The Devil to Pay (21 page)

Daniel’s mind raced to assimilate all the facts and make sense of the jumbled pictures swirling in his brain. “So, let me get this clear, you told Rianna you were her natural father?” Tomos shrugged and began to hum as he shuffled papers into random heaps. “As I said, I had to protect you both. But not a word to your mother.”

Daniel stared at Tomos as the old man nodded as if to reinforce his words, and looked vaguely out of the double doors. His father hadn’t even realised what such a revelation would do to his son if it could possibly have been true, which it couldn’t be. It was preposterous. But clearly Rianna had been convinced enough to take off like she did. From her point of view, it was feasible. Her mother abandoned her when she was two, so she wouldn’t really have known the woman, and who could say what she had been told as she was growing up?

Rianna had felt ashamed enough to pretend her mother was dead rather than admit she had abandoned her children, so why wouldn’t she believe the wanton creature had cheated on the man who became her unfortunate husband as well? And then there was her father, the one with the car.

It would have made sense to Rianna to think he’d suspected all along that he’d shared his fiancée before they’d married and had an unwanted child dumped on him. It would have explained her harsh upbringing and given a reason as to what drove him to destroy himself, consumed and heartbroken by the shame of it all. Unable to confess the truth to the child he had raised as his own daughter.

It was also clear now why she hadn’t mentioned the real reason for her departure in her letter. The truth, as she saw it, was too appalling to inflict on another human being. She must really love him to keep his father’s sorry tale to herself.

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed a hand roughly across his jaw, shaking his head with despair at the mess his father had managed to create. His brain did a quick calculation. The driver had returned with her letter about ten minutes ago. Add that to the twenty-minute drive to the airport and time for loading up the jet, she’d be halfway to Cardiff already. Daniel sighed with resignation. “OK, Dad, are you hungry yet?”

The old man nodded, still staring out across the horizon, not turning to reply.

“I’ll see where lunch is, then,” he said sadly.

He started toward the door, his mind hurtling ahead of him. He
could
try and get a last minute flight, but the chances were it would be quicker to wait for the return of the jet within the next few hours. And he needed to consider what sort of state of mind Rianna was in. She had obviously believed what his father had told her and although his dementia-related delusions were muddling up his father’s emotions and memories to a catastrophic degree, he could still pitch an argument very convincingly.

Tomos Bracchi’s IQ was just as high as his and that was how he’d managed to conceal his illness for so long. This mess was all sortable, he reasoned calmly. He just needed a chance to explain. There was no point in getting angry with his father. He had to do his best to be gentle and patient, however trying he was. Tomos didn’t have forever, he thought sadly, but then neither did he and Rianna...

Chapter Fourteen

Rianna quietly shut the front door behind her and wiped her feet on the mat. The house was cold and silent, but the lingering smell of coal dust and margarine told her she was back at her Gran’s. Where was everyone?

Glimpsing a garish piece of card on the hall carpet shook her back to reality. A postcard. She bent down to pick up the jaunty scrap from Spain and turned it over. Gran’s unsteady scrawl was legible enough to convey that her niece and nephew were having the time of their lives on their second-ever holiday. And of course, they’d still be there for another week, which was why everything back in Oliver Street was so still. There was also a white envelope from the supermarket. She’d not turned up for weeks, so she knew what it was about.

Part of her was relieved she didn’t have to give an account of herself since she’d been away, at least she didn’t need to decide between telling Gran everything that had happened or glossing over the heartbreak that had unfolded. But at the same time, the other part of her yearned for the hustle and bustle, the noise and heat and cuddles. She ached for the unqualified love of her little family in the cosy shabbiness of their home.

****

Three days later, Rianna had heard nothing from Daniel.
Three whole days
, she thought bitterly. He could easily have been in contact if he’d wanted to, but she had told him not to bother because she’d be with the fictional Ryan, so she only had herself to blame. Besides it would achieve nothing. It would
change
nothing, and in the upstairs bathroom, she silently gritted her teeth against the sting of fresh tears. Her period was late.

She picked at the seal of the pregnancy test kit, her fingers trembling so much, she’d already dropped the packet twice. Her gran’s alarm clock ticked sternly on the windowsill as Rianna stared at herself in the mirror and listened to the heavy rain lashing the stippled glass of the window.

“‘Accurate to ninety-nine percent even before your period is due,’” she read out loud, hoping in some way that by doing so she would feel a little better about the whole situation. “Isn’t technology marvellous? Let’s hope Daniel Bracchi’s genetic material is less efficient.”

Panic raced through her body like lightning. She touched the flat sweep of her stomach and felt a lurch of nausea. She was terrified, her head spinning with incomprehension. What if she was pregnant? What would she do? She’d have to see a doctor eventually, and she knew what his advice would be if she told him the whole truth. She knew what he’d say. She knew what the whole world would say, but she wasn’t ready for that. Would she be able to abandon her own child like her mother had? Take the other option, the permanent, terminal one? Or should she keep the baby and her terrible secret forever? She needed time.

Rianna quickly shoved the packet back into the bathroom cabinet. She was only a couple of days late anyway so the chances were slim. It was probably just stress. Her breasts weren’t as sore as they usually were at this time of the month, but she pushed it to the back of her mind, and slammed the mirrored door shut.

She also had no time to waste on what ifs. She had to be practical whatever the future held. Rianna had posted her resignation letter to the quarry as soon as she’d landed in the UK, and the supermarket had now dismissed her by letter in her absence. Her chances of getting a new job quickly were slim and there was no way she would cash in Tomos’ cheque. She had no assets and her savings wouldn’t last long, but there
was
one thing.

****

A bitter flash of regret rippled across Rianna’s chest as her fingertips slid over the grimy bonnet of the Morgan three-wheeler. It had been her father’s pride and joy, an enduring piece of history he had shared with her mum, back in the good old days of freewheeling through the Black Mountains and over its frothing streams.

She’d always hoped to raise the cash to have it done up one day or at least to hang on to it long enough to pass on to her own children. Her father would have been furious. She had no choice. She needed to raise some cash quickly to tide the whole family over.

Rianna sighed with resignation and took a clump of rags from her pocket. She knew nothing about mechanics, but she could make sure the car was clean and shiny for a potential purchaser. It was a job for a serious enthusiast, and she had managed to get half an hour’s computer time down at the public library that morning. She could only hope her offer to sell on a specialist website would yield a fair price.

“I said I’d pay over the odds for it, remember?”

Rianna’s head snapped round in alarm at the deep timbre of his voice. “What are you doing here?” Her voice caught in the back of her throat at the sight of him, and her hand flew instinctively to her stomach with shock. He was as dark and brooding as ever, casting a long male shadow across her and the tiny ramshackle garage in which they stood. Raindrops glistened in the black shards of his hair and glittered like diamonds on his long eyelashes.

“We need to talk,” he stated in a low voice.

“How did you find me here?” She snapped her gaze away from him before her face betrayed her feelings of loss and hopelessness. She scrubbed ferociously at the mildewed car windscreen. “Actually I don’t care how you did it. You didn’t exactly rush over from Italy, did you? On your way to Nonna’s, are you?” Her voice had risen in pitch and she didn’t like the sound of it one bit. “Listen, I think you’ve done enough damage. I’d like you to leave immediately.”

“It’s taken me three bloody days to
get
here,” he ground out harshly. “So I’m not leaving until you’ve heard me out.”

She frantically polished at a wing mirror. “Three days?”

“You must have seen the news over the past few days. Storms and mudslides have bought the region to a halt. I couldn’t even charter a boat, it was so treacherous.”

Her lashes fluttered down with awkwardness. “I haven’t had the television on or read a paper since I got back. I’ve been preoccupied. I had no idea about the weather. But there was always the phone if you really wanted to speak to me.”

“I’ve been trying to call you since the jet landed with you at Cardiff. Your personnel files need updating. Both your landline and mobile are listed as disconnected.”

“Oh...we changed networks a few months ago to save some money...”

“I almost sent Mike round, but I thought it might be indiscreet and too heavy-handed.”

“That was considerate of you,” she replied quietly, “but I told you not to come anyway. Didn’t you get my letter?”

“I got your letter. Ryan’s his name then? I hope he’s looking after you.” Rianna could hear his angry breathing. “Turn round, look me in the eye and prove to both of us that you really don’t love me and I’ll go.”

She surreptitiously wiped away a tear, pretending to rub her forehead crossly. “You shouldn’t have come, Daniel. You shouldn’t be here. It’s impossible for us. You have to accept it.”

“You were easy to find once I got to Oliver Street. Your neighbours seem to know everything about everyone.” He took her by the shoulders and made her face him, his eyes blazing into her like turquoise lasers. “They don’t know everything though, do they? They don’t know all your dark family secrets.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied and put her hands behind her back so he couldn’t see them trembling.

“Your family told everyone your mother was dead, but she wasn’t, was she? She abandoned her two children and flew to New York to start a new life.”

“New York? What are you talking about?”

“I couldn’t get hold of you the last few days, but your gran actually answered the mobile phone we gave her when I rang it one last time flying over here today. I asked her a lot of questions. I got a lot of answers. Do you want to know what she said? Do you want the truth this time? It will hurt.”

“Why are you doing this? It’s got nothing to do with you anymore.”

“But it does, Rianna. It really does have everything to do with me, because I love you and I want an end to
all
the secrets.”

All the secrets?

“No. You must go now, before you make things even worse.”

“I know what Dad told you. I know the real reason why you wrote that mad letter and ran away.”

“Stop it! Shut up!”

Daniel’s grip tightened on her shoulders and he held on tight as she tried to wriggle free. “Listen to me! I’m
not
your half-brother.”

Rianna felt the blood drain from her face and her hands turn to ice. “He told you...”

“He told me he’d slept with your mother when they all still lived here, and that you’re his biological daughter, but it’s not true.”

“Not true,” she whispered. “Just like that, you swan in here and tell me it’s ‘not true.’ I suppose you will tell me to forget it was ever said, that we can carry on like we were, but we can’t! It all makes too much sense. The facts, the timings, that your dad
confessed
! Daniel, you’re just believing what you want to. It’s horrific, but we have to face the reality of the situation.”

“I am and you
have
to listen.”

She could hear the catch in her voice and knew it wasn’t going to be long before she completely broke down. “Why would Tomos say such a thing if there was no truth to it?”

“He couldn’t help himself is the simple answer,” he replied gravely. “There’s something you need to know about Dad, something I had promised never to reveal, but the time’s come now that I have to for everyone’s sake. He’s not been well for a few years. He has dementia, and I’ve been gradually taking over the reins as he’s deteriorated. Recently things have been getting worse, and the illness has given him delusional disorder as well.”

“Delusions?” She shook her head. “He seemed quite normal to me, a little flustered—”

“He’s a classic case apparently, high functioning in daily life, quite often not displaying any bizarre behaviour at all besides the delusions. He always gets unsettled when Mamma goes on a respite break. He hates change these days and the doctor says you turning up out of the blue probably made his behaviour worse than usual. I should have thought about that before we went.” He let go of her shoulders and rammed his hands into his coat pockets. “Dad’s infertile. He’s always struggled to cope with what he sees as a failure, and these days he refuses to accept it as fact at all. He must have convinced himself he was your biological father and the photographs made it worse. They reinforced his delusion and it all became fact for him.”

“Infertile?”

“One hundred percent, always has been, just like Uncle Alonzo, Isabella’s husband, but his shame was more acute. It’s never been mentioned outside the family, but I was secretly adopted. Mum had to hide away for five months until I was ‘born.’ She put up with it because she loved him so much and at the time she badly wanted a baby, too.” He took a slim white envelope from his inside pocket. “Hence why Isabella is so terribly bitter. Alonzo refuses to adopt, even secretly. He can’t accept alien blood in the family.”