Page 71 of Tangled Roses
When I told her of my decision, she was angry. She argued and told me to reconsider in the interests of the child.
The child.
She couldn’t even say Gabrielle’s name and I knew in that moment I had made the right decision. This woman may have money, but she believed it could buy her a child.
My child.
Not Marsha’s. Never hers because from the moment she was born, Gabrielle belonged to me.
I ordered her to leave my home and never come back and she told me she pitied me because I didn’t know what I was taking on. If anything happened to me, Gabrielle would have no one because Marsha had made it crystal clear she didn’t want her child. Then she gave me her card and told me to call her if I changed my mind or if anything happened to me. She would step in and care for Gabrielle, but the money would no longer be on the table. She gave me a choice, and I told her to leave and when she finally left, I remember spinning the card in my hand, in two minds if I made the right decision.
Then, I did something I may regret in the future. I tossed the woman’s card into the fire and watched it burn.
I sit for a long time re-reading this entry and if my grandmother was here, I would thank her from the bottom of my heart. Having met these people, I would hate to be one of them and I may have only had twenty-two years with my grandmother, but I wouldn’t trade them for all the money in the world.
CHAPTER 44
ARMAN
Ican’t keep away. I tried to work, but it’s impossible. Ellie is so deep in my soul I couldn’t push her out if I tried, and more than anything else, I miss her. Tomorrow, everything may change for us and it’s doubtful our paths will cross again if the results go against us. We may only have tonight, or the rest of our lives and I won’t waste a second of it even if it means I just breathe the same air as her. I won’t touch her, or compromise her position, but if this is our final night, I want it to be together.
I find her sleeping on the couch in the library. Her grandmother’s diary open beside her. She looks like an angel sleeping peacefully, her rapid breathing and heightened color telling me she’s dreaming.
I sit gingerly beside her so as not to wake her and lift the diary from the cushion. As I glance at the entry, I begin reading and my hands shake as the facts swim before my disbelieving eyes as I consider the evidence laid out in black and white before me.
My father’s mistress was friends with Marsha. They were at school together and I’m aware she couldn’t have children. Why did she want Gabrielle?
So many thoughts race through my mind, but in my heart only one is screaming at me.
Gabrielle is my father’s child, and he sent Veronica to buy her.
It wasn’t possible to bring her home, so he did the next best thing. His child with another woman would be raised by the woman he loved. It makes perfect sense and as I set the book back where I found it; I leave the room as silently as I entered it.
Judgment day! I didn’t sleep last night. There were too many thoughts bouncing around my mind to lose myself in blissful sleep. I might lose everything of importance to me today. I could lose Ellie and I wonder when she became the only thing in my life. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t been given enough time. To allow contemptible familiarity to shade our days. Everything is still new and exciting, or is it merely because we share the same DNA? At least today will bring clarity to the situation.
I meet Luka in a somber mood and he raises his eyes.
“You look like shit.”
“You always look like shit.” I growl back, causing him to chuckle softly.
“On the contrary, I had a most enjoyable evening.” He reminds me what a whore he is, and I pity the poor woman who fell onto his cock last night. Luka doesn’t do commitment. We had that in common, among many other things, and part of me envies him.
With a deep sigh, I settle down to discuss the day, and my heart thumps when the first item on the schedule jumps out and sucker punches me in the heart.
“What’s this?”
He raises his eyes and I snap. “A DNA test.”
“Fuck, man.” Is his sympathetic response and I sigh heavily.
“We don’t have the identity of Ellie’s father and a diary entry spoke of a woman offering to buy her. I’m aware my father’s mistress was friends with Marsha Steele and the dots connect.”
“And you believe your father is also hers. That’s fucked up.”
“Tell me about it. Now you understand the urgency of the test.”
“And the reason you look like shit. I’m sorry, Arman. I hope you get the result you want.”