The Billionaire’s Secret Wife(62)

“Water’s fine. Sorry to drop in like this, but it’s important,” Vanessa said, sitting down.

Ceinlys brought out a glass. “What could be more important than your secret marriage?”

Vanessa’s face grew warm at the reminder of her elopement. In a way, she could see how her mother might be just a teeny bit peeved about not being able to have a grand wedding for her only daughter. On the other hand, would her father have been okay with it? She wasn’t even his. “Why didn’t you tell me I wasn’t Dad’s?”

The smile on her mother’s face didn’t change, but her eyes shuttered. “What are you talking about?” she asked, her diction a tad too precise.

“Dad had a vasectomy after Shane was born.”

A small spot on her mother’s cheekbone twitched. “You must be mistaken. Of course he did nothing of the sort.”

“There’s no mistake. My step-sister came to see me.”

“Your step-sister? Vane—”

“Peggy Teeter. From Provo.”

“Oh, her.” Ceinlys’s mouth set in a stubborn line. Vanessa knew that look. Her mother wasn’t even going to entertain the idea. “The woman is an extortionist. She approached me first, asking for money. When I told her no, she said I owed her and that she’d get what she was due no matter what it took. If she approaches you again, call the police.”

Vanessa shook her head. “I thought she was another one of Dad’s, so I went over to confront him.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have.”

“Why not? It was important to me. That’s when he told me I wasn’t his daughter.”

Ceinlys closed her eyes. “I told that boy never to mention my name.”

“Who was he? What was he like?”

“A poet I met at a party. He was dashing and interesting, and unlike Salazar, he had no money or prospects. But he made me feel like I was the most precious thing in the world. Which is probably why I fell for him that night.” Ceinlys shook her head. “And it was only the one time. I told him it was over and never to approach me again. He was upset, but he accepted my decision. That’s the convenient thing about those wounded artist types. They think nobody understands them and the whole world is against them.” She shook her head. “It was quite easy to persuade him I was a mercenary harlot who was too interested in money to be with him.”

Vanessa flinched, hating the way her mother talked about herself. That was the same horrible stuff that some jerks whispered behind her back—Ceinlys Pryce loved Salazar’s money too much to divorce him. But given how much her mother doted on her children, Vanessa suspected it was losing custody that had kept her with her husband in the early years. “What was his name?”

“He called himself Klein.”

“Is that his real name?”

“I have no idea. Never particularly bothered to find out. It wasn’t important.”

Vanessa bit her inner cheek. What little patience she had was seeping away, but it would be pointless to take it out on her mom. “Did you tell him about me?”

“No. I didn’t want to give him an excuse to cling. He couldn’t have been with me in any case. It simply wouldn’t have worked.”

“But the daughter he had with another woman seems to have found me somehow.”

“You don’t know if she’s telling the truth. She might be conning all of us. I’d ignore her if I were you. Or, if she proves persistent, obtain a restraining order. It wouldn’t be difficult.”

“I plan to check her out before I do anything,” Vanessa said. Then unable to help herself, she asked, “Did you love him?”

Ceinlys shook her head. “I enjoyed the way he made me feel, but I never loved him. By then I knew too much about how relationships worked to give in to a silly fantasy.”

Vanessa thought back to Justin, how he made her feel safe and cared for, and how that turned her insides gooey and warm. “How do you separate the two?”

“Quite easily. I remind myself of the one time when I didn’t, and how it hurt me.”

“If you regret marrying Dad, why didn’t you divorce him earlier? Even if you didn’t get anything in the settlement, you would’ve been able to start over with another man. One who might have loved you and given you children.”

Ceinlys’s eyes were sad even as she smiled. “Once was enough, dear. I couldn’t do it again.” She folded her slim hands together. “Are you going to tell your brothers?”

“Yes. They should know.”

“I see. Well, that probably is the right thing to do.” Ceinlys uncrossed her legs and placed both feet flat on the floor. “Is there anything else you want to know?”