The High Price of Secrets(76)
Was she too late? Had she come this far only to fail? The awful possibility hit her in the chest with the weight of a well-aimed sledgehammer and she staggered, the movement attracting attention from the self-contained group that approached.
Lorenzo’s dark eyes bored straight through her for a moment before he turned to Finn, anger suffusing his haggard features.
“I thought you were keeping her away,” he said, the words sharp and clear on the air.
“Papa!” Alexis remonstrated, tugging at his arm.
But the words were said. Damning words that confirmed that Finn had not just been withholding information from her, he’d actively ensured she didn’t find her mother’s location. Hurt piled upon hurt.
“I’m my own person,” Tamsyn said shakily, stepping up to the small group. “You can’t keep on pushing me away, hoping I’ll just disappear. I want to see my mother.”
“You’re too late,” Alexis said softly. “Our mother passed away two hours ago. I’m sorry. If I’d known you were here—”
“If you’d known, nothing!” Lorenzo spat. “She’s a Masters. You know what they did to your mother, how they broke her spirit.”
“Enough!” Finn said firmly, stepping between Tamsyn and Lorenzo. “Now isn’t the time for recriminations. Alexis, take your father back to the hotel. I’ll look after Tamsyn.”
Tamsyn stood there, numb and disbelieving. Her mother was dead? Every opportunity she’d had over the past four and a half weeks was irrevocably lost. Every question she’d ever want answered, every story she’d ever want told—gone. Forever.
She couldn’t even summon a reaction as Finn took her arm and led her out toward the taxi rank. The journey to his hotel was swift and, before she knew it, she was in his room, a slug of brandy in a short tumbler thrust into her hands.
“Drink, you’ve had a shock,” he insisted, cupping his hands over hers and lifting the glass to her lips.
Automatically she obeyed, automatically she swallowed the burning liquid, felt its trail from her lips to her tongue and down to her stomach where it hit and spread, infusing her frozen senses with some sense of warmth.
“Why?” she asked, her voice cold and empty. “Why did you keep me from her? I wouldn’t have hurt her. I just wanted my mother!”
Her last words rose to a pained peak and tears brimmed in her eyes before they began to roll, one swiftly after the other, down her face.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference, Tamsyn. Whatever you wanted from her, you wouldn’t have been able to get. I’m sorry, she was too sick.”
“How can you say that? You never even gave me a chance.”
Finn sighed and sat in the chair opposite her, his forearms resting on his knees, his head dropping between his shoulders for a minute before he lifted it and faced her.
“For the last ten years Ellen has been battling early-onset dementia. It progressed dramatically in the past year. Coupled with that, she had underlying health problems created and subsequently exacerbated by her alcoholism. Her life has been a battle for a very long time. One she fought bravely.” He shoved a hand through his hair, making the ends spike in disarray. “Ellen wouldn’t have known you, Tamsyn. She didn’t even know Lorenzo or Alexis these past few weeks. She disappeared into a part of her mind where she could hide until she had to face the end.”