Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

You ask her, she might tell you.”
    “Why? Why would she tell me?” Thoughts
swirled around his mind. His mother’s note was beginning to make
sense. Had his uncle impregnated his ward? His mouth went dry and
his belly clenched at the idea of Chastity and his old uncle,
together, having sex.
    Nausea rumbled in his belly. He’d always
thought his uncle admirable, and held him in high esteem. Was that
why she never left the ranch? He pulled his hand through his short
hair. Good Lord, his uncle had been in his late seventies. Chastity
was younger than his own thirty years. No wonder those boys looked
familiar, the one missing his teeth had a nose and mouth that
reminded him of his uncle and mother. A definite Baxter trait. Sick
at heart, he stood and waved goodbye to Ms. Cook.
    The idea of taking anything from his uncle’s
estate left a vile taste in his mouth. How could his uncle take
advantage of a woman fifty years his junior? Chastity thought his
uncle could turn water into wine, she’d have done anything for him.
Did she? Head pounding over the possibilities, he cranked his car
and pulled out.
    Slowly, he drove along the driveway.
Disappointment swamped him. Ms. Cook said his uncle had worked hard
the last few years with Chastity, alone. Probably giving her
pointers on how to raise his boys. His uncle had sons .
That’d make them his cousins. Strange, he felt no joy in that
revelation. He hit the steering wheel and sped out the driveway,
kicking up gravel in his wake. Thinking of the two boys running
around his uncle’s ranch, he knew his mom was dead wrong.
Obviously, she didn’t know about her nephews. Why’d his uncle keep
his sons a secret from him?
    Anger boiled beneath the surface. What the
hell were they thinking? His uncle was too old to be a father. He’d
have been in his late sixties when he impregnated her. Now he’d
left his sons without a daddy to cheer them at games, see them
graduate from school, or talk to them about life’s challenges. No
child should suffer through parental neglect; he could write a book
and give lectures on the subject. Sven, Robbie, and the men that
worked the ranch, would have to step up to the plate and help.
Whenever he was stateside he’d make sure to spend some time with
them.
    “Wait a minute,” he murmured. “If Chastity
had two sons by his uncle, then they’d be next in line for
everything. Why did mama say things were a mess?” Hope rose; maybe
she hadn’t been with his uncle. Then dashed just as fast, she’d
been with someone. Someone he didn’t know.
    His cell vibrated. Thinking it was Renee, he
answered without checking the caller ID. “Hey.” His voice deepened
to the tone she’d told him turned her on.
    “Kenton, have you left the ranch? Did you
see any children?”
    He stared at the phone. Maude Stone. Shaking
his head at her gutsiness, he debated how to answer. “Yes, I’ve
known for a while, but I know you aren’t bringing innocent children
into this?” His jaw clenched at the thought.
    “How’d you know?”
    “I met them.”
    “When?” She screeched.
    Something told him to hold the information
close. “Does it matter?”
    “Yes. No. No, it doesn’t. I think they’re
hers, and I plan to expose her as an unfit mother and have them
taken away.”
    Goosebumps exploded over his heated flesh.
An acidic taste hit the back of his throat as shame filled him. His
mom would split a family for no reason other than spite. Did she
have no conscience? He stiffened his resolve.
    “What happened to your conspiracy
theory?”
    “My attorney didn’t think that would work,
either. But she thinks this is better. We have a chance of
stripping the children from her and get them tested. If they’re my
brother’s, then I get custody as his last living relative.”
    Not his last, I’m still here . “You do
that and I’ll never see or speak to you again. Not only that, I
will do everything within my power to help defeat you.”
    “Why?” she