The Object of His Protection - Brenda Jackson [48]
“Yes, but there’s more. It goes a lot deeper than that.”
She leaned forward in her seat. “Deeper in what way?”
He swallowed and felt a sudden tightness in his chest. This was the first time he would admit this to anyone. He spoke, hearing the words as he said them. “Congressman Braddock was my biological father.”
Chapter 15
A stunned expression covered Charlene’s face. “Your father!”
“Yes, my father. However, I didn’t find out until I questioned my mother as to why the congressman would call her and just how they knew each other.”
Charlene stared at him and immediately she knew that admitting such a thing had been hard for him. “And Ronald St. John? He was your—”
“He is the only father I know. I can’t deny it was Harmon Braddock’s seed that made me, but it was Ronald St. John’s love that shaped me into who I am today. He’s the person I remember from the time I was in the crib, who had always been there for me. The person who took me to my Little League games, showed up at every activity I was in while attending school and the person who made me believe I could do anything. Ronald St. John is the man I consider my father.”
Charlene eased to the edge of her seat. She could tell Drey still had a hard time accepting that biologically, he was a Braddock. “Didn’t you say that the congressman was your mentor?”
“Yes.”
“To me that means he wanted to share some aspect of your life.”
Drey nodded. “My mother said basically the same thing.”
“Don’t you believe her?”
He leaned back in his chair. “It’s not that I don’t believe her, Charlene. I just don’t care. Braddock had his family and Ronald St. John had his. I consider myself a St. John.”
“But truly you are a Braddock.” There, she’d said what he evidently needed to hear. He couldn’t deny who he was, not when Braddock blood ran through his veins.
He stood and walked over to the window and glanced out. She knew he was thinking. Moments later he turned to her. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell them, but I know I have to. I’m even doubtful that their mother knows about me. It’s my understanding that she’s aware that Harmon had an affair and with whom, but she doesn’t know that a child had been conceived out of it. I don’t want to do anything to tarnish her husband’s memory.”
Charlene didn’t know what to say because that was a good possibility when Mrs. Braddock discovered the truth.
He interrupted her thoughts by saying, “And then the siblings might be resentful.”
She wondered if he was afraid that would happen. Was he concerned that his siblings would reject him because of what their father and his mother had done thirty-three years ago? “I don’t know, Drey. I met them today and they seem a pretty confident yet wholesome trio.”
“They are close.”
“Yes, I can tell they are,” she said slowly. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t let you in or that—”
“I might not want to get in.”
He did, Charlene immediately thought. Otherwise he wouldn’t be carrying so much on his shoulders. What would it take to make him see that no one could blame him for the congressman’s and his mother’s actions all those years ago?
Suddenly, something hit her. Drey needed her. She wasn’t sure just where that thought or idea came from; it was just there, in her mind and in her heart. It was still strange how quickly things had progressed between them, but they had. And although he might never admit to any feelings for her, she knew at that moment she had to have meant something to him for him to have shared that with her. Okay, she wasn’t about to operate under any false illusions. In all honesty, she knew exactly where she stood with him. But for her, it didn’t matter. She loved him and would always love him and would be there for him until he said it was time for her to go. She would love to share more with him, but he had a wall erected, one she doubted she could scale.
She slowly walked over to where he was standing. For a long moment she stood silently beside him and looked out at the same pond, saw the