Simple Perfection (Perfection #2)(30)

"Sit down and take a breath. You did this. Don't go pointing fingers at other people. First, I have to tell you about a conversation Della overheard the day before she ran off. You had better tell me what she really heard, because what she thinks she heard will get your ass killed, and sexy biker dude will get off scot-free. Capisce?"

"Please tell me what she heard, because I honestly have no idea."

"Did you have a conversation in the stairwell with your friend Jace that day?"

The stairwell? I sat down in my chair and thought back to before Della ripped my world away. I had talked to Jace that day. About my mom. "Yeah, I did."

"And . . ."

I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. "And what?"

Braden let out a loud sigh. "What did you and Jace talk about?"

Hell, I couldn't remember. My mother was stressing me out. I was planning on installing the new board. I was going to let Della come back to work and stop smothering her. Nothing that should've upset her. "I can't think of one thing I said that would have made her leave me."

"So Jace never told you that you had to stop dealing with her crazy ass? And you didn't say that it was affecting your work and it was easier to work with Angelina? And Jace didn't say that you had to get rid of the batshit crazy because you had a corporation to run?"

I shot up out of my chair. "What?" I roared.

"I didn't think so. Didn't sound like you at all. If someone had called Della batshit crazy you would have beat their ass. Della, however, felt sorry for you for having to put up with her and thought it was in your best interest if she left."

"Holy hell! I swear to God I never said that. Jace never said that. I would've killed him. We were talking about . . . we were talking . . . oh, motherf*cker." I knew what she'd heard. She hadn't heard everything. She'd just heard enough.

"Please tell me you didn't just have an epiphany and this conversation did actually happen," Braden said, warning me.

"No. Of course not. I mean, it did but we weren't talking about Della. God! Never Della. We were talking about my mother. She had just caused problems for me at the club and I was talking to Jace about how to deal with her. I . . . f**k! I can't believe she thought we were talking about her. I'm coming to get her. I can't do this anymore. I have to explain this to her. She has to know."

"No! Shut it, Kerrington. I told you at the beginning of this conversation that you would do just as I said. I'm not done talking to you and telling you everything you need to hear. So calm down and put your damn keys away. When it's time for you to come get her, I'll let you know, but this time I think it's real important that she come back to Rosemary on her own. She ran. She needs to find her way back. The cavalry can stay put and be patient."

"I have to see her, Braden!"

"Would you shut up and listen to me? I have information for Della that she needs to deal with first. She thinks she's going to be mentally ill because her mother and grandmother were. She thinks that staying with you means you can't have kids because their mother could snap at any time and go insane. She loves you more than she loves herself. So she's making sure you don't suffer that ridiculous fate she's convinced you'll have with her."

"We won't have kids. I just want her. If she's scared of that, fine. We won't have kids. I have to tell her I just want her."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you do. Shut up, I'm not done," Braden snapped into the phone. I fisted my hand around my truck keys and moved to stare down at my truck parked outside. I could get to her in five hours.

"Della was adopted."

So many emotions ran through me at once, I wasn't sure if I was going to weep or cheer or fall to my knees and take deep, even breaths. Holy f**k. This was a game changer.

"She was adopted?" I managed to choke out.

"Yep. She was adopted. Her adoptive parents were scared to have kids because they were afraid that Della's grandmother's mental illness was genetic. So they adopted a boy from the foster system. He was two when they adopted him. Then a couple years later they adopted a baby girl from a teenager who wasn't ready to be a mother yet. You know the rest."

She was adopted. Her fear of being mentally ill like her mother was unfounded. "Does she know?"

"I told her today. She knows. I've set up a meeting with her birth mother. She's a kindergarten teacher. She's married and has a ten-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter. They live in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her name is Glenda Morgan and she wants to meet Della. She said she tried looking for her after her son was born. She realized what she had given up and she wanted to make sure she was okay. But the file was closed and it cost money she didn't have to get an investigator. Her husband had agreed that with their income tax refund this year they would find her daughter instead of taking a family vacation. So when the investigator I hired found her she was as thrilled as I was."

I wanted to like this woman, but knowing that her decision to give Della up had been the reason for the hell Della had lived through made it hard for me to forgive her. Where was the guy who knocked her up? Did he not care he'd given up a child?

"What about her birth father?" I asked.

"Glenda has contacted him. His name is Nile Andrews. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He's a dentist. Also married, with triplets. All girls. He wants to meet Della, too. His wife is being supportive of his decision."