After closing the phone, Abby handed it back to Dominic.
"What did she say?" he asked.
"She wants to be invited to the wedding," Abby said with a smile, but couldn't shake off the uneasiness she'd felt at what else Zhang had said. "But, Dominic, she said that she didn't send any helicopters. So, who is on the front lawn?"
Formerly invisible security filled the home and headed toward the unidentified intruders. Dominic and Abby rushed after them. The press wouldn't be foolish enough to follow them here, would they? She doubted Dominic would deal lightly with any trespassing on his island. Security systems were lighting up throughout the house giving the glass fortress the kind of protection many of its medieval predecessors would have envied.
"The Cavalry has arrived," Abby said with irony when the first of the intruders stepped out of the helicopters. The ever efficient looking Mrs. Duhamel was quickly followed by Jake who had his arm protectively over the back of Lil and her baby.
Mimicking Dominic's earlier tone, Abby teased, "Did you forget to tell Jake?"
Dominic's lips pursed in humor at her well aimed jab.
The door of the second helicopter opened and Thomas Brogos, the family's lawyer stepped out with an older woman Abby didn't recognize. Dominic's hand went stone cold within Abby's.
"What is it, Dominic?" Abby asked, seeing his attention rivet to the older woman. "Who is she?"#p#分页标题#e#
"My mother," he said hoarsely.
Abby continued standing on her shaky knees only out of determination to stay calm for Dominic. His mother? Here? How was it possible?
Lil handed Colby to Jake and broke from the group in a run. She wrapped her arms around her sister, asking fervently, "Are you ok, Abby?"
Abby hugged her back just as tightly. "I'm fine, Lil."
Lil held her at arms' length and searched her face for any signs of abuse. "The news said that Dominic practically forced you to come here. I called Jake right away and he arranged for Marie and I to take a jet to Alghero. Jake said you were fine, but I had to see for myself. Is this payback for all the years of grief I gave you?"
Abby smiled and reassured the sister who now seemed hellbent on hugging the life out of her. "It was just a misunderstanding."
Mrs. Duhamel stepped forward. "Dominic, you release Abby at once." She pointed to the security that was scattered across the perimeter of lawn. "You've probably got the girl scared half to death with this chauvinistic power play. In my day, a man showed more respect…"
Her lecture tapered off when Abby disentangled from her sister long enough to give the older woman a quick hug. "He's asked me to marry him, Marie, and I said yes!"
Mrs. Duhamel coughed in surprise and hugged her back. "Well, that's fine, then."
In her excitement, Abby hadn't realized that Dominic was no longer beside her. She turned to check his reaction to her announcement and saw him standing off to the side, about ten feet away from the woman who shared many of his facial features.
"Mother," he said the word like an accusation.
The woman stepped toward him despite the closed expression on his face. "Dominic!" she exclaimed tearfully.
"I thought you were dead," his expression held little emotion. It was as cold and lifeless as his hand had become the moment he'd seen her.
"It was necessary for you to think that, Dominic." She wrung her hands, her eyes pleading for his understanding.
"Really?" he said as if it were something from long ago that held little interest for him now.
His mother rushed to explain. "If your father had known that I was still alive, nothing would have stopped him from coming after me. He would have made me pay for leaving him. I would have never been safe."
"You could have told me." His voice became ragged. "I looked for you for years. I paid countless agencies to scour the world for you. Money was no object. They all said you were dead."
She wiped a tear from her check and looked at the man beside her. "I returned to my home country, Dominic. To my old village. There is a loyalty there that no amount of money can shake."
"You dare speak of loyalty?" Dominic's voice boomed. "You left us."
His mother bent over as if his words caused her actual pain. "I was weak, Dominic. Your father had crushed all of my confidence out of me. He would never have let me leave. And I couldn't take you with me. You were 17. Almost a man. Staying with him offered you a legacy of wealth I never could. Once in Italy, I faked my death and created a new identity for myself, but I had no idea if it would actually work. I chose a life on the run for many years—living where I could on what money people were kind enough to give me. What kind of life would that have been for you?"