A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [104]
None of this made any sense. Who would set him up this way? Did Donna have anything to do with this? But the woman had never gotten out of line with him. They barely communicated, and he couldn’t remember the last time she’d jogged past his house.
But if not Donna, then who? And why? The only person he knew who’d want friction between him and Erica was her mother. But he wouldn’t accuse the woman of going that far. Besides, Karen couldn’t be in two places at the same time and she was too emotionally torn with her own troubles to cook up something like this.
One thing was certain. Whoever had had the nerve to set him up this way had definitely underestimated him. If it took every penny he had, he would find the person responsible and when he did, there would be hell to pay.
April wasn’t sure how long she sat on her sofa curled up in a ball of pain so intense she’d never feel whole again. Anger and agony consumed her.
Somehow, she had known the one person she could never protect herself from in life was Karen Sanders. She had known it since that first day Erica had taken her home and the woman had looked at her with such loathing. At the age of thirteen, she hadn’t known or understood why. She still didn’t, but today showed just how deep the hatred went. Karen wouldn’t hesitate to lash out at anyone who she thought was a threat to what she considered a dream match between Erica and Griffin.
Griffin.
The thought of him made more tears fill her eyes. They were sister and brother! The very thought sickened her. How had she gone through life and not known, not even suspected? Surely someone would have let the cat out of the bag by now. What about Colleen Wingate, the biggest gossip in Hattersville? Although Colleen lived in the Fifth Ward, she had connections since she had cleaned every house on Wellington Road.
And then what about Mr. Carroll, who owned the deli? For years he’d hinted at the possibility that Ivan Witherspoon could be her father like she’d always assumed…but never Herbert Hayes. It was no secret Mr. Hayes used to be a rolling stone in his day and had a number of illegitimate kids all over the place, but most favored him in some way. It had been easy to tell that Griffin and Marcus Stratlet, Paul Ringard and Omar Gates were siblings, although they never claimed to be.
She nearly jumped when her phone rang again and didn’t have to look to know the caller was either Griffin or Erica. From the tearful message Erica had left earlier asking her to call her as soon as possible, April could only imagine what was going on with her. Whatever had happened when Erica had arrived in Dallas had been Karen Sanders’s doing.
The woman was playing her game well, making sure everything she wanted fell right into place, and this was one time April couldn’t stop her or tell anyone what a cruel and heartless bitch she was, one who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.
“Sweetheart, I guess you’re still not home yet. Call me when you get this message. I love you.”
Griffin’s voice cut her deep and she knew the first thing she had to do was end things between them. The sad thing about it was that she couldn’t tell him why. Something he would demand to know. She knew one way to end things was to all of a sudden become romantically linked to another man. That would hurt him deeply and he would never forgive her.
The thought of hurting him that way was too much to think about now, but she knew that it was needed for a clean break. For now she needed time and space to deal with it all. She would send him a message letting him know she was fine but needed time alone. Then she would be able to come up with a plan for how to get the only man she had ever loved out of her life for good.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Brian still not could not believe everything that had transpired over the past hour. He rubbed his hand across his face