Page 15 of His Aries Heiress (BLP Signs of Love #21)

If an Aries loves you, they’ll go to war. If you betray them, they’ll become the war.

Cassydie’s thoughts tried to overtake her completely and place her into a state of shock, but there was entirely too much excitement coursing through her to allow that to happen.

A billion dollars.

Within a month, Cassydie went from under a hundred dollars to her name to being worth more than a billion dollars. A billion fuckin’ dollars.

After the meeting with Gregory’s lawyer, finally, about his estate, Cassydie became privy to just how rich Gregory was but also that he had never forgotten her.

The money didn’t go to his heir. It went to her .

He named her by name in his will. His house went to Marcellus, and Tato gained a large sum of money, plus all of Gregory’s vintage cars.

On top of giving her more money than Cassydie could possibly spend in ten lifetimes, he also left her a video. Her eyes glossed over as she looked at the file on her phone while she sat in the guest room. She hadn’t been in there in a whole month, but she needed the space today.

She’d asked Marcellus to give her some time to herself so she could watch it. She would have thought she asked him for an entire month of separation the way he acted. They had been attached at the hip since they made love a month ago, but this was something she needed to do on her own.

Besides, Marcellus had his own video to watch.

After staring at her phone for a long time, she finally woke it back up and clicked on the video. Her breath caught in her throat as tears flooded her vision when Gregory’s face filled the frame.

He didn’t look like he did in the photos Tato had shown her. He looked closer to what he looked like in the hospital when he died, which meant he made this video fairly recently.

“Cassydie Renee.” His warm, deep voice muttering her name sent chills through her body, and tears fell rapidly.

She looked closely and noticed tears shining in his own eyes.

“There’s so much I want to say. I haven’t been feeling the best for a while now, and today I woke up thinking I should make amends and peace for some of the things I’ve done. You were at the top of my list.

“Please understand that giving you up was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

Harder than losing your mother only a month after you were born.

Let’s just say that 1992 was the hardest year I’ve ever had to live through, and I’m not entirely sure I’ve fully lived since.

You two equaled my entire heart, and then you were both gone. ”

Cassydie watched as tears fell down his cheeks and got lost in his black and gray beard. Her own tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t dare stop the video.

“Cassydie Renee. Did you know Renee is your birth mother’s name?

” His smile was whimsical as he spoke. “I bet you’re every bit as beautiful as her too.

Aside from this video and your hefty inheritance, I have also left a safe deposit box to you in your name.

There are baby photos, photos of your mother, her wedding ring .

. . everything important to me is in that box.

Tell Cell, and he will know where to take you . . .”

He paused a moment as if he needed to find the correct words to continue.

Cassydie took it all in. She never knew she bore her birth mother’s name.

It made her feel like she yielded a badge of honor.

She never knew the woman, but she could tell Gregory loved her by the way he gently spoke her name and smiled fondly when talking about her.

“I know Marcellus well enough to know many things about him and the way he moves. While there are some things he can be stubborn about, there are things bigger than him that he has no choice but to handle them accordingly. I wish I could be there to explain myself better and the life I’ve lived.

The life that will now be yours. I never wanted you to be a part of this life . . .”

He sighed tiredly and then coughed for several seconds before he regained his composure.

“Marcellus, if he hasn’t already, will tell you all about the council.

I need to make something clear. The council is not the reason I decided to put you up for adoption.

The council is filled with the best of the best of humankind.

It seems silly to say that because of the things we do, .

. . but I promise you, I tell the truth.

“The reason I gave you up for adoption was because, though I was a part of the council, I realized my loved ones could still be touched.

That terrified me the most. Your mother was murdered because of a threat to the council that was immediately taken care of, but that shook me.

You were home when they murdered her. You could have been dead along with her.

Giving you up was the hardest thing, mi amor. You have to believe me.

“I know my words may fall flat because I made a new family with Marcellus and Tato. I’ve struggled with that.

Many times, I wanted to find you. I wanted to bring you into my world.

But you are more than just my legacy, Cassydie.

You are your mother’s legacy. Her only legacy.

It’s something I never wanted to risk. I could create my own legacy with Tato and Marcellus, but I couldn’t create a new legacy for your mother.

“In my old age, that notion has kind of waned a bit, so if you’re watching this, I’m glad you’ve been found. I’m glad you’re given the life that should have always been yours, and I’m sorry I was a coward who couldn’t show you the ropes sooner.”

He wiped his tears and gathered his composure as Cassydie did the same. She realized some of their mannerisms were the same, like how they tried to hide the way they cried or how they over-explained things when they were nervous. She got those habits straight from him.

“There’s one more thing, Cassydie. I’m telling you this because I know the man I raised.

As stubborn as a damn ram and set in his ways.

Marcellus needs someone to hold him accountable.

I can’t say what kind of relationship you two will have, but I can only pray it’s a good enough one that you can be the one to hold him accountable now that I’m gone.

“If you don’t know by now, which I don’t think you nor Tato will by the time my will is read . . . Tato is not my son. Although I have loved him as my own, he didn’t come from me. He’s Marcellus’s son.”

Cassydie’s phone quickly tapped the screen to pause the video as she took in the information.

Her stomach felt like it had hollowed out as she let a sob escape her lips.

She came to Ellwood to find her birth family for a fresh start.

She thought she found that in Tato, only to now have that snatched from her completely.

She was back to being the only person in her family, both birth and adopted, alive.

She buried her head in her hands as she rocked back and forth while she cried. A hot flash of anger hit her as she thought about Marcellus.

“How could he?” She cried while questions swirled around her mind. How did Marcellus have a son? Where was Tato’s mother? She shook her head as she tried to make sense of it. She felt like her heart had been crushed completely. “Is this shit all a lie?”

She didn’t even want to finish watching the video. She wanted answers from Marcellus, but something in her urged her to continue hearing what Gregory had to say. When she was calm enough, she wiped her tears and tapped the screen again so Gregory could continue.

“Marcellus has had a rough life, and he has a hard time understanding love. I pray every day he finds someone who can be patient with him and show him that love is real. I had it with your mama, and she was the absolute best part of me. Marcellus just needs to find his Renee.”

Gregory had a far-off look on his face as he stared at a spot off the camera with a smile before he focused again.

“The circumstances surrounding Tato’s mother are harsh, and they caused Cell to feel like he wasn’t cut out to be a father.

It didn’t matter how much I tried to instill into him that he was.

He wasn’t ready. But he has to be now. He can no longer hide from this truth, so I hope, for Tato’s sake, you will hold Marcellus accountable.

“Because of the council, you’ll have to be around now, kid, and I’m sorry for that, but I hope you can find room for my family in your life.

You owe me nothing. I owe you the world, and I’m sorry I never gave you that, but I hope you can find it in your heart to talk some sense into the man I raised to do right by his seed.

He should be better than me in every way. Learn from my mistakes.”

He cleared his throat as he swiped at a tear.

Cassydie did her best to soak all this in, but her heart felt heavy.

She’d been doing so well over the past month, believing she finally found space to start a new life and love again.

This video tested that theory severely. She no longer knew if she could trust Marcellus.

“I hope you know how much I love you, Cassydie. My actions haven’t shown you that.

I’ve allowed fear of more loss to run my life and to ruin any chance of a relationship between us.

You deserved so much more. My best advice to you is to make the world bend at its knees to give you everything you desire.

You are a queen. You have an entire empire and throne at your feet.

I know it may be scary, but I promise I have left you in the best hands.

Better hands to care for you than I ever could.

It’s too late for amends, so all I can leave with you is my unconditional love.

I hope it wraps around you as you move through life and gives you the confidence you need to step into your true purpose. ”

The video ended, and Cassydie sat there with her heart completely shattered.

Gregory’s kind words were a lot to take in.

She wished she could have known him sooner.

She couldn’t find it in her to be mad at him, because she loved the parents she had always known.

And then there was Marcellus. He had become like a beacon of hope for her.

She clung to him because he had become her happy place.

She didn’t know what exactly was budding between them, but she knew it was strong as hell.

She didn’t know if it was strong enough to withstand a blow that strong though.

Tato isn’t my brother . . .

The words kept repeating in her mind. They mocked her mercilessly.

She rocked back and forth on the bed as she tried to grasp, yet again, a new reality.

Eventually, she lay on her side because exhaustion had won the battle.

She’d finally cried herself to sleep, completely uncertain about what her next move would be.