Rise - Part Three (Rise #3)(18)
"I took a sentence of ten years." He glances quickly around the room. "I stole the identities of three men to survive financially. There was identity fraud too. I worked briefly for an investment company in Maine."
It's more than I wanted to know.
"I did it for my boys," he says the words as proudly as any father would, who worked hard his entire life to provide for his children. "I did it so I could watch them grow up."
The words are vile. They mirror the things that my own father might say when asked about why he worked so hard selling insurance, even after he knew he'd broken the law.
"All your boys wanted was you," I point out as I push my hands on the edge of the table so I can finally stand. "That day in the boat with Landon changed him forever."
"He loves me," he says quietly, his bottom lip trembling. "My son held onto me for hours after I tipped the boat. He didn't want to let me go. That shows how much he loved me."
I pull myself to my feet, smoothing my hands over the legs of my jeans. "He loved you. Your son loved you once. You lost that when you left him in that water so you could save yourself."
Chapter 18
––––––––
"Your dad and Gianna?" Landon rakes his hands through his hair. "They had a thing?"
I nod as I reach for his hand. "I spoke to Gianna about it two days ago. She told me that they still see each other, but anything romantic between them faded away a long time ago."
"That's wild." He furrows his brow as he studies my face. "How long did that go on for? The meeting in hotel rooms?"
"On and off for years." I half-shrug my shoulder as I lean against him. I've been sitting here since I arrived at his apartment. He'd called me once he landed and I agreed to meet him right away. "She said they both needed something then and found it in each other. She apologized. She felt badly that she hadn't told me sooner."
She had felt horribly about it she said when I met her for dinner after I saw Frederick. I had wanted to postpone my meeting with her because I felt so emotionally raw already, but she was insistent. I sensed that she could tell that I knew about her relationship with my dad.
They had met at a business dinner before I was even born. The company my father worked for hosted a large dinner for their corporate clients. Gianna was there alone because her husband at the time was so immersed in his work that he rarely left the office.
They had laughed over dinner when my father told her insurance jokes. They weren't funny she admitted but the smile on his face was irresistible.
Over drinks the next week they shared stories about their children and within days they had agreed to meet at a hotel. It was something she needed and he did too. They had wept together after the first time, both filled with guilt about their families.
"They became friends, or at least Gianna wanted them to be friends."
"What do you mean?" He pushes a wayward strand of hair from my face. "She wanted to be friends before or after they slept together?"
I push through the words, not wanting to dwell on them. "They fell into an awkward friendship when they first stopped meeting in hotels and it didn't work. They lost touch for a long time."
"Are they in touch now?" His eyebrows dance playfully.
I nod faintly. "She introduced herself on the flight from Milan, so I did the same. She asked where I grew up and what my parents did. I thought, at the time, that she was just an overly friendly person so I answered it all."
"She knew then, didn't she? She knew you were the daughter of her old lover?"
"I don't know how I didn't put two-and –two together that day." I run my fingertips along his forearm. "She got a little emotional when I told her my parents had divorced and my dad was living in California. She said she looked him up right after that."
"What's going on between them now?" His lips dip to graze over my neck. "Have they reconnected?"
"She's seen him a few times since the flight." I reach to pull his arms around me. "I didn’t ask for details. My father's life is his own."
I feel the gentle movement of his head against mine. "My father's life is his own too. I hope he spends the rest of it in hell."
Chapter 19
––––––––
"No one asked you to go see him, Tess." He's on his feet now. "You had no business going there."
The words, although not unexpected, still sting. I wasn't sure how he would react once I told him I had gone to see his father. "I went because of my father. I went because of you too but I had questions about my dad."
His expression softens but his stance doesn't. His arms are crossed over his chest. "I know that your dad's situation has been hard for you but he's been released. He's gone back to his life."
He has. I spoke to my father yesterday and for the most part, he's picking up the pieces of his life again. Some of the friends he made in California after his move there, have stopped returning his calls and he's facing a large legal bill, but other than that, I could hear the joy in his voice.
I'll be visiting him in soon when I fly there with Landon. That is, if Landon and I can get past my latest confession.