Penny couldn't help herself, she covered her gasp with her hands as tears filled her eyes for a woman she'd never known. She could only imagine how scared Isabel had been and how desperate. "Did you know about the baby?" she asked.
Both Nolan and Vince shook their head in denial. “We didn't know about the baby until the autopsy report," Vince admitted. "Her family couldn't believe that she would do something like that and insisted that we must've drugged her. They wanted to find proof that there was foul play.”
"Why didn't you call Dillon when you found out about the baby?" Penny asked.
Nolan looked ashamed. "What could we say? Besides, when Dillon found out about Isabel and how she died, Dillon had wanted to kill us. And I'm not sure it was an idle threat. The one saving grace was that he was on the other side of the world with limited funds otherwise we might've joined Isabel in the ground. Not that I blamed him. We figured it was best to just let the information die with Isabel. We paid the right people and that one small detail was erased from the report."
Penny looked aghast. "So her family never knew?"
Vince looked away. "God no. There would've been an investigation and the newspapers would've had a field day with the information and that's something our father wouldn't have tolerated. Trust me, as abhorrent as the idea was, it was the only option."
"Don't you think they had the right to know?"
"Haven't you listened to a word we’ve said? Of course they had a right to know. We didn't care. We were bastards. Nothing we did was right. And we will go to our grave knowing that and trust me, nothing weighs heavier than the guilt on our conscience."
Understanding dawned on Penny as she watched Vince. "You loved her, didn't you?" she said in sad wonder. Nolan and Vince shared incriminating glances and Penny had her answer. "If you loved her, why did you treat her like that? Why did you treat her like garbage?" Penny asked, her voice breaking. "Maybe things would have been different."
Vince's mouth tightened but in his eyes there was a wealth of pain and grief that’d never been allowed to vent. "What does it matter? She's dead. And I'm done with this conversation." He grabbed his leather jacket and this time Nolan didn't try to stop him when he left.
Silence filled the library as Penny digested her newfound revelation. She looked to Nolan. "Did you know that Vince loved her too?"
"Yes."
"Why did you do it?" Anguish cracked her voice as she looked to Nolan for answers. "I don't understand. Both Dillon and Vince loved Isabel. If Dillon couldn't be with her and Vince wanted to be with her, why did you both use her?"
Nolan barked a short laugh that had nothing in common with joy as he answered, "Because I was jealous. I couldn't understand what they were feeling for her and if I couldn't experience it…" He shrugged. "I told you there were no heroes in the story. Now you know the truth. What are you going to do with it?"
Penny didn't know. She thought that she was going to feel relieved or liberated or something other than the crushing sense of loss she was suffering from now but she was disappointed to feel the opposite of relief. Inside, a well of tears threatened to erupt out of agony for a twisted, ill-fated love affair. She wiped at her eyes and told Nolan with certainty, "You need to tell Dillon what you just told me. He deserves to know."
"You don't know my brother. He doesn't forgive lightly. And frankly, he has no reason to forgive us."
"He's your brother. At one time didn't you love each other?"
"At one time he was my hero."
"Then you need to repair your relationship. This fracture has gone on long enough. Your father is dead and there's no one standing between you guys anymore."
At that Nolan smiled briefly. "But you're wrong sweet girl. There is someone between us. You. Once again Dillon has what Vince and I both want. And I can guarantee that none of us are going to concede defeat to the other graciously."
Penny sucked in a tight breath. She'd be a liar if she said she didn't have feelings for Vince or Nolan. Inside her heart, a war raged and she didn't know who was going to win but she knew one thing for sure. "I need more than being someone's property,” she admitted with a whisper.
Nolan advanced to caress her cheek. "Tell me what you need and I'll gladly give it to you."
Penny gazed up at him and fought the urge to lean into his touch. "I want it all. I want the fairytale — the one where the girl and the boy live happily ever after because they're in love."
A sad smile lifted Nolan’s lips as he brushed a soft kiss across her mouth. "You want the moon, sweetness."
Penny closed her eyes and held back her true desire. She wanted Dillon. She wanted her happily ever after with Dillon. Nolan pulled away and heard what she hadn't said. "We could promise you a life most people could only dream about. He could only promise you heartache." Nolan searched her gaze. "Say you’ll consider staying with us."
Penny nodded. Nolan was right. When she thought of the life with the twins she knew she would want for nothing but she would remain the bird in the gilded cage for neither were offering her love. Yet with Dillon, she sensed the promise of an unparalleled love if only Dillon would trust his heart with her. The question was, would he ever trust her with something so precious?
She didn't know.
And she had a feeling, Dillon didn’t know either.
#
Vince didn’t plan to end up at Isabel’s grave but somewhere between heading to his favorite bar and driving aimlessly, he found himself pulling up to the quiet and stately grounds of Brookstone, the small but private cemetery where all the Buchanans have been buried for generations. Nolan and Vince had agreed it was fitting for Isabel and her unborn child to be buried there. Vince still remembered the epic fuss their father had put up when they’d buried her within the family plot.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” their father had shouted, his face turning a florid red as spittle sprayed from his mouth in his anger. “What were thinking to bury that little whore in our plot? Only Buchanans are allowed in that ground, not unstable little cock teases.”
“Watch it, Father.” Vince all but growled, unable to hold back his true feelings for Isabel in that moment. “She was nearly a part of this family and we owe it to her.” God, they owed her so much more than a piece of dirt and a fancy headstone. “Besides, her family didn’t have the money to afford Brookstone and she would’ve ended up buried in some poorly maintained cemetery in God-only-knows-where.”