Pretty Little Wife(65)
“We’re definitely off topic now,” Tobias mumbled.
Ginny lifted a hand as if to tell the men to shut up. Her gaze never left Lila’s face. “Make your point.”
“Your son understands how you would advocate for him. That you love him and support him. He’s learning it by living it. You’ve shown him every day of his life, and he carries that security, whether he truly appreciates it yet or not. It’s so deeply rooted that he’ll have it forever. You will be there for him.” Lila gulped in air, forced her body to breathe around the pain stabbing inside. “You know what I learned from my parents?”
Ginny’s expression telegraphed that she was listening—totally engaged—but gave nothing away about what was happening inside her. “Tell me.”
“Unconditional love is bullshit. A trap that lures you in, makes you comfortable, then snaps, breaking you in half. Like hope, it blinds and destroys. Leaves you limping and unprepared for what’s coming right for you.” She had never known a moment where it played out differently. “People think my father is a hideous monster, but he’s really a narcissist, incapable of love. Evil, possibly, but too self-involved for anyone to be able to honestly assess him.”
“And your mother?” Ginny’s voice sounded softer now, more coaxing.
“She showed how much she loved me when she threw herself off a building instead of sticking around and fighting for me.” Lila fought to swallow back the anxiety welling up inside her. “She picked death over me.”
Ginny’s eyes closed for a second as if she were absorbing the words as she heard them. “Depression can—”
“Stop. No lectures. Not on this topic.” Lila wasn’t interested in granting her mother absolution. “I know what depression is. I get that a kid can’t see the difference between a mother’s pain and her own, and that as an adult I need to understand mental illness and not take her choices personally.”
“But?”
“But we still end up at the same place. My parents both had a choice to make about what mattered to them, and in neither case was I the answer.” They left, and her life spiraled. They gave up and she was supposed to take it and be fine. Well, she’d never been fine or complete . . . or forgiving.
People thought silence meant the absence of noise, and sometimes it did, but other times it screamed so loudly she had to fight not to cover her ears.
Not one to stand still for long, Pete shifted. He held out for a few more seconds before talking again. “What does this have to do with Aaron and his students?”
“I didn’t help my father groom and then kill Amelia. I was totally blindsided and confused by what happened.” Lila spoke directly to Pete then switched back to Ginny. “The same is true with Aaron. I didn’t know about whatever sick needs he had, and if I did, I wouldn’t have helped him.”
Ginny’s gaze wandered over Lila’s face, studying her. “But would you kill Aaron for doing the same thing that ripped your family apart?”
“Okay, wait.” Tobias sat up straighter in his chair. “That’s a big jump.”
Pete snorted. “Is it?”
Ginny appeared to ignore both of them. “You couldn’t punish your dad. You were young and vulnerable. But you’re an adult now. You know the flaws in the justice system. You understand that some men lie and get away with it.”
Lila nodded. “All true.”
“You couldn’t help Amelia, but you could punish Aaron.”
Lila had been wary of Ginny’s brain and instincts from the beginning. She always was the smartest person in the room, constantly watching and listening. While the men preened and fought for the mic at press conferences, she hung back. Glory and election wins didn’t motivate her. Justice did.
Her concepts of right and wrong were na?ve and simple. Lila wanted to poke holes in the logic and laugh, but Ginny had an air about her that demanded respect. Lila had given it to her from the beginning because she was the one person Lila feared in all of this.
Lila shot back with the only bullet she had—a mix of misinformation and subterfuge. “You’re looking at this the wrong way. Knowing what we know now, it’s clear Aaron hurt the very children he was tasked with protecting. That would have caused a lot of anger. Created suspects. Ones you never would have thought to look for because you’ve been focused on me.”
“You sound like a lawyer,” Pete said.
Lila didn’t break eye contact with Ginny. “I am.”
“And she’s right.” Tobias put his hand on Lila’s thigh in a subtle gesture to rein it in. They’d used the unspoken communication during countless cases and in numerous meetings. The signal said let me handle this one. “You’ve pointed this investigation in one direction only, Ginny, and ended up missing Aaron’s true nature and his crimes. I doubt people in this county are going to take that well.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat of some kind?” Pete asked.
Ginny crossed her arms in front of her. “Or, Tobias, people might think Lila hid the evidence about Aaron’s misdeeds to protect her comfortable lifestyle. Husband with a trust fund. Beautiful house. No pressure to work unless she wants to. Enjoys time with a hot professor on the side.”
Pete whistled. “It’s not a bad setup.”