“No, no. Why not tell the whole truth? I had an affair with that man for weeks. Sometimes, even when I didn’t want to, but after a while, how could I stop? What Russell Moreau wants, he gets, right?”
“Oh, my God,” Danica said.
Sarah glanced at Alicia. “This all happened long before you came into the picture. It stopped after I…” She choked.
Oh, no.Alicia thought of Ms. Clayborn in her bedroom a few days ago, offering her condolences. “You had a miscarriage.”
The woman sputtered through a tearful nod. The men in the room sagged their shoulders. Danica grabbed the edge of a table. “Fuck,” she muttered. “That month, you took off from work. That was after that happened, huh?”
“Yes,” Sarah squeaked. “After it happened, I went to our parents’ place in England for a while. It was hard, okay? I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do. I had barely told Russell when it happened.”
“Wait. You told him?”
Sarah glared at Alicia. “Of course I did. He was the father. As soon as I had confirmation, I went and showed him the test results. He told me he would take care of it.”
“Let me guess,” Alicia said with a sigh, “you thought that meant he would pay for whatever you decided.”
“I didn’t expect him to legitimize our child, but yes, I thought that he would at least financially take care of us if I decided tokeep it. But one week after I said I was thinking of keeping it, I woke up with…” Sarah began to cry again, her brother drawing her down into his arms. Nobody asked her to finish her gory description.
“He was going to hurt you again, Sarah.” Nigel rocked his sister. “I couldn’t let him. I would do anything to protect you from that again.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t hurt me. He was an asshole, but...”
“He said he would hurt you! He said he would force you and kill your baby if you got pregnant again… like last time.”
“What?” Sarah sat back. “What the hell are you talking about? I had a miscarriage.”
“Yeah, and what did the doctor tell you?”
“That it looked like I had trauma… but I never even scraped my knee, let alone something like…”
“Falling down a flight of stairs?” Alicia offered.
Both Clayborns ignored her. “There was that night you say you don’t remember, and you woke up with that stomachache.”
“Yeah, but…”
“He told me, Sarah. He said that he drugged you and had his bodyguard beat you!”
Sarah clasped her hand over her mouth. “He said we were toasting to our baby.”
“You see?” Nigel desperately asked, while his sister began to cry again. “I couldn’t let him put you through that again. Let alone force you.”
“Jesus.” Danica held her wife closer to her. “I had no idea.”
Alicia pushed herself out of her embrace. “I think it’s safe to say we all want my father-in-law out of the picture, if not paying for his moral crimes.” She turned to her wife. “You’ve hurt him enough, Danica. Yes, he pushed me down those stairs, and heshould be made to feel guilty for his actions, but do not hold it against him.”
“But…”
“No, Danica. Your father has spent his whole life terrorizing people. Don’t be like him.”
That was as good as a slap to her face.
“They’re still fired. Both of them.”
I figured as much. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Alicia offered Ms. Clayborn. “You have my word, he won’t do that to anyone ever again. As of today? You both work for me. You can have Abby, Danica. She’s competent enough to deal with your shit.”
“For fuck’s sake, Alicia.”
