“Only about my connection to him. Only that, Iswear.”
A wild laugh ripped loose. “Only that? Only?”
How could she explain? “I just wanted to get to know him. From a distance,” Francesca emphasized. “I never planned to tell either of you the truth.”
Fury ignited. “What were you waiting for? To worm your way into our good graces and then spring it on us? Hope Kurt was smittenenough with the idea of having a daughter that he’d give you a piece of my business?” She slammed her palms on Francesca’s desk.“Mybusiness. Not Kurt’s. He may keep the production end of things afloat, but I’m the creative force behind Timeless Heirlooms.”
Francesca shook her head. “You don’t understand. I’d never do anything to cause trouble for you two.” Guilt overwhelmed her. She never should have applied for a job at TH. Never should have put her own selfish needs ahead of respecting the sanctity of her father’s marriage. “I just wanted to get to know my father,” she confessed miserably. “I never planned to tell either of you who I was. Please, Tina. This isn’t Kurt’s fault.”
“I’m well aware of whose fault this is.” She stabbed a finger at Francesca.“Yours.You chose to come into our life. You chose to become involved with Severo Dante. You ruined my marriage.”
“Ruined?” Francesca shot to her feet. “No, Tina. Don’t walk out on Kurt. Not because of me.”
“I can add. Better yet, Ican subtract. According to our personnel records, you’re twenty-six. That means Kurt and I were married three years when he—” She broke off, clearly softened the description she’d been about to use. “When he had an affair with your mother.”
“It was a long time ago, Tina. All anyone has to do is look at him to know he’s crazy in love with you.” Francesca jettisoned every scrap of pride to plead on Kurt’s behalf. “After thirty years of marriage, surely that counts for something?”
“Maybe it would have, if not for you. But every time I see you, every time I hear your name or see your designs, it’s a slap in the face. Living proof of my husband’s infidelity.” Tina spun around and stalked to the door. Once there, she paused. “Oh, and by the way? You can thank your fiancé for clueing me in to your true identity. It would seem he’ll do anything to get his hands on TH. Even destroy my marriage.”
Sev satbehind his desk, papers strewn across the thick glass surface. Some were preliminary jewelry designs, others financial statements from the various international branches, still others proposals for expansion. All of the reports demanded his immediate attention.
A knock sounded at his door just as he reached for the first report. Before he could respond, Francesca entered the room. She shut the door behind her with a tad too much emphasis, warning of her less than stellarmood.
“How could you?” she demanded.
He stilled, studying her through narrowed eyes. “Clichéd, but intriguing nonetheless. Dare I ask, how could I what?”
“Tina knows. Tina knows I’m Kurt’s daughter. There’s only one person who could have told her.”
“I gather that’s where I come in.” He leaned back in his chair, reaching for calm. For some reason that only served to push her anger to greater heights.
“Don’t,” she warned sharply. “Don’t play with me.”
“I’d love to play with you, though not about this.” He gave her a level look. “Honey, Ihaven’t broken my promise to you. The only contact I’ve had with Tina is to up my offer for Timeless Heirlooms.”
Francesca shook her head. “You don’t get it. You—or one of your brothers—are the only ones who could have told her. No one else knows.”
He smiled at that, which might have been a mistake judging by the flash of fury that glittered in her dark eyes. “Someone must know, otherwise we wouldn’t have uncovered the information in the first place.”
She slowly shook her head. “I hired a private investigator four years ago to find my father. He couldn’t. But he did find an old friend of my mother’s and she’s the one who revealed myfather’s identity. Inever told anyone, not even the PI. So unless someone tracked this woman down and forced her to talk, Ihave trouble believing the leak came from her.”
That caught him by surprise. Shoving back his chair, he stood and circled his desk. Cupping her elbow, he drew her over to the sitting area on the far side of the room. “Are you certain she didn’t tell anyone else?”
“I can’t be positive.” She perched on the edge of the couch and he sat next to her, too close judging by the tide of awareness that washed through her. She struggled to hide her dismay by directing it toward anger. “But I find it highly unlikely she’d call Tina out of the blue and just hand over that information. It doesn’t make any sense.”
He analyzed what she’d said, looking for alternate explanations. “What about your foster parents? Is it possible they had that information?”
“Not a chance. They’d have turned Kurt’s name over to the state to force him to pay child support.” She leveled him with a censorious look. “How did you find out about Kurt? Who in your organization knows the truth?”
“We hired a private investigator to check you out,” he admitted.
She couldn’t prevent the accusation. “You’ve had me investigated?”
“We had all of TH’s designers investigated as a matter of course.” He held up a hand to ward off her indignation. “Listen, I’ll contact the investigator and ascertain how he came across the information. All I can tell you is that I didn’t betray your secret to Tina. Nor did any of my brothers.”
She surged to her feet and paced across his office. “This is going to destroy the Fontaines’ marriage.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Though, privately, he’d rate it closer to probable, edging toward definite.
