“There were pictures, Gerald. Lots of them. Of you and Cat together. By the way, you should probably stop the habit of documenting every single fuck you have with women who are not your wife.”
The pictures were genuine. They were real. And they were damning. I knew a photoshopped work when I saw it, and this wasn’t it.
So why was I feeling like an idiot right now?
“No, I did have an affair with Cat, I’m not going to deny that part. Hell, Sam, you were a child, barely even old enough to wipe your own ass. I didn’t know you. And Cat was a gorgeous woman in her prime. Besides, she needed the money, and I paid her well for her … uh … company.” He looked away now, rubbing the back of his head.
There was no well-mannered way to point out someone’s mother was a whore, so I didn’t necessarily fault him for that. He carried on, exhaling quickly.
“I had an affair with her, yes, but everything else was a complete and utter fabrication. Catalina was never pregnant with my child, and I never raised a finger to hurt her. I did not cause her to miscarry. When we started seeing each other, she told me she had her tubes tied after she had you. I asked her to show me the doctor’s note—I knew Jane would rip my head off if I ever got any of my mistresses pregnant—and Cat provided it to me within the day. Not only that, but I went ahead and double-checked it with her OB-GYN.”
“Then what the fuck was that pregnancy test?”
“My guess is she took it from one of her friends. Catalina had a lot of friends in the … uh … industry she worked in. Kept women who messed around with rich men. We provided for them, but the main incentive was, of course, to fall pregnant with our children. That would tie us to them for life.”
I did not take that into consideration.
“So you are saying she was never pregnant with your child?” I drawled, trying to keep my cool.
He finished his whiskey in one go. “Correct.”
“That’s all nice and well, but I distinctly remember Cat coming back home around the time of the alleged miscarriage, disoriented and bruised. I remember her crawling into her bed, curling up into a ball, crying. I remember her being ushered to the hospital in an ambulance. How would you explain that?”
Gerald stared at me through beady, liquid black eyes, his lips sneering in distaste. “Does the name Donnie ring a bell?”
I shook my head slowly.
“Tall, muscular, an underwear model type. He was Cat’s real boyfriend at the time. The man she fucked without leaving an invoice on the nightstand afterward. Real good-looking guy, I’ll give him that, but he never came to terms with what she did for a living. Every now and again, he would rough her up if she showed up to meet him smelling like the man before him. As it happened, that man before him that night was me. I know, because I met your mother at the hospital and even paid for her hospital stay. I told her to press charges. She didn’t want to. I still have the receipt for that hospital bill, and I can show you none of the things listed there have anything to do with Cat’s womb or any of her reproductive organs.”
Suddenly, I had a really bad headache. Because through foggy memory, I did remember Donnie. A tall, blond fuckboy. I remembered internally referring to him as Captain Potato Head for having the combined IQ and wit of a used condom. He was the first person to give me a cigarette.
“Hey, Cat’s kid, bring me the pack of Marlboros over there, will ya?”
I did as I was told, mostly because I was too distracted to tell him to fuck off. The man left the pack open, jerking it in my direction.
“Here, boy, take one. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“I don’t smoke.”
“Oh, you will, buddy. With your fucked-up life, cigarettes are a question of when, not if.”
“Explain the letters.” I turned to Gerald, the biting pain of being played closing in on my throat again. This time not by Aisling, who was at least smart and intelligent, but by Cat, whom I wouldn’t trust with a goddamn Snickers bar.
All the pieces of the puzzle were falling together.
“Easily, Sam.” Gerald poured himself more whiskey, seeming more relaxed than he had in weeks. I knew he was telling the truth, and it fucking killed me. “Sometime after Donnie roughed her up, Cat realized her line of work was just too dangerous. She asked me for money. A lot of it. To keep silent. I said no, and that’s when the blackmailing began. Each and every one of her letters was part of an extortion scheme. She threatened to out us, to spread terrible lies, to ensure Jane knew about what we were. What we did. She wanted to skip town, but she never wanted to take you, Sam. You weren’t in her plans. Not even for a second. At some point, I realized she wasn’t worth the heat I was about to get from Jane. I became open to giving her money. I kept asking her how she could leave you behind. Tried to convince her to take you with her—kids need their mothers. By God, Sam, she just wouldn’t. Finally, I handed her 150k just so she would shut up and leave me alone. I remember the day she left. She was so happy, and you know what, son? So was I. She almost cost me everything. I’m not going to lie, Sam, seeing the back of your mother as she skipped town was one of my favorite sights. It should have been a happy day for you, too.”
I began peeling the soft paper around the cigarette pack, feeling like a thirteen-year-old again.
“You never told me about your history with my mother,” I said coldly.
“No. Not because I did something horrible to her but because I didn’t want you to think I see you as the spawn of this money-grabbing idiot. I didn’t want our professional relationship to be tainted by that. Besides, I truly didn’t and don’t see you as Cat’s. You are a Brennan through and through. A Brennan is the best thing a person in Boston can be, other than a Fitzpatrick. You had a good childhood once she gave you up. You shouldn’t be thinking about her. Not for one second.”
“I don’t,” I hissed. “I’m thinking about how you wronged me.”
“I didn’t know you,” Gerald emphasized. “You were a kid. Still, I felt some sort of responsibility toward you. After I’d heard Cat had left, I looked you up. Found out that Sparrow sent you to this fancy Montessori school. I had my driver drive around it sometimes to see if I could spot you during recess. Sometimes I did. You sat in the middle of a circle, and all the boys looked up to you, captivated by you. You became strong, and prominent, and unbeatable. After a while, I was satisfied with how it all turned out. Pleased with my decision to give the wretched woman what she wanted to leave you behind. It worked out well for you.”
“So well you later on hired me as the help.”
“No, as my fixer,” Gerald corrected. “A savvy businessman whose expertise I needed and was willing to pay for handsomely. Admittedly, I wasn’t surprised to see you on my doorstep. I stitched together the Sailor and Hunter plan with Troy, tightening our ties with the Brennans had always been the plan for me. You were too prominent a family in Boston for me not to acknowledge you somehow. But I hired you because you were the best in the business and not for any other reason.”
There was silence. I knew more needed to be said, but I wasn’t sure what. I believed Gerald, and that should have been enough. I should have felt some sort of relief or contentment with this information.
Cautiously, Gerald continued, drawing a circle with his index finger around his tumbler of whiskey.
“But I have a feeling this doesn’t have much to do with Catalina and me. You wanted a reason for me to become your enemy. Otherwise, you would have come straight to me with those letters. What’s going on, Sam?”
And just like that, he hit the nail on the head.
I created this mess.
Troy was right.
Gerald was right, too.
I wanted it, needed it, manufactured it the day after I slept with Aisling to distract myself from the hard truths.
Aisling Fitzpatrick could never be mine.
She was too innocent, too precious, too blue-blooded for a man like me.
I couldn’t have her—and not just because her family paid me not to.
The extra money didn’t matter much to me. But also because I couldn’t give her all the things she needed—monogamy, a wedding, a family, children. And most importantly because I knew being with her would put her life at risk.
She is already putting her life at risk, doing what she is doing. She could end up in jail tomorrow, which means you played savior Jesus for nothing.
The truth hit me hard.
I wanted Aisling Fitzpatrick.
There were no more distractions.
No more excuses.
No more reasons to stay away.
Especially now, when both Gerald and I had each other by the throat.
It was time to make a bargain.
“You deprived me of my mother, Gerald, and I deprived you of your sanity for weeks. I think it is high time we cut a deal.” I sat back, nailing him to his seat with a stare.
“Don’t turn this around on me, Brennan. You were caught red-handed, meddling with my business and ruining my relationships with my loved ones. I know it seems like Jane and I have a lot of issues to work through, and truth be told, ours is less than a perfect marriage, but I still care about my wife. I love her in my own way, and I am definitely not impressed with the way you interfered in our marriage.”
“Regardless of that speech, the truth of the matter is, I have a lot of dirt on you, Gerry boy, and I fully plan to unleash it if I don’t get what I want. The letters are still real. The pregnancy test is still in existence. All those things you ran away from with Cat are now in my possession, and trust me, I make my birth mother look like a kitten in comparison.”
He groaned, rubbing his face tiredly.
“What is it that you want?”
“Your daughter,” I replied simply.
He laughed. This time it came out metallic and scratchy. His whole body rejected the idea. Like a failed organ transplant.
“You’ll never stand a chance with my daughter after what you did to us. This is the ultimate betrayal. She cares for her mother dearly, and in her eyes, you are to blame for the destruction of her family. In fact, I will be meeting her for breakfast in…” he flicked his wrist, checking his Rolex “…about two hours to tell her all about this little conversation. I cannot give you what is not up for offer.”
“Leave the persuasion to me,” I clipped. “Give her your blessing to be with me.”
“My blessing?” he spat out, his eyes widening. “You tried ruining my life!”
“You ruined mine first.” I waved an impatient hand his way, standing up and collecting my things.
“I’m paying you extra to stay away from Aisling!” He shot up to his feet, jabbing a finger in the air in my direction.
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about my bank account. I’ll survive without it.”
“It’s not your bank account I’m worried about. It’s my daughter.” He paused, a flicker of interest crossing his face. “How well off are you, anyway?”
“Triple digit millions well off. Your daughter will be provided for.”
“You will not have her!” he cried desperately. “Aisling is beautiful, smart, delicate, and well-bred. She—”
“Is also fucking single because the only man she wants is forbidden,” I cut him off, shouldering past him toward the bathroom, where I yanked his gun out of my pocket and wiped it clean of my fingerprints with a towel. “You are doing her a disservice by interfering with her love life. She knows what she wants.”
“And you?” He eyed me skeptically through the bathroom mirror. “Do you know what you want?”
Yes.
I wanted Aisling.
I met his gaze head-on in the mirror.
“You will tell her she has your blessing to date me. To be with me. To marry me,” I enunciated. “Understood?”
He looked close to hitting me. It surprised and delighted me to know Gerald cared so much about his daughter.
“She is my flesh and blood,” he hissed.
“Don’t remind me.” I pretended to gag. “Look, I don’t need your dirty money. I plan on courting her and touching her—a lot, in ways you don’t want to think about—and I would like to do that very openly. She deserves dinners, and restaurants, and vacations. Things I cannot give her in secret. You either roll with the plan or I run you over. Your pick.”
“I have conditions, too.”
I put his gun down on the sink’s edge, turning around and folding my arms over my chest. “Let’s hear them.”
“I’ll be going back to Avebury Court Manor in a few to give Jane and Aisling a rundown of everything we discussed. All facts. You will not deny what happened. You will own up to tampering with our lives. To poisoning me. To dragging out those awful pictures.”
It seemed straightforward enough.
“You will also hand me back my cufflinks. My family heirloom.”
I gave him a curt nod. “That it?”
“No. One more thing. If you hurt her …” He didn’t finish the sentence, shaking his head to rid himself of whatever horrid image played in his mind.
“I will not hurt your daughter.”
“I’m already regretting this bargain.”
I turned around and left him there.
Now there was only one slight matter.
The matter of making Aisling not hate me with a burning passion of a fucking million suns.
CHAPTER 13
AISLING
“Do you think he is okay? Should we call the police?” My mother tore her croissant into miniscule pieces on her flowery plate, demolishing the poor pastry. “Does my hair look okay?”