Breath of Scandal(137)
He stepped closer to her and closed his hand around her jaw. "Let me give you one. Don't fight me. I'm going to have my son with or without you." He smiled at her meaningfully. "I'd just as soon it be a package deal." Then he winked. "You had me once, and it wasn't all that bad, was it?"
She yanked her head out of his grasp and backed away from him.
"That's all for now," he said, his smile still in place. "I'm late for an appointment."
After blowing her a kiss, he got into his El Dorado and drove away. Jade maintained her fearless posture until he was out of sight, then she slumped against the exterior wall of the temporary building. Dillon barged through the door.
His face was as fierce, dark, and angry as a fallen angel's.
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"Okay, I've been nice. I've been patient. But I'm up to here with this crap. I want to know what the hell is going on and why. You aren't leaving here until I do."
CHAPTER
Twenty-Six
Taking her hand, he pulled her up the steps behind him. He locked the door, took the telephone off the hook, and pointed her toward the short sofa. "Sit down."
"I've still got work to do, Dillon."
"You're shot for the day. Anyway, I don't care what was on your agenda, we're going to have a chat. Now, sit down. "
She dropped down onto the sofa, covering her face with her hands, capitulating more from emotional distress than blind obedience.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
She shook her head. Dillon drew up a metal folding chair, placed it only inches beyond her knees and straddled it backward, propping his arms on the back of it. "Okay, let's have it."
"Have what?"
"Jesus," he swore irritably. "Are we going to play more guessing games?"
"This is your game, not mine. I want to go home." "A minute ago you wanted to work."
"Stop bullying me!" "Then start talking."
"What do you want to know?"
"For starters you can explain why two men are claiming Graham as their son."
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"Either would have a lot to gain if Graham was his child. Hutch would get a kidney. And Neal would have an heir." When Dillon raised his eyebrows inquisitively, she added, "He's sterile as a result of the accident that took off Ivan's legs. "
Dillon digested that, but he was dissatisfied with her explanation. "It still doesn't make sense, Jade. Men don't ordinarily leap forward claiming paternity. Usually it's the other way around. "
"Their circumstances are unusual." "Did you sleep with both of them?" "No."
"So their claims to Graham are totally unfounded?" She said nothing.
"Who is his father, Jade?" "I don't know!"
"Then you did sleep with both of them." "No!"
"Goddammit," he shouted, "come clean with me." "They raped me!"
The words echoed loudly off the walls of the small room. They reverberated inside Dillon's skull as he stared at Jade, shocked speechless. Once again she covered her face with her hands.
"They raped me," she repeated softly. "They raped me.-
Dillon shoved all ten fingers through his hair and held it off his face for several moments. When he lowered his hands, he rubbed his palms up and down his thighs. He had wanted to know. He had hounded her to tell him. But he hadn't counted on this.
He had expected to hear the confessions of a reformed wayward teenage girl, or of a shy introvert who had sought attention by being easy, or of a rebel out to torment strict parents. He hadn't expected rape.
"When, Jade?"
"In February of my senior year in high school. It was the day I learned that Gary and I had received full academic scholarships to the university."
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"Gary?" Hell, just when he thought he knew all the players in this drama, she introduced another one.
"Gary Parker," she said. "We were high-school sweethearts, but much more than that. We were going to get marded and, together, change the world."
In a quiet, faraway voice, she told him about their relationship. "We had such great expectations for the future. I loved him very much."
"Could he be Graham's father?"
She looked toward the window, which was, by now, a square patch of lavender twilight. "No. I was a virgin when they raped me."
"Christ. And the two of them got away with it?"
Her eyes came back to him. "Actually there were three. The third was Lamar Griffith. He was a shy, sensitive boy, but he went along to save face with Neal."
"Does he still live in Palmetto?"
She told him about Lamar's fate. After a lengthy pause, Dillon said, "I take it, it was Neal's idea."
"Oh yes," she replied fiercely. "He was their ring leader. If it hadn't been for him, it would never have happened. But Hutch and Lamar could have stopped it. Instead they raped me too, then left me there."
"Left you?"