Page 72 of Finding Grey
His shrug looked casual, but I wasn’t fooled. The furrows of his brow were deep with trepidation. “You’re obviously aware of what happened between your father and I.”
“You mean that time you threatened to accuse him of paedophilia? Or do you mean the part where you blackmailed him out of his career, all to keep me and Dante apart.” My voice rose with each word and I stopped for a second to calm myself before I continued. “He told me everything a few days ago.”
“And yet, you haven’t said anything to Dante,” he pointed out. “Which means you must want something in return for your silence. If you want money, it can be arranged. Or perhaps you want to see your photos in magazines and on album covers. I can make that happen, too.” My lack of response seemed to increase his confidence. “Name your price.”
“This isn’t a negotiation, Roger. I don’t want anything from you.” The fact he’d said the words at all made me sick to my stomach. “But you would do it, wouldn’t you? You’d pay off the man who shares your son’s bed to keep your own secrets from getting out. You’d allow Dante to be in love with someone who’s blackmailing you behind his back. That’s how you show your love for your son?”
“Honestly, I don’t expect you to hang around long enough for it to be a problem.” He brushed invisible lint from his coat. Still playing thethis conversation bores megame. “If you actually cared about Dante you would have reached out to him years ago.”
“We tried to see each other, but you refused to allow it. And now I finally understand why. You were scared Dante would find out the truth about what you’d done.”
“And it was all too easy to keep you apart.” His smug expression said he would have done it again if he’d had the chance. “One little lie, one nudge towards the door, and you ran away with your tail tucked between your legs.”
There was truth to his words. I’d been almost eager to believe in Dante’s betrayal. The idea of someone like him wanting me had been too hard to believe. If I’d had more confidence in my own worth, perhaps I wouldn’t have been so easily manipulated. But that was in the past, and right now the only thing I did believe in was Dante’s love for me and mine for him.
“The only reason I haven’t told Dante everything is because he loves you. For whatever reason, he still trusts you. If he found out how badly you betrayed him all these years, it would crush him.”
“So, don’t say anything.” He shrugged, as if the solution was simple. “None of it matters now anyway. You’re together. Dante got what he wanted. Everything has worked out in the end.”
My heart screamed in denial of his words, but my head saw his point. If I kept my mouth shut, Dante could retain his relationship with his father and we could be together.
I took a deep breath as I met Roger’s gaze. “I want to build a life with Dante. If you want to be a part of it, you need to accept our relationship, right now.”
After a long moment, he nodded in agreement. “Done.”
“If you ever lie to Dante again, or try to come between us, I will not hesitate to tell him everything. Do you understand?”
“I get it,” he said, rolling his eyes in a show of exasperation. “If having Dante in my life means welcoming you into the family, then so be it. I never had anything against you personally,” he added, as if that made everything he’d done okay. “But don’t think for one second there is anything I wouldn’t do to protect him.”
I nodded in agreement. “That makes two of us.”
The sound of clapping made us both look up. Dante strolled out onto the patio, giving us a slow applause. “How lovely the two of you are getting along so well now you’ve come to an agreement. You’re both going to betray me. That’s fucking great.”