Fleur gapes at me in awe.
“It was amazing.They had such a big house, and gardens, but none of that wealth made up for his pain and suffering.”
“What pain and suffering?”
I tell her about his mother’s suicide and then discovering that his father had a mistress and a secret family.
She gasps loudly.“Shut up!”she cries.“You’re making this up.”
“I wish I were.It’s true, I swear.All of it is true.”
She lets out a long sigh, like she’s feeling Zach’s pain.“Poor guy.”
“He said I helped him.”
“You were there when it happened?”
“No.We came many years later.I guess he hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about it too much, but he opened up to me.”
“He has brothers, doesn’t he?”
“Two older ones.”
“Are they single by any chance?”
I swat her softly.“I have no idea.”
“You have history with this guy, and you never want to see him again?What are you, nuts?”
“He made a pass at my mom.”
“What?”She blinks, her mouth goes slack.
“She was cleaning the library, and he walked in.Then he walked closer, but she was dusting the bookshelf or something.Then he put his hand on her cheek and stroked it.My mother felt so weak, she said.He was a billionaire, and his wife had recently died, and here they were, just him and her.Somehow, my mom managed to get away, but he made another pass a few days later and my mom slapped him.”
“The dirty pig!”she shrieks.“I swear to God, sometimes I hate that I’m attracted to the male species.I have met so many losers and now, hearing what happened to your poor mom makes my blood boil more than it already did.”
“My mom is young.She had me when she was eighteen, and she’s pretty.”
“And?”She eyes me suspiciously.
“It’s like ...he could have anyone he wanted.He mixed in wealthy circles where I’m sure women would have thrown themselves at him, because he had money and power.”
“But your mom likely never looked at him,” Fleur offers.
“I’ve often thought about it.About why he’d risk such a thing, making a move on a member of his staff.”
“She was pretty, and young, and she was there,” Fleur offers, “and she never even looked at him, I’m guessing.”
I nod, my insides turning all dull and heavy at the memory of what my mom must have endured.“Men like him think they can have whomever they want.”
That’s why no matter how nice and kind Zach seems, I can never fully trust him or his motives now.He was pure and so young when we kissed.But men like him don’t grow up in a vacuum.They grow up shaped by power and privilege, by entitlement.By fathers who teach them that control matters more than honesty.And knowing what I know now about his father, I’m terrified of mistaking sincerity for something else, and of trusting the son of a man who was capable of inflicting so much damage without ever looking back.
“A few days later, he accused my mom of stealing his late wife’s wedding pearls.”
“What?”
“He held this military tribunal in front of all the staff.They found the pearls in one of my mom’s cupboards.She denied it and insisted that they were planted there.My mom would never do such a thing.She was so honest.If she got too much change at a store, she’d give it back.”
