Page 109 of A Song for You

Turning, he shakes his head and smiles. “Your mother was a lot of things, but suicidal wasn’t one of them.” He closes his eyes for a long moment, and when he opens them again, a war wages within them. Then he tells me a secret that changes everything.

When he’s done speaking, all I know is that nothing will ever be the same.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper. Tilting forward, I brace my elbows on my knees and drop my head, at a complete loss.

Theo taps on the glass with his knuckles. “That makes two of us.” He chuckles, the sound full of torment. “I’ve tried to work it out over the last few weeks. How to deal with this development with you and Cat. I hoped it would be a passing thing. But…then I got your call. You love her,” he says, his cobalt eyes finding mine. The lines etched across his face show his age, the stress he’s endured. Likely because of my mother and Cat’s father. His company and ours. Life. He wears the years on his face, and in this moment, I feel every one of them.

The only truth I know with every fiber of my being is one thing. “Yes, I love her.”

He nods once and blows out another breath. “And she loves you?”

I dip my chin almost violently. “Yes.”

“And she’s in danger? Tell me everything.”

He settles in the seat next to me, and I tell him everything I know, everything I’ve been able to dig up. And we formulate a plan. One I’m not sure we can pull off, but I take comfort knowing he can pull off his portion. He needs to protect his grandchildren. And the only way to protect them is to get them the hell out of Boston so this can’t touch them. I just have to hope that one day I can join them.

As I open my car door, ready to head back to the city, my heart heavy with the knowledge of what’s still to come, I look up at Theo with only one request. “If things don’t go how they’re meant to…please don’t tell her. Let her think I didn’t care. That I walked away. Don’t let her mourn me. Us. Just…” I take a deep breath, knowing I need him to do this. “Make sure she moves on. Make sure she’s happy. That’s all I ask.”

Theo frowns, but he doesn’t fight me. “You have my word.

Fifty-Five

Jay

Sparks by Coldplay

Istorm into my father’s penthouse, rage boiling beneath my skin. It’s dark, and if not for the shadow the moon casts over his figure in the living room, I’d think the house was empty.

“What took you so long?” he mutters.

Panting, I halt and suck in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves before I give away everything in one fell swoop. This is not time to confront him about the bank accounts. I’m only here because I need to know where my mother is. Need answers about what happened all those years ago. Does he know the truth?

Of course he does, I scoff, annoyed by my own naivete.

“Expecting me?” I ask, my voice surprisingly even.

“Been expecting you since I saw you with Catherine James on your arm at the Halloween Ball,” he replies to my utter shock.

“Catherine Bouvier,” I correct.

He laughs and angles forward, shadows slicing his face in half, a fitting dichotomy in this moment. For so long, I believed he was the victim. That Edward James was the devil. Now I wonder who this man even is.

“Don’t tell me she fooled you into believing she wasn’t a James.”

I growl. “Don’t fucking say her name. Don’t even think it. Understand?”

My father’s face disappears again as he settles back in his chair. “Pathetic.”

“I’m pathetic?” I bark. “You’re the one sitting in your ivory tower by yourself. You’ve destroyed every relationship you have. Pushed us all so far that none of us want to be near you. Not even your own wife. Where is she, Dad? I know she didn’t kill herself. Is she even dead?”

My father’s voice is low. “Oh, she’s below the ground, all right.”

I run my hand across my face, the horror of his words bleeding through me. “What did you do?” I whisper.

A glass flies by my head, and I duck. It crashes to the floor, breaking into shards as my father howls. “What did I do? What did I fucking do? She had a fucking affair! You caught her! Don’t you remember? You walked in on her with another man. You told me about the affair! You! Don’t come in here on your high horse and pretend it didn’t happen that way!”

The horror of his admission, of what I know he’ll tell me, the knowledge that he’s right—that I’m the one who set it all in motion—makes my stomach bottom out. “No,” I whisper.