Page 5 of Heartless

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“Do you want to sit down, Roe?I can make us coffee.I also have tea, if you prefer.”

“No, thank you, but we should sit down.”

We settled in the kitchen.After hooking her purse on the edge of the back of the chair, she interlinked her fingers on the small table.

I pulled my chair in and exhaled slowly.The silence stretched, and I offered what I hoped was a smile.

After a big breath, her gaze hooked onto mine.“When I was seven, my mother told me Nigel was my father.Then we went to see him.”

Her voice lowered.“He barely looked at me...I still remember sitting in that big armchair while my mother and he talked in another room.A few weeks after we provided a DNA test, Mom and I moved into a big, nice house she wouldn’t have been able to afford on her salary.”

Her hands were clasped on the table and close enough for me to reach them, but she continued talking, so I curled my fingers into a fist.

“Don’t feel sorry for me.My stepdad is a great guy.For all intents and purposes, he’s my real dad, and I love my two baby brothers.When I turned eighteen, Nigel gave us a lot of money and made us sign an NDA barring us from ever claiming anything else from him.”Her dry scoff grated my ears.“I signed it.If that was all he was going to give me, I figured I might as well take it.”

When she finally paused, I slumped in my chair.

Who was Nigel Morrison?

I took a deep breath.“Why are you telling me this?I’m not asking him for anything.”

She watched me for a few seconds.“Nigel Morrison only thinks about one person, and that’s Nigel Morrison.Always.I don’t know if he keeps you around because he really loved your mother, or because you have the same eyes as him, but—”

“My mother died a month ago.”

She frowned.“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that.But Sienna, trust me, Nigel is not a good person, and you should stay away from him.”

While I gaped at her, she stood up slowly.As my brain stopped imploding, I got on my feet and led her to the front door.

On the porch, she said, “Take care, Sienna.”

Back to the living room, I retrieved one of my favorite pictures of Mom from the unpacked box and pressed her smiling face against my chest.

****

Seated at the backof the chauffeured car Nigel had sent to pick me up, my mind was buzzing with the conversation I’d had with Rowena.I’d just assumed I was Nigel’s only illegitimate child, but the part that niggled at my heart was his treatment of a little girl who’d just wanted her dad.

The car stopped in the driveway of the mini castle.While the driver gallantly helped me out, the heavy front door opened onto the taciturn butler.He was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie.The only things missing were the haughtiness and the British accent.

“Good evening, Mr.Munch.”

On a curt nod, he shifted sideways to let me in.“Just Munch, Ms.Winslow.”

“All right, Mr.Just Munch.Do you think you can call me Sienna?Not ‘Just Sienna.’Sienna?”

He didn’t reply, but I could have sworn his lips had twitched before he reached for my summer coat.I followed him down the intimidating archway leading to what Nigel called the informal dining room.Walking past the antique armchairs placed on each side of an ornate mirror, I wondered if that was where Rowena had sat, waiting for her father to reject her.

At the other end of the wide expanse of polished and dark wooden floor, a pair of double doors opened on a vast room where a dining room seating twelve sat on top of a Persian-inspired rug.The floor-to-ceiling bay windows were draped with matte velvet maroon curtains, adding to the stifling feel of the room.

Nigel, standing beside a younger man by the large bar, strode toward me.

Both men were wearing well-cut suits and buttoned-up shirts opened at the collar.

Once he was near, he greeted me with a kiss on my cheek.“Hello, Sienna.How are you, my little dear?”

“I’m well, Nigel.How are you?”

Nigel curled a protective arm around me.“Have you thought more about calling me ‘Dad’?”