"I don't know what you're talking about."

Karen threw her head back and chuckled. "That doesn't surprise me. You were never very bright, and your mother had even less intelligence."

April filled with rage. "How dare you say such a thing about my mother. I want you to leave."

"Not until I have my say. You can hear the truth from me or you can read about it in the Hattersville newspaper when I tell everyone, which will ruin any chance of Griffin becoming a politician."

"What truth?"

The smile that appeared on Karen's face was so cold that April felt chilled to the bone. "The fact that the two of you share the same daddy. In other words, April, Griffin is your biological brother."

The woman's words were like a hard blow and April felt her head spinning. She lost her balance and sank into the chair beside her.

She closed her eyes, thinking this was all a bad dream and when she reopened her eyes Karen Sanders wouldn't be sitting across from her with a smug look on her face, looking as if she had finally delivered the fatal blow to destroy her forever. A question rang through her head-one that had always been there, where Mrs. Sanders was concerned. Why did she hate her so much?

April had once mentioned it to her grandmother, who'd merely shrugged and said the woman had issues, always had and always would. Nana had told her to ignore her and her ways, and most of all to pray for her. For a while April had done just that, asking G.o.d to somehow change the woman's heart. But so far he hadn't.

"That's not true," April heard herself say over the rush of blood in her head. "There's no way Herbert Hayes is my father."

"Oh, but it is true and I have everything I need to prove it. You are just another of his b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, trust me. He's got them spread all over town. Imagine what the people of Hattersville will think when they find out you and Griffin have been engaging in incestuous activities. It will destroy any chances he has for ever becoming mayor. As for you, well, the tabloids will have a field day with it."

April fought back the bile coming up in her throat. She needed to make it to the bathroom. She needed to get the woman out of her home.

She stood on wobbly legs. "Get out, Mrs. Sanders."

Karen stood. "Oh, I'll leave as long as we understand each other. I want you out of Griffin's life. I also want you out of my daughter's life. You are not and never were fit to be her friend. I don't care how you do it, but do it. Because if you don't, I will make good on my threat."

"You are crazy. You are a demon. You are-"

"A woman who intends to get what she wants, which is a marriage between Griffin and Erica."

April was at that moment convinced the woman was crazy. "But Griffin and Erica don't love each other. Why can't you see and accept that? Erica loves Brian."

Karen waved off April's words like they meant nothing. "Love doesn't do anything but cause heartbreak. Erica will soon find that out. And as far as Griffin is concerned, I can see how he could be infatuated with you since you are a pretty girl, but beneath that covering you are still the s.l.u.t your mother was. You know what they say-the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"My mother was not a s.l.u.t!"

"Oh, but she was. Everyone figured she was hopelessly and foolishly in love with Ivan Witherspoon, when she was really sleeping around with old man Hayes, so he would buy her the little pretty things that your grandmother could not," Karen said snidely.

April knew about her mother's love for Ivan Witherspoon only because of the one or two love letters she'd found while going through her belongings after she died. That's why, although she'd never known the ident.i.ty of her father, she'd always a.s.sumed he had been Witherspoon.

According to what she had been able to find out, Ivan and his family had packed up and moved away from Hattersville a short time after her mother got pregnant. April had heard some town people figured he was trying to escape his responsibility after having knocked up a girl from the Fifth Ward.

"I hope we understand each other, April. I want you to end things with Griffin and stay away from Erica or everyone will know the truth. And it will behoove you to keep my visit and our secret to yourself. If you tell anyone I've been here, I will have to tell them why and, trust me, that's something I'd think you would want no one else to know, especially Griffin."

Without saying anything else, Karen gathered her purse and strutted out the door with the same air of confidence and determination she'd had when she'd strutted in.

Brian stood at the window and watched Erica drive away, not believing what had happened here in this very house between them just moments ago. He closed his eyes wanting to believe it had been an out-of-body experience, a nightmare, and that all he needed was a stiff drink to come back to reality.

But when he reopened his eyes his gaze lit on the pair or red panties lying on his living room floor. If they weren't Erica's then where the h.e.l.l had they come from? He crossed the room to pick them up and sure enough, they were monogrammed with the initial D. D.

He then moved quickly, taking the stairs two at a time, to take a look at his bedroom. Just like she'd claimed, perfume blasted his nostrils the moment he walked into the room. He glanced around, not believing what he was seeing. It looked like two people had had a s.e.xual marathon in his bed. He saw his white shirt on the floor-a shirt he knew for certain he'd put in the laundry hamper yesterday.

Brian picked up the shirt and saw the red lipstick stain, not believing his eyes. At that moment something snapped inside of him and he let out a deep bellow of rage that erupted in the pit of his stomach and traveled through all parts of him, transporting fury in its wake.

None of this made any sense. Who would set him up this way? Did Donna have anything to do with this? But the woman had never gotten out of line with him. They barely communicated, and he couldn't remember the last time she'd jogged past his house.

But if not Donna, then who? And why? The only person he knew who'd want friction between him and Erica was her mother. But he wouldn't accuse the woman of going that far. Besides, Karen couldn't be in two places at the same time and she was too emotionally torn with her own troubles to cook up something like this.

One thing was certain. Whoever had had the nerve to set him up this way had definitely underestimated him. If it took every penny he had, he would find the person responsible and when he did, there would be h.e.l.l to pay.

April wasn't sure how long she sat on her sofa curled up in a ball of pain so intense she'd never feel whole again. Anger and agony consumed her.

Somehow, she had known the one person she could never protect herself from in life was Karen Sanders. She had known it since that first day Erica had taken her home and the woman had looked at her with such loathing. At the age of thirteen, she hadn't known or understood why. She still didn't, but today showed just how deep the hatred went. Karen wouldn't hesitate to lash out at anyone who she thought was a threat to what she considered a dream match between Erica and Griffin.

Griffin.

The thought of him made more tears fill her eyes. They were sister and brother! The very thought sickened her. How had she gone through life and not known, not even suspected? Surely someone would have let the cat out of the bag by now. What about Colleen Wingate, the biggest gossip in Hattersville? Although Colleen lived in the Fifth Ward, she had connections since she had cleaned every house on Wellington Road.

And then what about Mr. Carroll, who owned the deli? For years he'd hinted at the possibility that Ivan Witherspoon could be her father like she'd always a.s.sumed...but never Herbert Hayes. It was no secret Mr. Hayes used to be a rolling stone in his day and had a number of illegitimate kids all over the place, but most favored him in some way. It had been easy to tell that Griffin and Marcus Stratlet, Paul Ringard and Omar Gates were siblings, although they never claimed to be.

She nearly jumped when her phone rang again and didn't have to look to know the caller was either Griffin or Erica. From the tearful message Erica had left earlier asking her to call her as soon as possible, April could only imagine what was going on with her. Whatever had happened when Erica had arrived in Dallas had been Karen Sanders's doing.

The woman was playing her game well, making sure everything she wanted fell right into place, and this was one time April couldn't stop her or tell anyone what a cruel and heartless b.i.t.c.h she was, one who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

"Sweetheart, I guess you're still not home yet. Call me when you get this message. I love you."

Griffin's voice cut her deep and she knew the first thing she had to do was end things between them. The sad thing about it was that she couldn't tell him why. Something he would demand to know. She knew one way to end things was to all of a sudden become romantically linked to another man. That would hurt him deeply and he would never forgive her.

The thought of hurting him that way was too much to think about now, but she knew that it was needed for a clean break. For now she needed time and s.p.a.ce to deal with it all. She would send him a message letting him know she was fine but needed time alone. Then she would be able to come up with a plan for how to get the only man she had ever loved out of her life for good.

Chapter Thirty-Two.

Brian still not could not believe everything that had transpired over the past hour. He rubbed his hand across his face and closed his eyes as he leaned against the closed door. If he was not a rational man with his senses fully intact, he would think he was pa.s.sing through the Twilight Zone.

He was now furious, madder than h.e.l.l at Erica for so easily believing the worst of him. How could she accuse him of being unfaithful when since meeting her he hadn't looked twice at another woman? No woman consumed his thoughts but Erica. No matter how damaging the evidence she had found at his house, she should have believed in him.

But then considering what she had arrived at his house to find, a part of him couldn't very well blame her for the way she'd reacted and the accusations she'd hurled at him.

He hadn't known Erica was visiting him today but someone else had, and that person had deliberately set him up.

He pulled the phone off his belt and, deciding to give Matt a call, punched in a few numbers. He needed help in unraveling this mess and he needed it fast.

When his friend answered, Brian drew in a deep breath. "Someone set me up, man."

"What are you talking about?"

"Erica came to town unexpectedly and she thinks I'm involved in an affair."

"Why would she think that?"

"Someone entered my house to deliberately make it look that way. She's calling off the wedding and doesn't want to see me ever again. I'm no longer paranoid," he said, remembering how Matt has once accused him of such a thing where Karen Sanders was concerned. "What I am is madder than h.e.l.l. I want to find the person responsible. And I need your help."

Without a pause, Matt said, "I'll be right over."

Griffin checked his watch. It was close to two in the morning in Hattersville, which meant it was midnight in L.A., so where the h.e.l.l was April and why hadn't she returned his calls?

He stopped his pacing to stare out of his bedroom window and, from where he stood on the third floor of his home, he could see that most of the residents were asleep. He truly loved this town, faults and all, and wanted to make it into the thriving city that he knew it could be. There was so much undeveloped land, and with the right plans in place there was no doubt in his mind the town could double its size in no time.

Over the past year he had spoken to a lot of his former cla.s.smates who'd moved away to live in the big cities. They'd wanted to raise their families in a small town, yet all of them had said Hattersville would be their last choice. That bothered him but he of all people understood their sentiments. Many of them like him had been considered the upper echelon of the community, but a number of those families over the years had fallen on hard times, and a decline in status was considered unforgivable in the eyes of those still prospering. They had been treated worse than those who'd been born in the Fifth Ward.

He intended to change things when he became mayor and with April by his side he believed he could do the impossible. But first he needed to convince her to be the woman by his side.

He wanted her to continue her career but he also wanted her to know that a positive change was about to happen. He intended to make it that way not only for her, but for so many others who felt the town had let them down.

He moved away from the window to his nightstand to pick up his phone. He would try reaching April again. When he had talked to her last night she hadn't mentioned any function she would be attending tonight.

Moments later he hung up the phone. Her condo was pretty secure but he knew he wouldn't be totally satisfied until he heard her voice.

Matt Seacrest leaned back against the sofa cushion and made a steeple with his fingers while glancing over at Brian. His friend was in a bad way and he couldn't recall ever seeing him this broken.

"And you really think it's the old lady's doing?" he asked his friend.

Brian stopped pacing and instinctively Matt glanced down at the floor, curious to see if his best friend had worn a hole in the carpet. He had been here for over an hour and this was the first time Brian had stood still.

"Yes, but a part of me doesn't know how."

"Easily, if she has help."

Brian lifted a brow. "So now you don't think I'm paranoid after all?"

A smile touched Matt's lips. "Let's just say after finally getting Ca.s.sie to marry me, I can't imagine Erica not marrying you, especially when I know how much you love her and that your loyalty to her is sincere. You have evidence-the panties, lipstick on your shirt and the fragrance of that perfume that even I can smell. Yes, bro, someone set you up and if the old lady is the only one who would be happy if you and Erica didn't get married, then she would be my first suspect. Although, one would think that doing what she's done, just to get Erica to not marry you, is a little overboard."

Brian shrugged. "She wants her to marry this guy named Griffin Hayes."

"Yes, but why? What would she get out of it if Erica and Hayes were to marry? Would it double, triple or quadruple the size of the family's wealth or something? She has to have an ulterior motive to go to this extreme to keep you apart."

"With what happened between my mother and her husband, don't you think for her that would be reason enough?"

"Honestly, no. I could see her being spiteful and even a little vengeful. But not outright manipulative to this degree, this cold and heartless. A woman who would deliberately destroy her daughter's chance at happiness sounds like someone who isn't emotionally stable, someone who is obsessed with her daughter marrying someone else. Why?"

"There is this nonsense of a family curse she believes in."

That got Matt's attention and he sat up. "What family curse?"

Brian took the chair across from the sofa and for the next twenty minutes retold what Erica had once shared with him. At the time he, like her, had found the whole idea of the HayesDelbert curse rather out there and not worth very much thought. Evidently her mother was determined to destroy this so-called curse.

"And what about Donna?"

Brian lifted a brow. "Donna?"

"Yes. Erica is convinced she set you up, so how is she connected to Karen Sanders?"

Brian shook his head. "I don't know if she is." He blew out a frustrated breath. "This whole thing sounds far-fetched, but I want answers, Matt. Maybe Mrs. Sanders had nothing to do with it, and maybe things played out to her advantage coincidentally. But I have to know that for sure. And I want to know who entered my home today and intentionally left all those things behind so Erica could find them."

Matt tapped his fingers on the coffee table. "And you're sure, at least as far as you know, Donna Hardy doesn't have the hots for you and set out to deliberately sabotage your relationship with Erica."

"As far as I know she doesn't have a thing for me. Even if she did, how could she have known Erica was coming to town today?"

"I'm not sure," Matt said, standing. "But you better believe I'm going to find out."

Brian knew Matt well enough to know that he would. In fact, there was no doubt in Brian's mind that, when it was all over, Matt would not only put an end to this madness, but he would have the names of the person or persons responsible.

Griffin got out of bed the next morning after a sleepless night, mainly because he still hadn't been able to reach April. It was so unlike her not to touch base with him every day.

He was about to go take his shower when the doorbell rang. Grabbing his bathrobe he nearly flew down the stairs, hoping it was April and that she had decided to surprise him with a visit.

He opened the door, disappointed to find a FedEx deliveryman standing there instead of April. "Yes?"