Page 59 of A Devious Secret

Gemma leaned forward and placed her teacup down onto the tray. “I know you must be terribly disappointed, but my aunt thought it would be best if Marielle and Hugh accompanied us for propriety’s sake.”

“I am not disappointed,” he lied, wondering how Gemma had known precisely what he had been thinking.

Gemma gave him a look that implied she didn’t believe him. “Regardless, it will be fun to spend time with Marielle and Hugh.”

“Are you close with your cousin?”

“I am,” she replied. “My mother thought it was important that I knew my cousins, so we visited them frequently in my youth.”

“But not your father?”

Gemma huffed. “My father was hardly around,” she said. “He was much too busy with his mistresses or gambling.”

“That is most unfortunate.”

“My father acquired a hefty gambling debt and should have been thrown into debtor’s prison,” she said. “It was no less than he deserved.”

“Why wasn’t he?”

“Baldwin paid off his debts as a wedding gift to me,” Gemma revealed. “He didn’t want the scandal associated with my name.”

“That was most thoughtful of him.”

“It was, but my father didn’t stop gambling. He kept approaching Baldwin for more funds until it became too much,” Gemma said. “Baldwin cut my father off and that incited my father’s anger. He threatened to drag my name through the mud if Baldwin didn’t continue to fund his lavish lifestyle.”

Stephen lifted his brow. “Your own father tried to blackmail you?”

“He did, but it didn’t work. Thetonwas well acquainted with my father’s disreputable behavior, and they didn’t give his words any heed,” Gemma explained. “Sadly, the person that suffered the most was my mother. She refused to leave my father and come live with me and Baldwin.”

“Did she state why that was?”

“My mother said she loved my father, but I don’t know how that was possible. He mistreated her terribly and she still stood by his side,” Gemma said. “He wasn’t even by my mother’s side when she died because he was too busy entertaining his mistress.”

Stephen winced. “That is awful.”

Gemma clenched her hands in her lap. “I do not think I can ever forgive my father for his ill-treatment of my mother,” she admitted. “What he did to her was cruel.”

“I agree, wholeheartedly.” He moved to sit on the edge of his seat and placed his hand over her clenched hands. “Blood means you are related, but it doesn’t mean they are your family. Yourfather lost his right to claim you as his daughter when he treated you so distastefully.”

Glancing down at their hands, she asked, “You don’t think I should forgive him then?”

“Forgiveness is a tricky thing,” he replied. “You can forgive someone without accepting their behavior or even trusting them. But you can forgive them foryouso you can let go and move on with your life.”

“I don’t think I can,” she admitted.

“I am not saying it is easy or even the right path for you,” Stephen said. “Only you can decide what is best for you.”

Gemma brought her gaze up to meet his. “I don’t know what I want to do.”

“Then that is your answer… for now.” Stephen removed his hand and leaned back. “But you, and only you, have that right to make the decision.”

“Baldwin said something similar,” Gemma said.

Stephen smirked. “Great men think alike,” he quipped.

Gemma laughed as he had intended. “I think you would have really liked Baldwin,” she said.

“Will you tell me about him?”