“Actually, I will only be in one place.” Seeing her confusion, he continued. “The last time I was here, I saw a picture on your desk that had been taken at your cousin Jeremiah’s wedding.”
“Yes, I remember. What about it?”
“Seeing it made me realize something.”
“What?”
“Your family is my family.”
Now he really had her confused. “I don’t understand, Skylar. What are you talking about?”
“My brother? The one who came to see me in San Francisco.”
“Yes?”
“His name is Logan Montgomery.”
Haven was out of his lap in a flash. “What! Are you sure?”
He pulled her back. “I am positive. Remember me telling you that I recognized someone in the photo?”
“Yes, and I assumed it was Lance,” she said.
“The person I recognized was Logan. He had just met with me a couple of weeks earlier. We even dined together.”
“That means you, Logan, Lyle, Lance, and Carrie share the same mother?”
“Yes.”
“But how could that be? In all these years, there was never any mention of their mother giving birth to afifth child. The Montgomerys are big on family. They would have at least mentioned it.”
“They didn’t know.” Then, while she cuddled in his arms, he told her what Logan had shared with him, how Edwina Montgomery had sent a packet of letters to Jeremiah to disperse. No one had known of Skylar’s existence until then. He then told her the sordid details, about how his father had purchased him from Edwina, how she’d never even held him, how his father, Ricco, and Dante’s father, Mario, had arrived at the hospital just hours after he was born to claim him.
“But who took care of you? You were so young.”
“My grandmother, Ursula. And she hired a team of nurses to assist her. Dad shared everything with me during his final days. I know Mario visited Edwina to deliver the money and had her sign a paper stating that she relinquished any rights to me. From what Dad told me, Mario scared her witless, threatening what would happen to her if she ever came back.”
“And she believed him?”
Skylar nodded. “She would have to be crazy not to. Mario came from a family of hitmen in Italy.”
“What!”
“That’s another story I intend to share with you one day. But not now.” He nuzzled her cheek.
“Okay, but this entire thing is bizarre, especially the fact that you and I met and fell in love, not knowing of the connection. It seems like more than a coincidence, Skylar. It has to have a deeper significance than that.”
“Dante believes it was my destiny.”
“Well, I’m glad neither you nor Dante thought I was involved in some nefarious plot. Although I wouldn’t haveblamed you. This is so incredible! Have you told the Montgomerys about us?” she asked.
“I haven’t spoken with Logan since he left San Francisco. What about you? Have you spoken with the Montgomerys since you’ve been back?”
“Yes, I called Jeremiah to let him know I had returned and that I would be bringing a date for Thanksgiving. He is excited to meet you. I didn’t give him your name. The family is already thrilled because Thea’s daughter, Danielle, is bringing a date as well. Everyone is anxious to meet you both.”
She reached up and caressed his chin. “I know that finding out my connection to the Montgomerys had to have been a shock, but I like Dante’s assessment. This—” she dropped a kiss on his lips, “--was meant to be.”
She sat back and studied him. “You know, this might be really good for you. The Montgomerys are family-oriented, and whenever you talk about your father, what a good and kind person he was, it reminded me of Jeremiah. It’s ironic how two wonderful men could fall in love with the same horrible woman.”
