voice that this was really exciting news for her. “Ember, that’s wonderful. I look forward to meeting him.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I picked up the phone to try to persuade him to move closer, but his house was the one he shared with my mom. How could I ask him to leave that? But now he’s decided to rent it out.”
“That’s a good compromise.”
“Yeah, and he’s going to work for my uncle since he’s overwhelmed with cases.”
Darcy laughed out loud at that. “PI work is definitely your family’s forte.”
The cab pulled to the curb. Ember looked surprised. “Wow, we’re here already. Brandon is going to sign us in as his guests. He’s supposed to meet us at the door.”
Darcy waited for Ember to climb from the cab before she paid the cabbie and followed. She heard Ember calling a greeting to her friend and turned. As soon as she saw Ember’s friend, her feet stopped moving and all the air left her lungs. She was looking at a boy who looked exactly how Lucien had looked in his youth. Hot tears burned her eyes, but she couldn’t look away from the boy who was coming down the front steps toward them. It was her son—their son. She’d bet the bank on it.
“Darcy?” Ember’s voice held a note of concern.
“That’s Brandon?”
“Yes.” Ember seemed to understand what Darcy wasn’t saying when she exhaled in a gasp. “Oh my God. I didn’t even think; I mean, I saw similarities, but I assumed Brandon was too old to be your son.”
Darcy struggled to pull herself under control so she didn’t terrify the boy. Ember reached for her hand and squeezed, releasing it just as Brandon stopped in front of them.
“Hey, Ember.”
Darcy noticed the odd note in Ember’s voice, no doubt because she was holding back tears. “Hi, Brandon. This is my friend Darcy.”
“Hey . . .” But whatever Brandon was going to say died on his tongue as his eyes grew wide. His reaction was so strange that Darcy took a step closer to him and asked, “Are you okay?”
His voice was strained when he said, “Yeah, just . . .”
“What?”
“Do I know you?” he asked, and suddenly he looked so much younger.
“No, but I would like very much to get to know you.”
“You’re the one who was looking for her son?” he asked.
Darcy’s heart stopped beating. “Yes.” And then Brandon’s next words sent it into a gallop.
“You were looking for me, weren’t you?”
Darcy gave up and let her tears run down her cheeks. “Yes.”
Lucien and Darcy walked right past guest check-in; with the expressions on their faces, no one dared to stop them. They stormed into Sister Margaret’s room. She looked up in shock, presumably at the intrusion, until she saw who it was; then her expression turned to resignation.
“You fucking knew,” Lucien hissed. “You knew our son was at St. Agnes the entire time.”
“No, I didn’t know at first; I only suspected, but when I did learn the truth, I couldn’t say anything.”
“Why not?” Lucien demanded.
“I was being blackmailed.”
Lucien’s anger turned to confusion. “Heidi?”
“Yes.”
“What did she have on you?”
“It wasn’t me. She had information on Sister Anne, and though she was gone, I didn’t want her name, or our order’s, to be dragged into the dirt. I think you would have approved of the choice I made. It wasn’t an easy one.”
“That’s why you wanted us looking in the attic at St. Agnes. Heidi really did keep her stash there.”
“I think so, but I was never able to find it. It explained why she was always around, why she took interest in what everyone else was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she had been being paid to watch over you.”
Darcy’s confusion wasn’t feigned. “What do you mean by that?”
“How did the kidnappers know when you went into labor?”
Lucien tensed at Darcy’s side. “Fucking bitch.”
“Anyway, she moved her stash before she started blackmailing me. I think she actually got more dirt on people from rummaging through the stuff up in that attic. Through the years, the Sisters shared with me that Heidi continued to visit St. Agnes, sometimes bringing that boy of hers. I’m sure she was going through the attic looking for more secrets. She was one twisted girl. But there was another reason I encouraged you to go to St. Agnes.”
Darcy answered for her. “You knew if we saw Brandon that we would know he was ours.”