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“Oren. I’m only going to ask this once. Eugenia knew about Sterling abusing Anna. Although we have no proof, there’s no reason to think she wouldn’t have groomed other girls for him to abuse. You said you didn’t know what was going on between Sterling and Blair while it was happening, but anyone looking at this from the outside might see your relationship with Blair as a reward for a job well done.”
“What exactly are you saying, boy?”
“I’m just asking—did you ever groom girls for Sterling? And did you accept Blair as some sort of a cast-off prize from him for doing that or other work? Because that’s something Greer will never forgive.”
“God, no, Jace. I swear it,” Oren replied, blotting his sweaty forehead with his pocket square. “If I had, Blair wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me. I know now that her willingness with Sterling was built on her understanding that what they had was special. Once she found out there was someone else in the picture—Eugenia, Anna…whoever else Sterling had in his clutches—from that point on, Blair wanted nothing to do with her family. It was one thing for Sterling to have convinced her they had a special father-daughter relationship. It was another to find out he had the same relationship with another daughter. And Blair was scared for her baby, even though she didn’t know at the time it was going to be a girl. She fled.”
“And you gave her the money. But you didn’t stay with her.”
“I wanted to. I wanted for us to be a family. Blair was the love of my life, despite our age difference. I wasn’t some perv on the prowl for young girls—it just happened. Blair was actually a very old soul, and we had a lot in common. We could have had a good life together. But she didn’t want me anymore. She didn’t want anyone or anything that reminded her of where she came from.”
“And what about her eating disorder? Did you even try to get her the help she needed?”
“I tried. God, I tried. But by then, it was too late. I worried for Greer, even came and watched her from a distance a few times without her seeing me over the years. I was overcome when I found out she was coming to Richmond House to visit Sterling. Getting to see her up close, all grown-up. It was heaven.”
“Why haven’t you ever told her the truth?”
At this, Oren clammed up. After a full minute of watching him watch the backs of his hands in his lap, I decided some prodding was in order.
“She’s not going to hate you if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“Yes. Yes, she will. And I suppose it is what I fear the most. Not only did I participate in a sexual relationship with her mother when she was underage, I insisted Greer never find out who I was. Because I didn’t want anyone—especially my own daughter—to know my shame. I didn’t realize it at the time, but in my selfishness, I set her up for a life filled with abandonment and distrust.”
Oren’s words about Greer sank into my soul in a way no one else’s ever had before. My girl—my strong, beautiful Greer—had grown up feeling abandoned. Unloved. Just like me.
It was hard to think of her that way. Even the first time I met her, a day I remember as vividly as I do my own name, she was determined. There was no cloud of sadness and despair and “feel sorry for me” surrounding Greer Richmond. But it was true. The things I’d said to her the night we broke up flashed through my head. I was such an asshole.
Things between us had been so new, so fledgling. I finally understood why she wouldn’t have wanted to tell me about her mental state. The lack of sleep. The tapping. She thought she’d scare me off, or maybe she didn’t think I’d care one way or the other. As if.
Life had dealt her a mother who was the victim of disgusting, brainwashing abuse that made her sick and weak, and who was left to take care of her? Greer. Her father had spent the last thirty-plus years succeeding in business but was sick with shame, hidden away in his house, not offering her shit but money. No emotional support. She had no idea who she was or whom she could trust, especially after the bargain I made with that devil Sterling to keep myself out of prison. Hell, she still didn’t know Oren was her father, something I planned to rectify as soon as possible.
“You have to tell her, Oren. You know that, right?”
“I suppose I do,” he said, hanging his head. “You know, I brought her back here for you.”
“What? Why?”
“I didn’t think she was happy in Shreveport. She was surviving, but my investigator indicated she didn’t have any friends. No boyfriend. I wanted her to have a chance at happiness.”
“And you wanted to see her again.”
“I did. But not at her expense. Only if it made her happy. And it seemed to be working, for a time at least. She was happy with you.”
I was happy with her, more than happy. Until her stupidity almost got her killed. But now wasn’t the time for recriminations. Now was the time for righting past wrongs.
“I want her to be happy with me again, Oren. I never want her not to be happy. But she can’t move on from the past until she knows the truth.”
He released a heavy sigh, again dropping his eyes to his hands.
“Well…it’s Halloween. I suppose today is as good a day as any for Greer to discover her father is a real-life monster,” he said, with little more enthusiasm than if he’d been heading for the electric chair.
“She’ll understand. I know she will. Let’s go get our girl.”
