A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [116]
Her heart began beating. Had Karen Sanders intentionally lied, figuring April would never learn the truth because she was too afraid and ashamed to ask anyone for verification? However, if what Griffin said was true…
Anger flooded through her and she was consumed with rage. “Who is it, Griffin? Who is the man who forced himself on my mother, got her pregnant and didn’t give one red cent about claiming me as his?”
Griffin reached out and pulled her into his arms. She could tell he was just as mad as she was. “I’m not sure you’re ready for that information.”
She looked up at him, clearly upset. “Don’t play with me, Griffin. I want to know who he is.”
“Isn’t it enough to know it’s not my father? If you want proof that we aren’t related we can go get our DNA tested on Monday.”
“Who is he, Griffin?”
It had become quite obvious that he was trying hard not to tell her.
“Tell me.”
“Baby, I—”
She twisted out of his arms. “No, tell me now!”
He reached out and drew her back to him. “Okay. I’ll tell you.”
She felt his tight grip on her arm as if he was fearful she might collapse on her feet once he told her. He looked deeply into her eyes as he spoke. “Your father was Omar Delbert.”
Her knees weakened and she all but crumbled in his arms. “That means…”
“Yes, baby. It means Karen Sanders is your sister and Erica is your niece.”
“Here, baby, drink this.” Griffin handed a glass of watered-down vodka to April.
“Thanks.”
He then sat on the sofa beside her and took her hand in his. They didn’t say anything for long moments and that was fine with him. He needed to chill a while and dwell on what had taken place and what had been revealed here tonight. What he’d said earlier was true. He’d had no idea she hadn’t known the identity of her father and, since the subject had never come up between them, he’d felt no reason to bring it up himself.
He had lived in Hattersville long enough to know that a lot of the people, especially those living in the Wellington Road area—the ones who had all the money and thought they ran the town—had all kinds of secrets and skeletons in their closets. He cringed at the thought of what some of those secrets might be and knew some were best left untold.
April broke into his thoughts. “Do you think that Mrs. Sanders knows, and that’s why she has hated me so much all these years and resented my friendship with Erica?”
He glanced over at her. “I’m not sure, April. But what I do know is the lie she told you about us being siblings was cruel and heartless. Even if she thought it was true, to use it to blackmail you, force you to end a relationship with me, is as manipulative as she could get. And just like I lost respect for her father that day, I’ve now lost respect for her.”
April shook her head. “I just don’t get it, Griffin. Why would she lie like that? Why is she so obsessed with you marrying Erica that she would go to such extremes? I haven’t talked to Erica since her mother’s visit, since she threatened to reveal our biological connections if I did, but from some of the things Karen said, I know she is doing something to break Erica and Brian up, as well.”
“She might have succeeded. Erica told me her wedding is not postponed but officially off. I didn’t ask why.”
Clearly angry, April let her voice grow louder. “Brian loves Erica, Griffin, and she loves him. What Mrs. Sanders has done is so wrong and she needs to be stopped once and for all. The woman is destroying lives.”
Griffin reached out and pulled April into his arms. He knew what she said was true. Hadn’t Mrs. Sanders tried destroying his and April’s lives? “There has to be a reason for this obsession of hers,