I throw him a puzzled look. “Why do you say that? You’ve never suggested that before.”
“Well, you were held at that house.” He points to the laptop. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for you to go there.”
“Sergio Bianchi could be there,” I point out. “I appreciate your concern, Cain, but this is a golden opportunity. I’m not going to let anyone else pursue my lead and take the credit for my hard work. Besides…” I strap my bra on. “I’m suspended, so I can’t call my boss.”
“What?”
And it’s not like I’m going to be alone.” I grab a shirt. “You’ll be with me.”
“If that’s where Sergio lives, he’ll have a lot of men. The two of us won’t be enough.”
“When we went to Rhode Island, we thought that was Sergio’s house,” I remind him. “I don’t remember you having any qualms about us going there.”
“Because back then, I didn’t…” Cain stops suddenly.
I look at him. “What?”
“Just let me handle it. I’ll go there. You stay here.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You just said two people won’t be enough. Now you want to go there alone?”
“I won’t be starting a war with Sergio Bianchi. I’ll just get some information.”
“No. I’m coming with you. We’ll do this together like we’ve always done.”
Cain sighs. “Allie…”
I put on my shirt. “What? Do you think I’ll freeze because I’ll remember what happened to me before?”
“No.” He shrugs. “Maybe.”
“I won’t.”
“You can’t be sure…”
“I’m sure I want to go there,” I tell him. “I’m sure I want to know everything that happened.”
I put my hand on my chest.
“You wouldn’t understand. All this time, I’ve felt like there’s something missing, like something’s been taken away from me because of that incident. I still feel… kidnapped. Trapped. I want to free myself, Cain.”
“Are you sure that’s because you were kidnapped? Or is it because you feel like you never belonged in your family?” Cain asks me.
My eyebrows crease. “What? What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that maybe you felt out of place after you were returned to your family, but maybe things already were out of place before you were even kidnapped.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Do you remember having an accident on a yacht as a child?” Cain asks me.
I give him a puzzled look. “How did you know about that?”
“No one in your family could donate any blood because they didn’t share your blood,” Cain tells me.
What? I didn’t know that. But then that means…
“If you want to make sense of your past, maybe you should look at your family first,” Cain says. “Or should I say the people you think of as your family?”
My knees grow weak as I realize what Cain is saying. I lean against the wall.
I’m adopted?
~
“How did you find out?” my mother asks me as her face grows pale beneath her makeup.
I sink into a chair as I feel my own blood drain from my cheeks.
So it’s true then. I am adopted.
I never suspected it, but I guess Cain’s right. There have been times when I felt out of place. Mostly when my mother – well, Suzette Chandler – made me feel out of place.
“Is that why you couldn’t love me?” I ask her.
She puts her hand on her chest as she gives a dramatic gasp. “Now, Alyssa, I find that offensive.”
“You found me offensive,” I point out. “You couldn’t stand me.”
“I personally picked clothes that I knew would look good on you. I bought you dolls. I hired tutors for you. I taught you how to play the piano myself. I combed your hair. I brought you to parties.”
“None of which I cared about,” I tell her. “You did all that for yourself, for the perfect daughter you wanted to have, but you didn’t really like the daughter you had, did you? Because she wasn’t yours.”
Suzette sighs. “Fine. Paint me to be the wicked stepmother. It’s what you’ve always done, haven’t you, Alyssa?”
I shake my head. I’m done arguing with her.
I stand up. “Who are my real parents?”
“I don’t know,” she answers. “It was your father who handled everything. He just told me we were going to have a daughter and that no one was supposed to know she wasn’t ours. He sent me away while someone took care of you so that no one would notice I wasn’t pregnant. When I came back, he made it seem like I came back with you.”
“So my brothers all think I’m their sister?” I ask.
Suzette nods.
“And you have no clue who my real parents are or why they gave me away?”
She shakes her head.
“Did Da -?” I swallow. “Did Dad ever say why he decided to take me in?”
“No. Frankly, he had many secrets. I let him keep them. I was afraid if I tried to pry, he’d leave me.”