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I dip my chin almost violently. “Yes.”
“And she’s in danger? Tell me everything.”
He settles in the seat next to me, and I tell him everything I know, everything I’ve been able to dig up. And we formulate a plan. One I’m not sure we can pull off, but I take comfort knowing he can pull off his portion. He needs to protect his grandchildren. And the only way to protect them is to get them the hell out of Boston so this can’t touch them. I just have to hope that one day I can join them.
As I open my car door, ready to head back to the city, my heart heavy with the knowledge of what’s still to come, I look up at Theo with only one request. “If things don’t go how they’re meant to…please don’t tell her. Let her think I didn’t care. That I walked away. Don’t let her mourn me. Us. Just…” I take a deep breath, knowing I need him to do this. “Make sure she moves on. Make sure she’s happy. That’s all I ask.”
Theo frowns, but he doesn’t fight me. “You have my word.
55
SPARKS BY COLDPLAY
JAY
Istorm into my father’s penthouse, rage boiling beneath my skin. It’s dark, and if not for the shadow the moon casts over his figure in the living room, I’d think the house was empty.
“What took you so long?” he mutters.
Panting, I halt and suck in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves before I give away everything in one fell swoop. This is not time to confront him about the bank accounts. I’m only here because I need to know where my mother is. Need answers about what happened all those years ago. Does he know the truth?
Of course he does, I scoff, annoyed by my own naivete.
“Expecting me?” I ask, my voice surprisingly even.
“Been expecting you since I saw you with Catherine James on your arm at the Halloween Ball,” he replies to my utter shock.
“Catherine Bouvier,” I correct.
He laughs and angles forward, shadows slicing his face in half, a fitting dichotomy in this moment. For so long, I believed he was the victim. That Edward James was the devil. Now I wonder who this man even is.
“Don’t tell me she fooled you into believing she wasn’t a James.”
I growl. “Don’t fucking say her name. Don’t even think it. Understand?”
My father’s face disappears again as he settles back in his chair. “Pathetic.”
“I’m pathetic?” I bark. “You’re the one sitting in your ivory tower by yourself. You’ve destroyed every relationship you have. Pushed us all so far that none of us want to be near you. Not even your own wife. Where is she, Dad? I know she didn’t kill herself. Is she even dead?”
My father’s voice is low. “Oh, she’s below the ground, all right.”
I run my hand across my face, the horror of his words bleeding through me. “What did you do?” I whisper.
A glass flies by my head, and I duck. It crashes to the floor, breaking into shards as my father howls. “What did I do? What did I fucking do?Shehad a fucking affair! You caught her! Don’t you remember? You walked in on her with another man. You told me about the affair!You! Don’t come in here on your high horse and pretend it didn’t happen that way!”
The horror of his admission, of what I know he’ll tell me, the knowledge that he’s right—that I’m the one who set it all in motion—makes my stomach bottom out. “No,” I whisper.
My father’s shadow grows as he stalks toward me. “Go. You’ve made your choice. And you chose wrong.”
I suck in a breath. “Dad, what did you do?”
“Don’tDadme,” he shouts. “You went to fucking Edward James’s house. You’refuckinghis daughter! You know, for a moment, I thought you were using her, and I was proud.I was fucking proud.But that night, I saw the truth. The way you looked at her. Kept her from me. She’s not part of our revenge. You fell for her, youstupidfool.”
Fuck. He knows too much. But maybe I can still get through to him. So I beg, my voice breaking. “Please, Dad. I love her. Keep her out of this. I’ll help you take down Edward James. But leave her out of it.”
He laughs as he takes another step closer. “I have the disk.” The whiskey on his breath beats me down. His eyes are dilated, his cheeks sallow. “You should leave. My friends are on their way to collect the proof. Wouldn’t want you to get your hands dirty,” he mocks.
“But how?” I ask, desperate to understand.
