In Love with a Stranger (23 page)

The bastard was insane.

Chapter 27 – Under My Thumb

HANNAH

I didn’t tell William anything about his file. He found me a crying mess on the floor of our bedroom. He was drunk and in no state to hear what I’d read. The next morning, Camille showed up on our doorstep. William had called her, while I was sleeping in. She was going to watch Penelope, while we went to visit his father. He’d been released on bail.

I didn’t know if I could handle seeing that man. I told William I didn’t feel well, and I wanted to stay home. He almost conceded, but he said his mother had called and asked if I was free. He didn’t want me or Penelope around her, and my absence would be an excuse for her to come calling.

My body shook, as we were led to the study. When I saw his father, I couldn’t hold back. “You wanted to steal my daughter!” I lunged at him, and William grabbed me, holding me back. His hand dropped to my stomach, reminding me that we’d forgotten to pick up a pregnancy test.

His father’s eyes dropped to where William cradled my tummy, and he teared up. “He was a mess,” was all he said. “I wanted to give him something, anything. You didn’t see him!” Henry had the audacity to shout at me.

“What are you talking about?” William sounded on the verge of exploding himself.

“Your file, the last few pages, it said he wanted to kidnap my daughter and send her to live with you. He was going to take her! How could you even consider-”

“Are you serious? Is this true? First you hide her and then you-”

“She didn’t look for you! It was when she was still under suspicion of taking the money. You had a child, William. Do you really think I wanted to keep her from you?”

“That was exactly what you did!”

“But you didn’t know! If you’d have stayed in the dark, this mess wouldn’t have been made! You weren’t supposed to get hurt!”

“Are you mental? Couldn’t you see that’s exactly what happened? You ruined my happiness once you interfered in my life, when you took Hannah away from me!”

“The damage was done. As long as you stayed in the dark…”

“She was my daughter!” William advanced on his father.

“I realized that! You think I’d ever turn away family? You think I’d ever cast her out?  Even with your wife’s less-than-perfect upbringing, even if she proved to be a gold-digger, I’d never turn away my granddaughter. She was my family!”

“No, she was
my
family. You had no right to interfere!”

“It was too late! I’d destroyed everything. I‘d ruined it all. There was no way to fix it! I could only care for her as best I could.”

“I should’ve been the one to care for her. She was mine, my responsibility!”

“She was loved! She was happy! If for one moment I thought she was lacking, I would’ve stepped in. I would’ve fought for custody.”

“How dare you!” I lunged for him again and slapped him hard.

“No, Madam, it’s a great compliment that I found you worthy to raise my granddaughter.”

“But not to marry your son?” I snapped.

“As soon as William knew of her existence, he could’ve fought for custody. He didn’t…”

William punched his father, landing him on the ground. “You bastard!” he snarled.

“That woman was content without you, while you hurt! Her feelings don’t match yours. You have to see that!” Henry cried from the floor.

“She didn’t remember me!” William defended.

Henry rose from the floor slowly, taking a step back. “Rather convenient that her memory should suddenly return after all this time. You must not have made that deep of an impression, William. I don’t like the circumstance of it all.”

I was worried when William started laughing. “You don’t get to choose. You’ve already done enough damage to my life.”

His father sat down tiredly, not speaking for a few moments, before sliding the file marked “bookshop fire” toward William. “You took the wrong file,” he whispered. William snatched it up and started for the door. “William,” he called after us, “Please, don’t hold my mistakes against your mother. She had no part of what I did.”

“She’s just as bad,” William snarled.

“She wants the best for you, for Penelope. She’s accepted your wife.  I will, too. I swear to stay out of it, just please, don’t hurt Emmaline.” His father had tears in his eyes. “She means well. If Penelope shows no interest in her title, she won’t be pressured. She wants her to have love. That’s all she’s ever wanted for any of you.”

William hooked his arm around me and ushered me out the door.

We didn’t go straight home. He took me to a clinic, where a test was run, and it was confirmed I was pregnant. We needed the good news to lift our spirits.

Of course, that didn’t last long. When we arrived home, we were shocked to find Emmaline sitting with a nervous Camille and a surprisingly smiling Penelope.

“Mom, there’s a game named after a bug, but there’s no jumping. Dad used to play it!” she exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a scrapbook. “Nana Emmaline said daddy could show me better.”

There was what I thought was a smaller version of a cricket bat and glove next to a worn one and an unopened soccer ball.

“Do you want to explain to me what you’re doing here?” William was doing his best to control his temper.

“Penelope has so much of her mother’s history. I thought she might enjoy getting to know her father as well. Cricket was such a large part of your life when you were younger, sweetheart.”

“And what of the football?” he asked almost accusingly.

“It seems to be something the Americans enjoy. I wasn’t sure what she was interested in. I brought a doll and a tea set as well. I figured she might not have much to entertain her here.”

“Can I speak with you privately for a moment?” William asked through gritted teeth.

She nodded yes and passed the book to Penelope. “You look at this, dear heart. I’ll bet your father can tell you some fun stories.”

She walked down the hallway and stood outside what used to be the study. William opened the door to the music room and ushered his mother inside.

“I know you’re upset with me, William. I…”

“You don’t get to insert yourself into my daughter’s life,” he cut her off.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I was surprised when she looked to me. “Please, help him understand. Surely you must…”

“Don’t speak to my wife!”

“I had no idea how much your father had interfered!”

“That doesn’t erase your past transgressions. I won’t have you pressuring my daughter to…”

“I had no plans to.”

“Yes, you do! You’re a meddling…” William was shouting too loudly.

I grabbed William’s arm. “Penelope will hear you.”

He took to pacing the room.

“You hate me for pushing something on you. You’re upset, because I wanted a life for you that you didn’t want. You had no interest, I understand that now. Don’t make the same mistakes I have.”

He spun around, glaring at his mother.

“If she wants something, William, give it to her. Don’t insist she live the life that you want for her. I swear not to push it, but if she wants it, don’t stand in her way. She’ll only grow to resent you like you resent me.”

“You have no right!” He stopped himself, when he realized he’d raised his voice again.

“I brought a variety of things. A lady doesn’t play sports, William, but she’s a child still. I understand that. I know you won’t stand for…”

“No, I won’t,” he cut her off again.

“I pushed you both away so much. I had Maggie care for you. I kept my distance, because things weren’t always the best between your father and me. The trouble he caused…” Her hand went to her heart. “He’s a good man. He means well. There were more opportunities…”

“I created my own, and so will my daughter. She doesn’t need either of you.”

“No, she doesn’t. Your father made it clear that Hannah is a good mother,” she nodded at me and sank down into William’s desk chair.

“Don’t get too comfortable. You won’t be staying long,” he warned.

“He’s threatened me. He doesn’t want me to interfere in your life, if you don’t want me in it.”

“What?” I didn’t think Henry would ever stop surprising me.

“He says he’s done too much. He won’t have me imposing and upsetting you any further. He’ll keep me from you himself. You don’t need to take her away. You don’t need to move. He won’t let me…”

“What do you mean he won’t let you?” William was just as confused as I was.

“We all have our problems, William. He’s a good man. He wants you to be happy.”

“That remains to be seen. I don’t trust that he’ll stay out of our lives.” William didn’t sound convinced at all.

“He won’t interfere, but I doubt he’ll remove himself so far that he’ll not keep records of your family’s achievements. He was always a proud man. He was always so proud of you.”

“That makes no difference.”

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.  Just know that he’d never let me interfere where you don’t want me. Please, I promise to be-” she broke off sobbing.

“Further discussion is required, before we make a decision,” I cut in.

“Absolutely not!” William was downright appalled by my suggestion.

“Why don’t you say goodbye to Penelope. I know how to get ahold of you.”

“There’s nothing to discuss!”

Emmaline ignored William’s outrage and slipped out of the room.

“You’re mental to think I’d let them near my family,” he snapped when the door shut.

“Yes, there’s way too much crazy in your family, William. I don’t know how you turned out anywhere near sane. I’ve read your file. Your father is nuts, but he loves you in his own sick, twisted way. I don’t doubt he’d keep your mother away from you. It’s disturbing that he seems to have threatened her when you were younger as well. She’s delusional, calling him a good man.  It almost sounds as if she’s trying to convince herself of it.”

“Then why would you say you’d consider her involvement?”

I sat down tiredly and shook my head. “Can you control her? Do you know how to handle her?”

“You’re not seriously considering...”

“No, never alone, never unsupervised. Your father has something over her, just like he has something over everyone else. He asked us to let her be involved, but by her account, he plans on stopping her. I don’t understand them.”

“I’m not letting them anywhere near Penelope.”

“Then maybe not near, possibly far?”

“Far? Why are you even suggesting this?”

“I’m a mother, William. To have your children taken from you, even the threat…” I started crying and knew it was the hormones. I was a mess, gutted when I‘d read Henry had wanted to kidnap my daughter. I didn’t doubt he’d threatened Emmaline with a similar plot at some point. She might not have been right in the head, but I couldn’t see how it would be possible to stay sane after living with a man like that for decades. “Don’t have her visit our daughter, but you meet her for tea and speak to her about her. She’s your mother. Don’t let your father take her babies from her.” I grabbed his sweater and started crying even harder. “Don’t let him take her babies.”

He scooped me up and cradled me in his lap. “I only want to keep you both safe.”

I nodded my head in understanding. “I want my baby safe, too, both of them.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“Did she ever hurt you? Do you think she’d try something?” I asked worried.

He hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head, not answering. He finally let out a sigh. “Let me think on things, beautiful. I don’t want to put my family at risk. I want to look into everything, before I even consider visiting with her myself. I don’t want her trying to slip in like she did today. If my father can really employ his talent of control and keep her away, I think we should use it. I’ll approach her on my own, when I’m ready, and not a moment sooner.” He rubbed my back and kissed my head again.

“I’m such a mess,” I muttered.

He chuckled. “You’re too tender-hearted for your own good, but I suppose that’s one of the reasons I love you. Of course, you may change your mind in a few hours. I hear women are fickle when they’re pregnant.”

I scowled at him.

“Wishful thinking, beautiful, wishful thinking.”

Chapter 28 – Threats and Promises

WILLIAM

I didn’t wait to be let into my parents’ home. I charged right in and burst into my father’s study.

“What do you have on my mother?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“She said you’d keep her from us.”

“I don’t believe the states are safe yet. I’ll not have her chasing you off until the matter with the fire is settled. If I have to keep her away, so be it.”

I laughed blackly.

“We’ll keep our distance. We’ll stay out of your lives, William. Don’t put your family at risk, because you’re upset with us.”

“We’re at risk by staying here around you!”

He rubbed his face. “I’d never hurt your family.”

“To late for that.”

“I never meant to...”

“All you do is hurt people. That’s your whole life’s work,” I pointed at the hidden room.

He closed his eyes.

“You think you’re God, but you’re not. You’ve ruined so much already.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I’m doing what I can to make it right.”

“When we were kids, did you threaten to take us away from mum?” He was quiet for too long. I shook my head. “You’re a sick man.”

“There were extenuating circumstances.”

“Which were?” He didn’t say anything.  “Answer me, for all that’s holy, you owe me that! Why would you to keep us from mum?”

“It has to do with what’s in her file. I won’t expose her like that.”

“More secrets, more lies!” I accused.

“She was going to leave me!”

“She should have!”

“You were my son, my child. She turned on me. I couldn’t have her turning you on me as well. I couldn’t stand for you to hate me.”

“It’s too late.”

“It wasn’t then. I had a good reason. I had a very good reason.”

“Did she plan on hurting us?”

“No, but I won’t discuss it further. Her file is sealed.”

I scoffed. “No, it looms over her head.”

He nodded. “I do keep it over her head. She needs to be kept in place.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

“Your mother and I have our issues, they’re ours alone and not your concern.”

“It is if there’s a mad woman trying to mess with my family.”

“So you’ve decided against her…very well.”

“What did she do to make you threaten to keep her children away from her?” I had to know.

He frowned and shook his head. “It’s not an issue anymore. You’re grown. If you don’t want my assistance to keep her away, then I’ll stand back and let you deal with her on your own.”

“Tell me.”

“You’ll have to ask her yourself. I’ve promised to not speak of it. I may be a lot of things, William, but I’ve always kept my word to your mother. Ask her if you want that information, but don’t expect her to speak freely on the matter. It was a difficult time in her life, in our marriage.  I don’t necessarily blame her for her actions. I have other things…I’d never hold that over her head. It’s not right. It’s not something I’d exploit, not anymore.

“If you want her to stay away, I’ll tell her to. I don’t need to force her. She won’t want to drive you into danger, either. You’re safe here. I hope you’ll consider staying until the fire mess is handled.” He opened a drawer and drew out another file. “I’ve got another report for you. I’ll keep you updated on what I find. I can send the rest by post. You don’t have to come here,” he frowned again.

“Give me the files on my family.”

He didn’t even bother to fight me, he just opened the hidden room and pulled them all out, including one marked Penelope Greyson. I was honestly surprised he passed them over so easily. “Do you have another copy?”

“Just of your pictures, yours and Penelope’s. I kept the files locked up. I didn’t want anyone to try and use the information to hurt our family. I never entered it into my computers. They’re at too high of a risk to be hacked.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near my family, and that includes everyone you employ as well. I want nothing to do with you.”

He nodded, glassy-eyed. “If you stay here, I won’t interfere, other than to investigate the fire, but you can’t ask me to hold back any security measures if you return to the states. You’ll never know they’re there.”

“Don’t you dare…”

“I just want to keep you and your family safe, William. If you don’t let me employ security, at least employ it yourself. Don’t let your pride put your family at risk. You may hate me, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about you and your family.”

“You’re impossible!”

He just nodded his head. 

“Stay away from us,” I ordered.

“As you wish.”

I turned to leave, only to see my mother crying silently into a hanky. She glared at my father before shaking her head and running away. Her loud sobs echoed down the hallway, and I did my best to tune it out as I left. I didn’t want to think on it, and I sure as hell didn’t want to think on what Hannah had said the night before. My parents were raving mad, and I needed to hang on to that to keep my family safe. I wouldn’t let my wife’s tender heart hurt my family. I knew she wouldn’t mean to, but it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

When I arrived home, I heard my wife snapping at someone. “There’s no way you didn’t know. Don’t feed me your bullshit, it was in his file.”

“File?” It was Duncan.

“His father kept a file on William and every way he interfered in his life. You were listed. You were the spy brought in to report on him after my disappearance.”

“No, absolutely not. I’d never do that, and I’d never get involved with anything his dad did.”

I stepped into the room, shocked by her accusation. Neither noticed my presence.

“How the hell do you explain your convenient pairing with William, then?”

“It was my job. Mr. Victor set me up as his partner, said he was struggling with personal issues and needed a hand. That was it, there was no involvement with his dad.”

“I call bullshit!” she snapped again. “It’s in his file, along with your reports.”

“Reports? I’ve never written up a report on William, for anything!”

“Really, so how did he know that William was drinking a lot, but you didn’t think he was an alcoholic, and he liked to keep to himself?”

“The only time I’ve ever said anything to anyone about William’s drinking was when I was first paired with William, and Mr. Victor wanted a peer review after a trip. He specifically asked me about what happened after hours, and if I thought it’d affect his work performance. I said no. The performance reviews I turn in now are all just lame crap that has nothing to do with anything but work. I know he turns the same crap in on me, too. It’s just standard procedure.”

“No, it isn’t,” I cut in. “I’ve never done a performance review on you.”

He looked at me confused. “Yeah, you have, you’ve had to. It’s part of our travel packets. We turn them in with our expense reports.”

“No, we don’t.”

“You mean I’ve been on my best behavior around you all these years for nothing? I could’ve taken off with those twins in Manchester, skipped out on our morning meeting and not gotten in trouble? That sucks, because I so wanted to get smashed with pair of them.”

“If what you do now is your good behavior, then I don’t want to see your bad behavior. Who did you turn the reviews in to?” I asked. I didn’t think Duncan would ever knowingly betray me like that.

“Mr. Victor himself. He wanted them. He’s a bit obsessive and controlling, but-”

“Your father has a file on George Victor,” Hannah cut in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I huffed.

“I’m sorry, William. It’s very clear in your file that not only George, but all of the board members, are under your father’s control, but you were promoted for your talents. George made sure of that.”

That really wasn’t comforting. I picked up my file off the counter, and Hannah rested her hand on my arm. “If you’re going to read that, maybe have a drink with you and keep in mind that your father did everything out of love. Sick, twisted and insane love, but still love. Don’t let him taint your happy memories by what you read in there.”

“Your words aren’t helping to settle me down.”

“No, I suppose not.” She looked over at the counter and saw I had the actual hard copies of the files. “How did you get those?”

“He gave them to me, along with another file on the fire and Penelope’s.” She quickly dug through them and pulled out our daughter’s file. She opened it flat on the counter, and I couldn’t help but smile at the pictures he had of her.

Hannah didn’t seem as pleased. “Oh, my god, every contest, every set of tickets she ‘won’ in her class for random things, they were all from him.” She pointed to pictures of Penelope at the zoo, the Statue of Liberty, a Broadway show, the opera, the symphony, ballet, even Coney Island. “He did it all, he paid for her school, and look here, there are reports from her damn teacher addressed to him personally!” she screamed.

There was a copy of Penelope’s medical records and vaccinations as well. The crazy thing was they also had our family history in them, not just Hannah’s.

“They knew, they all knew this whole time who her family was, possibly who her father was, and no one ever told me! They never once mentioned his involvement in our lives. I could’ve found you so much sooner if they hadn’t played his sick little games. There’s no way they’re getting away with this. I’m suing every last one of them!”

It took a long time for Hannah to settle down, and even still, she was furious, but she wasn’t ranting anymore. I picked up my file and found her trying to rest in our bedroom. “Is there anything in this file that affects my life now? If I read this file, will it change anything?”

She sat up and took it from me, flipping through it. “The only pertinent information that may affect you now is that your father has files on all of the board members at your work. He insisted that you be considered for all promotions first, but you were still only moved up when you proved you actually had the skills and could handle doing the job. You were still the one who earned it, William. If you didn’t know what you were doing, they wouldn’t have promoted you.”

“I can’t believe this. He has to stop. I’ll get ahold of him tomorrow and make sure he backs off. I’m not sure I can keep my job, now that I know what was going on.”

She pulled me down on the bed and kissed me softly. “I know what you mean. I want to change schools and doctors.  Hell, I’m not so sure I even want to go back to New York.  I feel like I can’t trust anyone. It feels like they betrayed me, and my family. I’m scared that if I keep reading, things will just get worse.”

I had finished reading over Penelope’s file. He had her life meticulously chronicled.  He even had notes about her liking a show called
Angelina Ballerina
and had sent them a certificate for a year’s worth of ballet classes. My daughter took after her mother, though, and ended up not liking it. There was a DVD of her recitals as well. I’d have to sneak that. He’d also hired the private tutor who taught her piano. He’d been in the process of looking into getting her a piano of some sort, but worried that it wouldn’t fit into their little apartment. He’d wanted to get Penelope her own personal laptop. He’d been spoiling my daughter, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I hated my father, and I was confused by the loving way he’d treated my daughter. I didn’t understand how he could be so involved in her life, yet keep her completely hidden from the whole family without a stitch of guilt.

I knew if Hannah kept reading Penelope’s file, she’d freak out even more. I tucked it away and planned on doing the same with mine. No good would come from digging through the past. My childhood had been relatively happy. My relationship with my parents had only waned when I’d started dating. My father not helping me find Hannah was the final wedge that’d split us. We’d been on the outs ever since, and I didn’t want to taint the little bit of good I’d had in my life.

Once Hannah fell asleep, I slipped out and grabbed the fire folder. I needed to find the arsonist, so I could take my family home and far away from my parents.

There were detailed notes on everything. There were several DVD’s labeled as security footage of different buildings, not only around the area, but outside the suspects’ buildings, to document if they’d been out at the time of the fire. There was one thing to say about my father, he was very thorough. His list of suspects was huge, and he’d carefully marked them off, when he’d learned of their alibi. He’d whittled his suspect list down quite a bit.

Of course, nothing prepared me for the revelation of Lily Sax’s motives, one of the final suspects Hannah didn’t know. She was British, and the sister of Gregory Sax, the man who’d been hired to bribe Hannah and had ultimately attacked her.

His fate had finally been discovered about a year ago. He’d been beaten, and from what my father suspected, it’d been Marvin who’d done it. Apparently, Sax had woken up after his beating and had taken off before Marvin could return. He’d left his severe head injury untreated, though, and internal brain hemorrhaging and a concussion had gotten the better of him. He’d been found brain dead, and Lily had been the one to give the okay to take him off life support.