I hate that I believed in him for so long.That I was blind to his faults, while the others saw it so much earlier.I go directly to his office and storm past Patty, my father’s assistant, unable to hold my temper any longer.I throw the door open.
I hear her behind me.“You can’t just go—”
My father looks up at me.He can read my expression.He knows what’s coming.“Leave us, Patty.”
I walk up to him, heart thumping violently.“You went to Maya’s apartment?”
“I—”
“You tried to pay her off.”
“I did what needed to be—”
“She can’t be bought.Like Cari couldn’t be bought.When will you ever learn?”
He surveys me with a calm expression.
“All my life I’ve wanted to believe in you.”
“Not wanted, boy.Youdid.”
“Did.That’s right.I did, but no more.I’ve lost every ounce of respect and concern for you.You made a move on her mom, are you fucking for real?”I ask, incredulous.
He doesn’t flinch.“Is that what she told you?”
Oh.I see how he’s going to play this.He doesn’t know Maya has a recording.“I believe her.Maya has no reason to lie.Neither does her mother.”
“Those people can’t be trusted.Why would you believe them over me?”
“Which people?”
“House staff.They’d do anything to blackmail.To steal, to take.Just like she stole your mother’s wedding pearls.”
“She stole mom’s pearls?”
“She did.Of course, she’ll deny it, but we found them in her closet.”He sits back, looking so composed, and comfortable.I half expect him to whip out a bag of popcorn.
“You found them?”
A hint of suspicion flashes across his eyes.He’s starting to wonder what I have over him.
“You shouldn’t trust everything you hear.You might think you’re in love, but it’s lust.A long-lost teenage crush.You had feelings for her, and now you see her, all those feelings come back again.She’s a beautiful woman, I’ll give you that—”
“Don’t,” I hiss, fury raising its venomous head.
“You’re so caught up in the past, in your longing for her, but she’s clearly twisted you around her fingers.”
“Has she?”
He scoffs.“It’s apparent.Why can’t you see it?”
“You made a move on her mother, and when she rejected you, you couldn’t take it.And then, you needed to get rid of her quickly, so you framed her for theft, then banished her from the estate.You made sure she would never work in New York again.”
He looks at me, like he’s trying to work out how to convince me I’m wrong.“You boys are pussy whipped.”
He’s a monster.
“She has it recorded.”I tilt my chin, lips curling up at the corners, watching his composure crack.He sits up.“Smart girl, my Maya.She recorded it on her phone, and I’ve listened to it all.I heard everything you did to her mom, and now I know, without any doubt, what you really are.”
