Breath of Scandal(160)

Only the truth could get him back.

"What they told you is true, Graham. Any one of three men could be your father. Because the three of them raped me. I got you when I was raped by three men."

He drew a ragged breath through his parted lips.

"I never wanted you to know because I didn't want you to impose that stigma on yourself. I didn't want you to blame yourself for something that was none of your fault. It was their sin, Graham. Theirs. Not mine, and certainly not yours."

She took a step forward and appealed to him. "I wouldn't tell you now except I'm afraid that if I don't, I'll lose your -love and trust permanently. You've got to believe me, Graham. These three men took away my virginity and my youth. They robbed me of my first, beautiful love, a boy named Gary Parker, who killed himself over what they did. Your grandmother deserted us because of what happened."

She stretched out her hand. "I can't let them take you, too, Graham. They've twisted the facts to make me look bad, but I wasn't the bad one. Neither are you. I love you. I know you love me. And because you love me, you've got to believe that what I'm telling you is the truth."

He glanced at the Patchetts suspiciously, then locked gazes with Jade again. "You were raped?"

"That's fight. When I was eighteen. And the only good thing to come out of it was you."

He hesitated for only an instant before hastily knocking aside the chair and lunging toward her. She clasped him to



her tightly, holding him as though she would never let him go.

"He stopped me on the road. He told me you'd be here, Mom. He said I was supposed to come with him."

"I know how persuasive he can be."

"I'm sorry I said those things about you. I didn't mean them. "

"I know you didn't." Over his shoulder, she regarded Neal with repugnance. "We love each other, and nothing is ever going to change that. Ever."

Dillon placed an arm around the two of them. "Let's get the hell out of here. " As one, they turned toward the arched opening.

"Not so fast," Neal said. "We're not finished here. We've got a lot to discuss with Jade that doesn't involve you, Burke. "

Jade spoke up before Dillon had a chance. "I've got nothing to discuss with you, except a possible kidnapping charge. "

"You can't kidnap your own child," Neal said. "What does he mean, Mom?"

"I'll bet you'd like to meet your real daddy," Ivan said to Graham. "Wouldn't you like that? To get to know your daddy and your grandpa?"

"Stop it," Jade shouted. "Haven't you done enough damage for one day?"

Graham's eyes drew a bead on Neal. "You were tht other one, weren't you? Did you rape my mother?"

"So she says," he replied smoothly. "But you'd just as well learn now how females lie, son."

"Don't call me that."

"It's not the way she says it was, Graham. Was it, Jade?" he asked, giving her a wink.

"You're despicable. " Jade took Graham by the hand and turned to leave, but Myrajane stunned them all by coming to her feet and speaking for the first time.

Pointing a long, meatless finger at Graham, she said, "He's a Cowan! I see my daddy in him. That's Lamar's son, and I want him."



448



Sandra Brown

"Well, you can't have him. " Jade divided her glance between Ivan and Neal. "Why did you bring her into this? Only to make things worse?"

Ivan said, "If he's Lamar's boy, Myrajane has every right to him, just like we do if he's Neal's."

As she moved across the room toward them, Myrajane's eyes glowed with fanatical fervor. "He's my flesh and blood. He's a Cowan. He's one of us." Looking at Jade, she hissed, "How dare you keep this child from me all these years? How dare you let me think all my kin were gone."

"She freaking nuts." Dillon nudged Jade's elbow. "Let's go. "

"It won't do you any good to leave with the boy," Ivan said. "It won't do you any good to hide him, either. We plan on taking this thing to court if we have to."

"For what purpose?" "Custody. "

Jade looked at them incredulously. "No court in the country would even hear your case,"

"But think of the stink it would raise," Ivan said with his nasty cackle. "You don't want that kind of scandal, do you? I don't think that Yankee Jew company you work for would like having the newspapers filled with stories about you and the three high-school classmates you gangbanged." Myrajane gasped at the crudity, but no one paid her any attention.

"Or was it four classmates, Daddy?" Neal asked tauntingly. "Don't forget Gary."

"You shut up about my mother!" Before Jade or Dillon could stop him, Graham charged toward Neal, fists poised for a fight. Dillon yanked him back.

"I get first crack at him," Dillon muttered.

Jade stepped in front of them. "Both of you, go outside. Graham was struggling to get free of Dillon so he could reach Neal. Dillon looked ready to kill him himself. "And leave you alone with them? Like hell, Jade."