Ryan was numb from head to toe. His own mother had done something that sick? It didn’t seem possible. How could anyone hate someone else so much that they’d go to such lengths to get rid of them?

“She invited me to dinner last night. But I swear, Ryan, she told me that you wanted me there, that you and Kelly wanted to let the past go and start over. I wasn’t going to go, because I didn’t want to upset Kelly or make you angry, but Mom told me you specifically asked for me to come. And I hoped…I hoped that maybe you and Kelly could forgive the past and that we could be a family again. Like old times.”

Ryan dropped his hands to his sides, suddenly so sick at heart that he just wanted to walk away. “You’re no longer my family. Kelly and our child are my family. I don’t ever want to see you again. If I ever catch you near Kelly I swear to you that you’ll regret it.”

“Ryan, don’t. Please,” Jarrod called hoarsely.

Ryan stopped at the door and slowly turned around. “Did she beg you like you’re begging me, Jarrod? Did she ask you to stop?”

Jarrod’s face flushed a dull red and then he looked away, no longer able to meet his brother’s gaze.

“Come on,” Cam said quietly. “Let’s go, man.”

As they walked back out, Ryan nudged Cam toward the waiting car. “You go. I’ll take a cab. I’m going to see my mother.”

Cam hesitated. “Sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“Yeah. This is something I have to do by myself.”

* * *

Ryan knocked tersely on the door to his mother’s home and issued a clipped demand to see her when one of the maids answered the door.

A moment later, as he paced the floor of the receiving room, his mother hurried in, her brow wrinkled in concern.

“Ryan? Is something wrong? You didn’t call to tell me you were coming.”

He stared at her, wondering how he could be so blind about the woman who’d given birth to him. There was no doubt she’d always been self-centered, but he’d never considered her malicious enough to harm an innocent woman.

Even now, after everything that had happened, he was at a loss for words. How could he possibly convey the depth of his hatred? It boiled in his veins like acid. His family. The people he should be able to count on. They were…evil.

The irony struck him hard. Kelly should have been able to count on him. But just as his family had betrayed him, he had betrayed Kelly. Maybe he was more like his mother and brother than he wanted to admit. The thought sickened him.

“Ryan?” she asked again.