“How do I know that's true?”
“You don't.” He holds my gaze. “I can't prove something didn't happen. All I can do is tell you and hope you believe me.” He sighs. “You've seen how I am with kids. You think I would have abandoned my own child? I don't run from responsibility. That's something you know.”
I nod. He doesn't run when people need him. He would have done a lot more for me if I had let him.
“There's something else,” he says. His voice drops. “Something I should have told you the moment I found out.”
The way he says it makes my blood run cold. “What?”
He doesn't answer right away. Moves to the window, stares out at nothing.
“After our second date, I asked Maddox to run a background check.”
“You what?”
“Standard security protocol when someone gets close to me. My family has enemies. I needed to know you weren't connected to them.” He turns to face me. “And what he found...”
“You investigated me.” The violation of it hits hard. “You dug into my life, my history, without my permission.”
“Yes.”
“What gave you the right?—“
“Nothing. Nothing gave me the right.” He cuts me off. “It was wrong. I knew it was wrong when I asked him to do it. But Emma, what he found... I need you to hear this.”
So you get to decide what I'm allowed to know about my own life?”
“Emma, listen. I wasn't going to read anything. Maddox would normally vet people for me, but this was so important that I needed to know. That you need to know.”
“Fine! What's so important that made you wait months before telling me?”
“Your family's death wasn't an accident.”
The words don't make sense at first. Just sounds. Syllables arranged in an impossible order.
“What?”
“The carbon monoxide leak was staged. Your mother was a whistleblower. She discovered a chemical cover-up at the lab where she worked. She was going to expose it.” He pauses. “And someone made sure she didn't.”
The room tilts. I grab the back of the chair to steady myself.
“No. The investigators said?—“
“The investigators were paid off. A private organization handled it. They specialize in making problems disappear.” His voice is raw. “Hammond Industries was one of their clients.”
I can't breathe. My parents. My brother. Gone in one night. I spent years believing it was just a terrible accident and feeling guilty I was spared.
“You're telling me your family had my family killed?”
“I don't know if my family ordered it directly. I don't know how much they knew. But Hammond Industries paid someone to handle problems, and your mother was a problem.” His voice breaks. “Emma, I am so sorry.”
The betrayal hits like a blow. He knew. Held me at night, told me he cared about me, all while carrying this secret.
“Get out.”
“Emma, please?—“
“Get out!” My voice cracks. “You knew what they did to my family, and you didn't tell me. You let me fall in love with you while you were hiding the fact that your family destroyed mine.”
