As soon as Diana closed the door, Crispina started in on Trace.
“Have you lost your mind?” Crispina raged. “Didn’t she do enough damage to you five years ago? Are you going to let her destroy you again? She had one Pisano man, must she have you, too?”
Trace slid his hands deep in his pockets to control his simmering anger and glared back at his mother.
“Are you finished?”
“Don’t get brusque with me, Trace. Remember I’m your mother.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t let me forget it. But it’s nice for you to remember after all these years.”
She gasped, but he didn’t take back the words.
“Your father would be ashamed of you right now.”
“Don’t bring my father into this.”
“Your father was proud of you. I just don’t believe he would like this trap you’re falling into.”
He ignored the comment about his father. He would not discuss him with her. And he refused to let her play the dutiful mother role all of a sudden. It was too many years too late.
“What trap is that, Mother?”
“She’s not the right woman for you.”
“What type of woman is the right one?”
“She isn’t one of us.”
“Us?”
“Don’t be obtuse, darling. She doesn’t have the right pedigree. For God’s sake, she comes from the back woods of South Carolina.”
“I wouldn’t call Charleston, South Carolina the back woods.”
“Well, whatever, she certainly isn’t the—”
“What may or may not happen between Diana and me is our business. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with you,” he said in a hard voice.
Crispina’s eyes widened at his tone. “It’s because of that girl you’re talking this way to me.”
He stiffened. “Mother, I just realized how much you dislike Diana.”
“She’s not for you,” Crispina said. “That girl will never be your equal.”
He cocked his head and stared at her intently. “Why are you really here? I don’t believe you came just to take me to lunch.” Not waiting for her to answer, he abruptly walked around the desk. He tried to get a grip on the anger that was rolling through his veins. He observed the woman who had given him birth. After all these years, it still surprised him how cold and unfeeling she was. Melancholy passed over him. It was hard to believe his father had loved her. Did she ever love his father…or him? He gave himself a mental shake. Crispina had never loved anyone but herself.
“The meeting for the building of the hospital wing isn’t until next week. I want to know the real reason why you came to Pisano,” he said.
She avoided his eyes. “You’re vulnerable right now. I know John’s death was hard on you. He was like a father to you.”
He stiffened. Her words hit a wound he thought had healed. “His death stunned a lot of people. He left a void that will never be filled.”
She blinked and cleared her throat. “Ah, yes, I can imagine it might. However, I was in the room during the reading of the will. I saw what happened when you saw her again. I don’t understand why my brother left that creature the mans—”
“Mother, watch your tone. She has a name, and it is Diana. Use it.”
“You dare defend her to me?”
“You have a viper’s tongue. It can be poisonous,” he said with barely controlled disgust.
Crispina continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I just don’t know why John did such a thing. Raven’s Nest has been in the Pisano family for over a hundred years. It was built as a carbon copy of our ancestral home in Italy.”
“I know that,” he said with little patience.
“I’ll not stand by and watch a stranger inherit my ancestral home.”
Fury built up in him, threatening to strangle him. He had to breathe deeply before he could speak. “You’re stepping over the line, Mother. There is only so much I’ll tolerate from you. Diana isn’t a stranger. She was married to your brother.”
“Your main concern should be Raven’s Nest, and not that woman.”
“Are you forgetting John has a son? Although it bothers you to have Diana at the house, her son is a Pisano, and he belongs there.”
Trace saw that she seemed oddly disoriented. A hand went to her temple. “I don’t know if the boy is John’s.” She shot him a look. Her voice was innocent enough, but there was an underlying current.
Trace didn’t flinch, although the comment surprised him. He wouldn’t let his mother put doubts in his mind. Crispina was a master manipulator. It gave her immense satisfaction to control people. He needed to tread carefully. She was on a hunt, and Diana was the prey.
She shrugged. “I’m sure a young girl like her married to a man old enough to be her grandfather must have found solace outside of her marriage.”
“Be careful of slanderous remarks, Mother, they could get you in deep trouble.”
“I’m only repeating what others have said, or thought.”
“Did John tell you the boy wasn’t his?”
“Oh, goodness no. My brother doted on the boy…and her.” He glared at her as she tried to backpedal. “John once told me she made him happier than he’d ever been. She changed him.” Her tone was snide. She paused and smoothed the already perfect French knot. Trace knew this to be a gesture to gain control of her thoughts.
“However, he did tell me when the boy was born that without a doubt he was a Pisano. I thought maybe he was trying to convince me, but my sources tell me John had a DNA test performed on the boy.” She snorted, not looking at him. “He probably did it to squash the rumors.”
“What rumors? he asked, but not too eagerly. He wanted to know more about Diana, but he wouldn’t give Crispina the power to examine why he needed to know. Trace watched her as she strode aimlessly around the room looking at pictures on the wall. Frowning at one, she snorted. “I told John to get rid of this picture. It does nothing for the decor,” she said.
“Mother—”
She glanced at him and lifted her brows at his tone. “Well, there was a lot of talk when he married her, and there was even more when she became pregnant. Everyone talked about it. No one knew about the marriage until after it happened, and then the day after he announced the marriage he took her on a honeymoon trip?”
She paused and watched him closely. “They didn’t return for months. When they did, she was visibly pregnant. It was a total shock. I just couldn’t believe he would have a child at his age. It was bad enough he married an outsider, but to bring a child into the marriage was unspeakable.”
“For God’s sake, they were married,” he snapped. “Married people do have children. You called Diana an outsider, but what you meant is that John married a black woman. It really bothers you.”
She looked surprised. “Well, yes, darling. This sort of thing is just not done in our circles. However, your uncle didn’t seem to care about the talk, but it bothered me. It’s been quite hard to hold my head up in this town. For the last five years, I’ve spent most of my time in New York so I wouldn’t hear the snide remarks.”
Trace didn’t reply. He knew if he did, it wouldn’t be pretty. If he spewed what he was feeling, the words would erect a wall higher than the one already in place between him and his mother.
Crispina sighed. “My main concern is you. I just want you to be okay.”
“When have you ever been concerned about my well-being? I’ve taken care of myself since I was old enough to walk.”
The color drained from Crispina’s face. Then she arched her back and gave him a direct stare.
“I’m your mother. I have always had your best interests at heart.”
“Passing me off to nannies and teachers was best for me? It certainly was good for you. It alleviated you of any obligations.”
Crispina stiffened, lifted her chin, and shot him a cold look. “You’ve had the best of everything that life could offer. I’ll not be judged by you.”
Trace refused to debate what type of mother she had been. It was too many years too late, and he honestly didn’t care anymore. When he was younger, he’d wondered why she couldn’t love him and wished she at least cared about him the way she cared about her jet-set lifestyle and friends. He had excelled at academics and sports, but it had never seemed to impress Crispina. She acted as if he didn’t exist. Many times, he’d wondered why she took the time to have him; she certainly didn’t desire to be a mother. He gave her a hard, unflinching look. Silently, connecting with the coldness in her eyes, he stood still with arms folded across his chest. It always made her nervous. This was one time he was glad it did.
Her hand shook as she absently touched the pearls at her neck, indicating she wasn’t as in control as she appeared. “Trace, I couldn’t believe what I saw when I walked into this office. I don’t begrudge you some sort of entertainment, but, darling, there are so many respectable and eligible women in our circle who would be more than glad to have a relationship, or at least a date, with you.”
“What bothers you the most, Mother, that you saw me kissing Diana or the fact that I might have already taken her to my bed?”
She blanched. “Don’t be vulgar, Trace.”
Trace lost patience. “Look, I’m not fooled by your concern or your excuses. I’m warning you, only once; don’t poke your nose into my private life. I’ll not tolerate your interference.”
“Are you threatening me?”
He placed his hands at his waist and gave her a cruel smile. “You know I never threaten in business or life, but I do make good on a promise.”
Crispina threw him a look that would have most men cowering. She was angry. He knew she would be a worthy opponent in battle.
“You expect me to sit back and watch you run after that woman and sully the Montgomery name? I watched my brother do it to the Pisano name, but I’ll be damned if my only child will do it, too.”
“I expect you to stay out of my business.”
“When it comes to her, I can’t.”
“I know you’ve never liked Diana, but five years should’ve given you enough time to overcome your dislike.”
“I barely tolerated her marriage to my brother,” she sneered. “I’ll never accept that woman for my son.” Disgust was evident on her face. Trace came from around the desk, his hands stiff at his side.
“When Diana and I first starting dating, you showed your dislike. I never said anything, trying to give you time to see what a kind person she was.”
“Kind?” she said nastily. “That woman dropped you to marry a billionaire. How dare you defend her to me?”
Trace shook his head, knowing Crispina would never change. “I’m not going to defend Diana to you because you have already made up your mind. I always knew you were a snob, but a bigot is another thing.”
“We are descendants of royalty. Your father’s family can be traced back to the fifteenth century. If that makes me a snob or bigot, so be it. I’ll not apologize for it,” she said haughtily.
He stared at his mother as if she were a stranger. In many ways she was just that…a complete stranger. Ending the conversation, she walked toward the door. The coldness of his voice stopped her in her tracks. “I won’t let your poison touch Diana or her son.”
His mother turned and looked at him. “I’m warning you, Trace. Don’t for one minute think that woman will become a part of the Montgomery family. I won’t allow it.”
“Don’t wage a battle with me. You won’t like the odds.” Trace’s tone was hard and controlled.
Crispina’s lips tightened. “Well, I guess I received my answer.” The door closed firmly behind her.
He stared into the empty space and slowly released his anger. He rubbed his tight jaw to relieve the tension. How far would she go to protect what she perceived as his best interest? His father had been a strong man, but his love for his wife had made him more accepting of the things she did. Trace hadn’t been quite two years old when Crispina left his father in England to move back to the States. She hated the isolation of the countryside and the damp weather. It didn’t matter that she’d broken her marriage promise to live six months of the year in Britain. That was the beginning of the twenty-year separation. Randall Montgomery had held out the hope that Crispina would eventually come back to him. She never did. Trace had talked his father into dissolving the marriage. He’d started the divorce proceeding, but was killed in a boating accident before it was finalized. Trace vowed not to be like his father when it came to a woman. Crispina’s coldness and disregard for her husband’s feelings had almost destroyed Randall Montgomery. Trace frowned. He no longer loved Diana, and therefore she had no power over him. He wasn’t in danger of losing his heart or becoming weak.