Conflict of Heart

Chapter 25

For a long while Ryker did nothing but stare at her. She never noticed it before, but in the natural sunlight and the closeness in which they stood, the gold specks in his eyes seemed to melt into two beautiful pools of golden amber. She had never seen such a shade before, and she couldn't help but stare at them.

He exhaled slowly, appearing to have accepted defeat. "Your father never told you, did he?"

Isabella frowned at his question. She knew that he was referring to that one time she had mentioned the connection, where he refused to disclose how they knew each other and said that she should ask her father instead. 

She straightened her shoulders. "No. Asking my dad about a mysterious acquaintance when he doesn't even know what is wrong with his wife and unborn child seems a little trivial in comparison, don't you think?"

Ryker clenched his jaw and looked to the side. "He told me not to tell you. Said you wouldn't handle it."

Those words made Isabella pause. He told Ryker that? Her father knew her like the back of his hand. What was it that he was hiding if he believed she couldn't handle it? She pressed her lips into a grim line. It didn't matter if she could or couldn't handle it.

She had to know.

"Ryker, I'm nearer thirty than twenty. I think I can handle anything you have to say to me."

His gaze slowly moved back to hers. "Are you sure you know what you're asking of me?"

The way he asked that question made her hesitate, and a small trickle of dread started to pool in her stomach, growing until she felt weak at the knees from the weight. She didn't understand why she had such a terrible response to that question, but she figured it had to do with the fact that it was a secret that her father, and possibly her mother too, had kept from her for over twenty years.

Being as close as they were, it only proved to her that it was a terrible secret that they had hid to protect her.

But despite her growing timidity, she forced her back to straighten. Drawing a deep breath into her lungs, she turned her adamant gaze to him. "Yes."

Ryker pressed his lips together and slowly turned to lean against the wooden railing of the old promenade. He looked down at his boots, his gaze one of deep thought. He licked his lips slowly then began in a low voice, "You already know the story of how your aunt and father met. But you probably don't remember much of what happened later in their relationship."

Isabella's adamant expression melted into one of shock. "Wait . . . you know about—?"

"Yes. I know that Jenny isn't your biological mother," he stated, glancing up at her surprised expression. "I always knew that."

Her gaze dropped down to her hands. She shouldn't have been shocked. The whole world kind of knew it too, maybe not in explicit detail, but they got the idea. Besides, he had known her father for over two decades. Her parentage was bound to come up in conversation. "Well, what happened?"

"When Jenny and Nathan started getting more serious, your biological mother came back into the picture as well as a man by the name of Jacob Hayes. Hayes had been a terror to Jenny in her younger years and so your father, fearing for her safety, had two bodyguards hired to protect her." A muscle in his jaw ticked when he paused. "That was when things became fatal. Clara and Hayes abducted your mother and sister, killing the two bodyguards in the process."

Isabella frowned, her heart starting to pick up its pace in her chest. "How many years ago was this?"

His expression was grim. "Twenty-one years ago. Your sister was five at the time."