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“Is this about that contract business?”
I didn’t ask how he knew. In an office this small with paper-thin walls, he could’ve easily overheard us talking.
Which also meant Shelly had probably heard Ally and I having sex. That should probably embarrass me. And yet…
I wanted to tell the world she was mine, in every possible way. Even the graphic, inappropriate ones.
Or Oliver could have told him. I wouldn’t put it past my twin to have hopped on the phone to my dad the minute he walked out the front door of the building. But he’d said he wanted to fix things with me and Ally. Telling my dad wouldn’t fix anything.
Then again, there was my lawyer. My lawyer who golfed every Sunday with my father and had a shark emblem on his golf shirt rather than an alligator.
“Talked to Artie, hmm?”
My father glanced away, all the proof I needed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That would violate client confidentiality.”
Yep. I’d called that one right. At least it hadn’t been Oliver who’d blabbed. I really didn’t want to have to kick his ass after he was purportedly doing me a favor with Ally.
Though, God, I’d sunk low if I was accepting his help. Oliver’s love life was even worse than mine. He went through women like ties. Actually, he probably used ties with women, since his tastes veered toward the dominant side. Yet another thing I had no desire to ponder.
“That contract was a mistake.”
My father didn’t reply for a long moment. “But she signed on the dotted line, didn’t she? She agreed to take money for your child. Just like Marjorie did.” He lifted his head and narrowed his flinty eyes on mine. “Women are all the same, Seth. You may think me wrong for offering a payout to your mother. The truth is, it was a test, and she failed.”
“Ally didn’t fail, and what the fuck kind of test is that to do on someone you love?”
“You don’t love her,” my father scoffed.
“How the hell do you know? Because you didn’t love Mom? Because I didn’t love Marjorie the way I should?”
“I loved your mother. You will never understand.”
“Then tell me. Explain it to me. I’m begging you.” I spread my arms wide. “I’m standing right here, waiting. Listening.”
“She wasn’t faithful to me,” he said in a nearly inaudible voice.
Laughter ripped from my chest. “So? You weren’t faithful to her either. That’s why we have that damn camp that you refuse to go near any longer. Which mistress lived there, Dad?”
He didn’t look at me, just cracked his knuckles. “It doesn’t matter. Your mother was unfaithful first. She bore another man’s child.” He forged ahead before I could finish processing what he’d said.
Did he mean the daughter she’d had with her new husband? Or…worse?
“Do you even know if Laurie is yours? Did you ever ask for proof?” he demanded.
Though I knew the question was just his version of lashing out, it hit me square in the gut just the same. I started to respond, but he cut me off, his low voice as brutal as a whip.
“Or did she use her as a bargaining chip as your mother used you and your brother?”
I gripped the back of my neck. “Laurie looks like me. She’s mine. But you know what? Even if she wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter.”
Deep down, it was true. I couldn’t deny it would hurt like a bitch to find out she wasn’t my child biologically. But I’d get over it. Because she was mine in every way that counted, and I didn’t need a useless slip of paper to prove it.
Every time she called me Daddy, I knew the truth all over again. She was mine and I was hers. Against all odds, we’d made a family.
And now with Ally, hopefully our family would expand.
“Sure, it wouldn’t.” My father laughed mirthlessly. “How much of your savings did you use to buy her safety from her mother?”
“She wasn’t in danger from Marj. Not physically. But neglect is just as hurtful. I would’ve emptied my bank account to ensure my baby didn’t have to deal with a parent who didn’t want her.”
