An uneasy expression crawled across Enzo’s face. His lips drooped and his eyes went dull. At least he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t know what Matt was talking about.
Enzo dragged a hand across his mouth again, his hand coming away smeared with blood. “I know it won’t mean much, but I’m sorry.” He said.
Matt exploded at him. Enzo didn’t even try to defend himself. He went down on the floor and this time he didn’t get up.
“Sorry? You’re sorry?” Matt yelled. “You tried to rape her. You lied to me about her. What the hell is wrong with you? She was the woman I was going to marry. Why would you do something like that?”
“Mom,” Enzo said in a weary voice.
Matt took a step back, stunned. “Mom? Mom put you up to this?” he asked.
Enzo dragged himself only up enough to lean against the living room wall and he put a hand through his hair, his expression weary and defeated.
“Yeah. She went ballistic when she found out you proposed to Savannah. She was determined you weren’t going to marry some penniless upstart. Her words not mine. I thought she was crazy at first. I mean I figured she’d throw a fit and then get over it, but then she wanted me to go buy her off. She said that if Savannah refused the offer, I should frame her with the fake rape story. I swear to you I wouldn’t have raped her, Matt. I just wanted to set it up so you’d think we slept together.”
“Jesus,” Stefan muttered. “This is crazy. This is so fucking messed up.”
Matt was numb from head to toe. His own mother had done something that sick? It didn’t seem possible. How could anyone hate someone else so much that they’d go to such lengths to get rid of them?
“She invited me to dinner that night. But I swear, Matt, she told me that you wanted me there, that you and Savannah wanted to let the past go and start over. I wasn’t going to go, because I didn’t want to upset Savannah or make you angry, but Mom told me you specifically asked for me to come. And I hoped… I hoped that maybe you and Savannah could forgive the past and that we could be a family again. Like old times.” Enzo said.
Matt dropped his hands to his sides, suddenly so sick at heart that he just wanted to walk away.
“You’re no longer my family. Savannah is my family. I don’t ever want to see you again. If I ever catch you near Savvie, I swear to you that you’ll regret it.” He said angrily.
“Matt, don’t. Please,” Enzo called hoarsely.
Matt stopped at the door and slowly turned around. “Did she beg you like you’re begging me, Enzo? Did she ask you to stop?” he asked.
Enzo’s face flushed a dull red and then he looked away, no longer able to meet his brother’s gaze.
“Come on,” Stefan said quietly. “Let’s go, man.”
As they walked back out, Matt nudged Stefan toward the waiting car. “You go. I’ll take a cab. I’m going to see my mother.” He said.
Stefan hesitated. “Sure you don’t want me to go with you?” he asked.
“Yeah. This is something I have to do by myself.” Matt replied.
Matt knocked tersely on the door to his mother’s home and issued a clipped demand to see her when one of the maids answered the door.
A moment later, as he paced the floor of the receiving room, his mother hurried in, her brow wrinkled in concern.
“Matt? Is something wrong? You didn’t call to tell me you were coming.” She said.
He stared at her, wondering how he could be so blind about the woman who’d given birth to him. There was no doubt she’d always been self-centered, but he’d never considered her malicious enough to harm an innocent woman. Even now, after everything that had happened, he was at a loss for words. How could he possibly convey the depth of his hatred? It boiled in his veins like acid. His family. The people he should be able to count on. They were…evil.
The irony struck him hard. Savannah should have been able to count on him. But just as his family had betrayed him, he had betrayed her. Maybe he was more like his mother and brother than he wanted to admit. The thought sickened him.
“Matt?” she asked again.
She stopped in front of him and put her hand on his arm, her eyes worried. He wiped her hand away and took a step back, choking on his disgust.
“Don’t touch me,” he said in a low voice. “I know what you did. I know what you and Enzo did. I’ll never forgive you for it.” He said.
Her face creased with consternation. She threw up her hand and turned away, her arms crossing over her chest.
“She’s not who you should be with, Matt. If you weren’t so infatuated with her, so blinded by…lust, you’d see it too.”
“You’re not even going to deny it. My God. What did Savvie ever do to deserve what you did to her? She’s lying in a hospital right now. What kind of a psychopath does that kind of thing?” Matt asked.
“I don’t regret protecting my sons,” she said stiffly. “I’d do it again. You’ll understand when your have a child. You’ll understand why I did what I did. With parenthood comes the knowledge that you’ll do anything at all for your child. You’ll protect them with everything you have. You can’t just stand by and let your child make the worst mistake of their life and do nothing. Come talk to me in a few years. Then ask yourself if you still hate me so much.”
He was dumbfounded by the lengths she went to justify her actions. They weren’t simply morally reprehensible. They were criminal!
“I would hope that I never act as you have, that I’d never hurt an innocent woman just because I didn’t think she was good enough. Here’s what you don’t understand, Mother. She’s a better person than you’ll ever be. Not good enough? We aren’t good enough for her. We’ll never be. I just have to hope to hell she’ll accept and forgive me despite the worthless excuse for a family that I have.” He said.