His Best Kept Secret

Chapter One

Ebony Jones never liked her name. She'd been teased for its association to the color of her skin far too much in school. Growing up as the only minority in a predominantly white neighborhood and school, the jokes were all she heard. The teacher would call out her name during roll call and everyone would look at her. Some of the teachers would smirk and say of course your name is Ebony. She'd become the token black girl in her neighborhood, and everyone knew her as such.

Raised in a foster home, she wasn't adopted until she was twelve by a nice white couple. She'd gone from having no one at all to having a mother, a father, a grandmother, and grandfather, all living under the same roof. They were a close bunch who looked out for each other. For some reason, they loved Ebony and treated her as if she was their own daughter. She'd grown especially close to her grandfather, the ruler of the family.

She had asked her foster mother; out of all the kids at the foster home, why adopt an African-American child? Her mother had smiled at her sweetly with a cigarette in her mouth and stroked her cheek lovingly, "my dear, you have the face of an angel and the skin of dark chocolate, two things I love," she winked at her and laughed. It was a strange answer to say the least. Then again, her mother had not been the typical American White woman. She was a liberal and very modern. She'd asked her father who was a history professor, the same question. Guilt, he'd told her. He wanted to adopt a Black child as a way of repenting for the sins of his ancestors. She liked her mother's answer better.

Her foster grandparents hadn't been as accepting, they'd expected a White kid and was put off with the fact that Ebony was well...ebony. But over the years, her sweet personality and the fact that she never caused them any trouble and was quite obedient soften their hearts to her. She had become extremely close to her grandfather. The man made her laugh, kept her entertained about his past life as a government assassin, which she knew he had to have made up, the man was just too gentle to go on a killing spree.

When she turned 21, she lost her family, to a freak accident. They'd been on their way home from their favorite restaurant, an Italian restaurant that knew her entire family, when the breaks went out. Ebony had been the only one to survive. She hadn't remembered much, except her grandfather wrapping both arms around her and her grandmother, she sat between them in the backseat, trying to protect them both as her father tried to guide the car out of traffic and her mother screaming in horror and then it was over.

She'd awaken in a hospital three days ago and was told she'd been in a coma for a week. She'd been devastated when she found out what happened and she'd never felt so alone in her life. She had no one next to them, absolutely no one; her family had been all she had. Making friends had been hard. Being adopted and African-American had made her the odd kid that no one wanted to risk their reputations to get to know in the small suburbia racist town.

Silas Ryan heavy footsteps sounded like soft thunder as he walked down the glossy disinfected floors of the hospital. He hated hospitals and was lucky he never had to enter one with his line of work. He was having a bad week and it had only gotten worse when he learned the man who'd been like family to him had perished along with the rest of his family in an accident that looked highly suspicious. Years had passed since they'd spoken or seen each other, but Silas had remembered him fondly. After all, he was the one who'd trained him when he was ten.

Henry had retired when Silas turned twenty. He wanted to settle with his family and live a normal life and he'd gotten it until now. When Silas received news of Henry's death, he'd grieved. He'd loved the man like a father, but he did question his sanity.

He'd been slapped with a huge favor that had been read to him in Henry's will, the favor was an African-American woman called Ebony, adopted by Henry's daughter and son-in-law. What on earth had possessed them to adopt a Black child was beyond him and he had no clue as to what to do with her.