I couldn’t grasp the words to respond, too stunned that he’d found us out yet still let us have our victory. “That day in the conference room?”
“I knew it was you, but hearing you admit that you’d betrayed me, that you hated me so much that you wanted to see me fall still hit hard, and my reactions were honest. I suppose we’re even now.”
“We’ll never be even. You abused me and defended it as discipline. I can promise you I will never treat my children the way you treated me, and they’ll still grow up to be adults I’ll be proud of.”
“We all have our ways.”
He sauntered to the door. “I’m selling my apartment in the city. The money I accumulated through every sale and this last one is enough to let me travel. What’s left will go to a trust for your son. There’s already a trust in his name with a substantial amount in it; the rest will pass through to him and any other children you have when I die.”
“You knew?” My knees threatened to buckle. “You knew about him and never told me?”
“I wanted to make sure you didn’t break your word, so I kept my eye on her. I wasn’t sure he was yours until I saw the pictures two years ago. That’s when I established the trust.”
“You made me leave her and never told me I had a son?”
Steel eyes with no kindness met my astonished gaze. “You had a job to do, and the terms of your trust were still in place. If you had known, it would have jeopardized all I worked for and you worked for. It was better this way.”
“Better that he doesn’t know who his father is? That I never knew he existed?”
“Yes. This is business, William. That’s all it has ever been. One business transaction after another. She was one, and you understood that seeing it through would have cost too much.”
“Get out.”
He shook his head. “You’ll thank me one day. Besides, she’s working for you now. Yet another business transaction that presents you with an opportunity.”
“I’ll never thank you. Now get out of my office.”
He opened the door, throwing a look at me over his shoulder. “I’ll be in Greece for the winter if you need me.”
“I won’t.”
“Of course you won’t.” The door closed behind him, and I stared dumbfounded at it as my mind attempted to make sense of all he had told me. The most startling piece, that he’d known Tori was pregnant yet he’d kept it quiet, denying me yet another chance of happiness in my life. Taking one more thing from me and replacing it with money and titles I would have traded in a heartbeat to have the two things in my life that I valued more.
Chapter 24
Tori
After tossing and turning all night, I gave up and headed into the office. I had plenty to do to occupy my mind. Gabe’s plan to bring the network of resorts and hotels under one company after he had dismantled the original and severed it into a complex maze of holdings was enough to keep me busy for months. Thankfully, the finances for every holding were strong and detailed, unlike what he’d done for his father’s company.
I dropped Reid off at the childcare center, glad it opened early. Eyes focused on digging my elevator card from my purse, I didn’t notice I was no longer alone in the lobby.
“Miss Hent.”
I looked up, trying to place the man before me. He looked so familiar and…similar to an older version of Gabe, something I hadn’t noticed in his online photo. William Icinda Senior. Although Gabe held the same intense gaze, the strong jawline, the fierce presence, there were striking differences that led me to believe Gabe favored his mother in appearance.
“Mr. Icinda.”
“I see you’re settling into your new position quickly.”
“Yes.”
Hardened edges shaped his jawline, and his eyes lacked the life that Gabe’s held, the joy that had once been prominent but now only flickered behind the darkness.
“I hope William’s mess isn’t proving too difficult to unravel.”
I quirked a brow at him. This man didn’t call him Gabe, and I remembered the story of abuse, knowing it had been a truthful insight into his childhood.
“Not at all.”
