“He’s here. At what is now his house.” Aubrey’s smile promised more bullshit. “I heard a rumor he slept in the café last night. Why? There are eight bedrooms in there.”
Jeremy made a strangled sound. “How would you know where I slept?”
Good fucking question.
“I know a lot of things. Like how your mom dropped out of college because she was too busy screwing my dad and forgetting to use birth control to pass her classes.” Aubrey’s feral gaze turned to me.
So, I was right. She didn’t know yet. She had to be the only one who didn’t. “Not true.”
“There’s no need to lie about you and my dad. I was at the attorney’s office with you. The ‘family’ infamily trustmeans...” Aubrey’s voice had taken on a harsher note, then she started laughing. A loud, booming laugh.“Oh my God. Gramps?”
Yeah, she finally got it. A little late but she’d stumbled over the same realization the entire town had been whispering about all day. The courtroom rumor mill churned out the gossip with amazing speed.
People first assumed they’d received confirmation, because of the family trust bequest, that Patrick was Jeremy’s father. Then the whispers turned. Xavier’s name crept into the conversations. Xavier as father, not grandfather. Even Daniela knew when she walked into the café this morning to bake, and she lived fifteen minutes away in Ossining.
Aubrey’s hideous laughter carried over the lawn and through the trees.
The tiny flicker of sympathy, that little piece of me that believed her role was that of victim in her family’s sick tale, sputtered out. I didn’t know what she’d done or how she’d survived but would bet the café she was guilty of something. “That’s enough.”
“Does everyone know?” She threw her arms wide and looked around, grabbing the attention of the few people who’d tried to ignore her. No one pretended not to eavesdrop now. “Did you tell the detectives about your lurid affair?”
For the sake of my sanity, this conversation needed to end. “Now is not the time for your nonsense. This is a serious day.”
“You slept with Xavier. Mygrandfather. That is priceless. And a little sad.”
Her voice vibrated through me like nails on a chalkboard. “Stop talking.”
“An old man and a really mean one.” Aubrey shook her head as if she couldn’t believe the words rolling out of her mouth. “How old was he back then? Still old. I mean, could he even get it up and—”
“What’s wrong with you?” Jeremy asked.
My only solace. Aubrey didn’t know her audience. Her dramatics didn’t play well with Jeremy. He didn’t like public humiliation. He wasn’t perfect. He’d brooded his way through ninth grade. He once stole vodka from the cabinet in the kitchen. He and a friend drank it until they threw up all over the family room couch. That had been a joy to wake up to. Dealing with the other kid’s angry mother hadn’t been a picnic either.
Jeremy tested and disobeyed. Fought taking a shower all year when he was fourteen, then I couldn’t get him out of there once he turned sixteen. All things I now knew were fairly usual teen boy things. But he didn’t like mean, and Aubrey wallowed in meanness.
“You’re new to the family. I get it.” She shrugged. “You’ll learn. This is what we do.”
This bitch. “Is there a point to your scene? I’m assuming you want attention. Just like you did as a kid. Are you satisfied yet?”
A dangerous move but shifting the spotlight to me was the one way to keep it off Jeremy. Totally worth it if it worked.
The amusement faded from Aubrey’s expression. “Your mom used to flit around, half dressed, trying to get my dad’s attention even after she got kicked out of school. Did you know that? I guess Gramps fell for the virgin act. I’m surprised my dad showed some restraint. He didn’t usually.”
Jeremy took a step in her direction. “None of that is—”
“It’s okay.” No way was I letting him tangle with her. I didn’t trust her. Not back then and not know. As a kid, she’d pit her parents against each other, lying to both and reveling in the friction she caused. Causing trouble appeared to be her entire personality now.
Aubrey snorted. “Always the peacemaker.”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d played that role more than once when Victoria insisted I was flirting with Patrick and Patrick refused to hit back.Let her stew.That’s what he used to say, not caring that he hurt her or that I was the one she targeted during her rages.
He’d been a weak man, more interested in dropping his pants for any pretty woman who walked by than salvaging his family. The first time I met Xavier he told me to stay away from Patrick. Said his son was easily distracted and lacked a backbone. I appreciated the warning... until I learned that Xavier viewed me as a prize he could lord over Patrick.
The whole damn family was sick.
“Everyone said your mom and my dad had an affair. All those times they’d lock themselves in his office.”
Aubrey would not stop.
