Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(27)

"The courts never did figure it out, but photographic evidence taken from a surveillance camera the night of the attack showed your mother in the company of a Javier Salamanca, a known crack dealer in the area at the time. They were seen getting out of her convertible and getting gas approximately a half hour before she checked into the hospital."

"No..... no....." I whispered, shaking my head. "NO!"

Kimberly sat there quietly, then pointed to the screen. "It's all there, Julian. The photos, the hospital records, all of it. The judge found her lies so unbelievable that she actually cited her for contempt of court, and she spent a week in jail about it. Have a read for yourself."

Kimberly got out of her chair, turning it over to me. My legs were numb as I dropped into it, and started to read. It started with the final decisions of the court, including the citation for contempt of court against my mother. Afterwards, I started in on the transcripts themselves, and certain words kept popping out to me. Words like adultery, theft, and embezzlement. Words that seared into my heart, because none of them were against John Castelbon. Instead, it was Alicia Castelbon, my mother, who was seeing men on the side. It was her who stole family heirlooms and sold them off, and had tried to embezzle money from the family business.

I read until I heard a ding, and realized that tears where streaming down my cheeks. I looked around, and found that Kimberly had left the apartment. "Kimberly?"

A key rattled in the door, and Kimberly came back in, carrying a small plastic bag. "Sorry I stepped out. I said something, but you were too far into your reading to hear me I bet. I just ran down to the Circle K down the block."

"Oh," I said, getting to my feet on wooden legs and walking stiffly across the room. "Your computer dinged a few seconds ago."

"Thanks," she said. She stopped and looked into my face, and saw what I had learned. "I'm sorry, Julian."

Her words almost burst the dam inside me, and for the first time since I was nine years old, I truly felt like crying, but I wasn't going to let Kimberly see that. Instead, I sat there in shocked disbelief.

Was this what life with Krystal was going to be like? Just a week ago, I was basically broken down when I realized what a worthless son of a bitch I'd been most of my life. Now, I'd just learned I'd been treating my father like shit my entire life for no reason at all. Jesus, I wasn't even sure I was Julian Castelbon any longer, not that being Julian Castelbon was all that special.

Finally, I gathered myself and looked at Kimberly. "Thank you, Kim," I said, "give me a few minutes? Go check your computer."

She looked into my eyes and then rose without a word, going over to her computer and fired up the other three monitors. I couldn't see much other than her profile as she clicked and typed for about ten minutes, then a single ding as whatever she was doing was completed. Finished, she turned back to me. "You want to talk about it?"

Every other time someone had ever asked me that question in my life, I'd told them to f*ck off. I'm an Alpha, and I don't need to talk about my feelings like some * on Dr. Phil. Instead, what came out of my mouth was, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did John..... why did my father let me hate him for so long? He must have known what I was so angry about. It makes no sense."

Kimberly nodded. “I’m sure he did. But, and this is just what I think based on what I learned, that your father didn't say anything because he wanted you to have a good image of at least one of your parents. After he saw that Alicia's lies had already taken hold in your head, and at the age you were, he didn't want you to hate her too. So, he let you think he was the bad guy."

"And the mistresses? Were those lies too?" I asked numbly. "The court records mention them, but nothing about proof."

"There were never any mistresses," Kimberly said. "Each and every one of them, there was proof that supposed adulterous meetings either never happened, or were innocent. Two of them were business partners, again with surveillance footage, one was a doctor he went to because he was having some trouble with his stomach, and the final one had never even met him."

I just shook my head, feeling like someone had taken a hand mixer and stuck it in my brain before turning the whole thing on high. I sat there like that, with my forearms resting on my knees and my head drooping for a while, then I looked up again. "So what now?"

Kimberly looked at me and smiled. "Now, you know the truth. You're Julian Castelbon, you're richer than most of Chicago, and you're young."

"Which doesn't mean shit," I said honestly. "I'd trade it all away in three seconds if I could have Krystal."

Kim shook her head and looked at me like I was insane. "Hey dumbass," she said, before I interrupted her.

"You keep calling me that."

"You keep deserving to be called that. Julian, Krystal is my best friend, I've known her for years. And she is head over heels for you too. When you came to Chicago, she said you could stay with her for a few days. How long has she let you stay in that apartment?"

"A few weeks."

"A few weeks," Kimberly replied. "A few weeks to a man that she'd only known for a grand total of seventy two hours beforehand. Hell, you've practically moved in, and she hasn't complained one peep about it, other than when you gave her some grief at work. You two have spent more time together in those two weeks than she and I have, which is very rare, by the way. When we do spend time together, she almost never shuts up about you. Since you moved in, the only two topics of conversation she seems to be interested in is the damn cooking show, and you."