, curious about what’s happening with her. Her posture is tense, and she constantly wrings her hands like she’s stressed. “Why are you getting so worked up about the situation with Hamilton Prescott?”

“I’m not,” she says quickly. “It’s just all so crazy. If we have an illegitimate brother or sister running around out there, I would like to know about it. Wouldn’t you?”

“We don’t, Em. Do I need to say it?”

“Too many books,” she mutters.

“Exactly,” I grumble, getting frustrated. We got sidetracked from what I really need to tell her. “What I wanted to tell you was… the night when Mama found him with a woman from the hotel, she was really angry. She had too much to drink and got behind the wheel of his Mercedes. I don’t know what she was thinking. Hell, maybe she wasn’t thinking at all, maybe she was too numb or too angry to see past her pain. But whatever was going through her mind, she took that wheel and drove out of town. The police officer said she was driving way too fast, there was nothing I could have done differently. It wasn’t my fault, but she drove that car right into the front of us.” I drop my head, seeing the collision as if it’s happening in real time. “I saw her coming and swerved, but it was too late. The impact was horrible. I looked around the car to make sure all the guys were alright. Got ‘em all to safety while wewaited for the emergency vehicles to arrive. It was then I realized it was her in our father’s car.”

“She ran into you,” she gasps, mortified, tears rolling down her face.

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