Royal Prick (A Stepbrother Romance #2)(53)

“If this is about the shit with Viviana, I just want to make it known that she started it and I ended it. She had no right to touch Noelle as she did,” I started, only to realize that Mark didn’t seem to care. His eyes were heavy with emotions, and his mouth was in a grim line.

“Viviana is a bitch nearly every day. I wouldn’t expect you or her daughter to get along with her. I can barely get along with her and I’m married to her,” he admitted, taking a drink from the glass in his hand. The smell of sweet whiskey permeated the air. I licked my lips, suddenly thirsty.

“You mean you’re not mad?” I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling as if he was playing some type of game with me. He’s lectured me since I got here about fighting, grades, and maintaining a positive attitude. There was no reason why he wouldn’t set in on the lecturing now, for calling Viviana out for being the bitch she truly was.

He smiled, and it was the real kind with actual teeth showing. It made me want to smile, and I didn’t f*cking smile. Ever. Not unless Noelle got me to crack one and that was rare as well.

“Viviana is just a temporary wife. She wasn’t who or what I thought she was when we married. Her entire life seems to have been a lie, and the lies she makes up as well as the way she treats Noelle makes me sick, but what can I do…” He sipped at his drink. “She’s not really my child.”

Confusion started to sink in, where was any of this coming from? I was just about to ask him what the hell he was talking about but he stopped me with a halt of his hand as if to say one moment. He stared at the confusion written plainly on my face, and started to speak.

“I know you’re confused as to how your mother and I ended things and then suddenly I was remarried with another child. Believe me it all seemed to happen rather fast.” The amber liquid shined in the light as his eyes swung from my face and down to it. He stared at it swishing around in the glass.

“I loved your mother, in case you were wondering, I guess I still kind of do. There will always be a piece of me that belongs to her, after all you can’t just have a child with someone and then it seem as if you never cared for them.” His eyes shot up to mine. I wondered about it, only a million and one f*cking times.

“Things became messy when I left on a business trip. I was just starting out and trying to get my feet wet in the industry. I was at a dinner party and ended up getting hammered.” A bark of laughter left his lips as if he was reliving the memory in his own mind. I couldn’t even ask questions; I was too eager for the answers that I’ve been wanting for years and he was finally offering them to me.

“Anyway, I went to this party, networked, socialized trying to make the right connections with the right people so I could go somewhere; become successful for the family I had at home,” he said with a shrug of his shoulder as if it made complete since.

“Somehow I apparently ended up drinking too much. The next morning, I woke up in bed with another woman. As you realize now, that woman was Viviana. I couldn’t believe that I cheated on your mother. It wasn’t like me, not after all we had been through; not with how much I loved her.” I could tell it hurt him just thinking about it, and I hoped it did because it hurt me more watching my mom have to suffer from the very moment I was a young child.

“You did though, didn’t you?” I had to ask, the question was right on the tip of my tongue, burning a hole in my head.

“That’s just it.” His eyes shot down to the papers on his desk. “I didn’t. I had no idea at the time that I didn’t, but I’m not lying when I say that I never cheated on your mother. I loved her…” He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Hell I still do, I think about her almost every night as I get into bed next to Viviana.”

“Then what happened?” I slouched back in the chair, my belly filling with tightness. I wanted the pain of all of it to go away.

“Viviana lied to me. She told me that we slept together, and with the amount of liquor I apparently had to drink and waking up undressed in bed with her with no memory, I had no real reason to doubt her. Then a few weeks later after I had told your mother what happened, she came to me telling me that she was pregnant with my baby and that was the last straw for your mom. She asked me to leave that day and after everything I put her through I couldn’t deny her request by asking to stay.” There was a pause, and I wasn’t sure what to think of what he was saying. Could I have been wrong about him all along? Was Viviana really to blame? The web of tangled lies seemed to grow tenfold.

“I didn’t know what to think about Viviana being pregnant. On one hand I was elated. Even though I lost your mother’s trust, I still vowed to try and be an active part of your life… Your mother couldn’t handle the pain, though, so she cut herself off from me. When Noelle was born I knew she wasn’t mine. I could just tell. By this time Viviana and I had already gotten married, and things were looking up. You have to understand Viv was a different person back then; she put on a good act.” My eyes locked on his as I waited for the rest of the story to be spoken.

“Noelle isn’t yours though right?” I asked without hesitation. I had to make sure she wasn’t. He shook his head, a smile lingering on his lips.

“God no. Not that I wouldn’t mind having her as a blood daughter, but she isn’t. Viviana trapped me, telling me Noelle was mine when she wasn’t. We were already married and divorcing would give her access to everything I worked hard for and accomplished over that one year of time. There was nothing else I could do but move on from what happened, putting the past behind us and moving forward.” Sadness radiated from him. I could tell that he was hurt and filled with regret by the events that had taken place.