Downfall(48)

I downed the vodka and OJ and pulled my legs up so I could wrap my arms around them and rest my chin on my knee. I watched Solo for a few silent minutes as he pretended to be engrossed in whatever was on ESPN. When he finally looked my way, I forced the first few words out, and was shocked at how easily the entire story poured out after I started.

“My last name is Vincent, but Channing Vincent isn’t my father.” It was the Vincent’s biggest, most dirty little secret. I’d kept it for so long, the truth felt weird and wrong once it was spit out. “But he is Noble’s grandfather.” It was like a Shakespeare play. Rich people were bored and sad about their lives, so they went out and decided to play with the fates of others for pure entertainment.

Solo choked a little on his drink and blinked his long, dark lashes at me in surprise. “Say what?”

I needed the levity and his easy acceptance to settle into telling someone exactly how messed up my bloodline was. He always had exactly the right response, which made giving him what he asked for so much easier. I was used to being judged for the sins of my father, but all Solo could see was the scared woman baring her heart to him.

“Neither one of my parents was faithful throughout their marriage. My mom got knocked up with me on accident during one of her longer affairs, and in return, my father impregnated her best friend for revenge.” I shook my head and closed my eyes briefly. “High society is actually a very small circle, so of course my mother’s bastard, and my father’s, ended up in all the same schools.” No one warned me I was going to fall into my father’s trap and into his son’s arms when I was lost and hopelessly trying to find my way. I had no clue Noble’s father had more right to the name Vincent than I did. I had no idea my father was silently waiting for me to find my way to the young man. He knew I would, because he was the absolute worst, which made him my best option for petty revenge. I was on a mission to bring home the most terrible boy I could find. He just happened to be Channing’s son.

“Noble’s dad is actually Vincent’s son. I didn’t know. My parents were horrible to each other, right up until the end. To each other, and often to me.” My mom always made herself the buffer between me and my resentful father, but she didn’t tell me the truth about my lineage until it was too late. I spent my entire teenage years chasing after love from a man who despised my very existence. Channing Vincent hated me because I wasn’t his. But, to avoid a scandal and to appease my mother’s side of the family, he had to pretend. It was simply how things were done behind those iron gates.

Solo’s eyebrows shot up so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. “So, Channing knocked up your mom’s best friend, and then years later that baby turned into the guy who knocked you up?” It really sounded like a bad soap opera when it was all laid out like that. I wouldn’t believe a word if I were the one listening.

I nodded at him and sighed again. “Neither of us knew. Channing half-assed playing dad to me, and my mother’s friend’s husband did the same to Noble’s dad. It’s no wonder we were both so screwed up and attracted to each other. We knew each other our entire lives and had no clue we were both living a sham.” I felt my hands clench and an angry flush start to race up my neck. I started to explain why Channing was so interested in Noble when he wanted nothing to do with me. “Since I wasn’t his, Channing never had plans for me. No ambitions or aspirations. He never pushed for me to join his country club, or to follow in his footsteps and apply to his alma mater. He never brought me around his business or introduced me to the sons of his associates. He never did any of the things wealthy fathers do to ensure their daughters maintain the family fortune.” I still remembered being heartbroken when I told him I wanted to intern with his company, only to be told there wasn’t a suitable position for me. “If I was paying attention, I might have put it together sooner. Channing was furious when I told him I was pregnant with Noble. But his attitude totally changed when he found out who the father was. I wasn’t his, but Noble is. She shares actual Vincent blood, so everything he denied me, he wanted to give to her.” She was his heir… the only one he could claim without causing a scandal and upsetting the status quo. I’d been so blinded by relief that he actually seemed supportive, that I’d finally done something he approved of, before I realized no normal father would be celebrating an accidental teenage pregnancy.

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. “I overheard Channing and my mother arguing one night after Noble’s dad bailed. Channing wanted to use his bastard son to get custody of Noble. He was going to try and take her from me.” I shuddered just thinking about it. “He was telling my mother that he knew someone in an institution who would have no qualms about locking me up for as long as he asked. He wanted me out of the picture so he could take my baby and turn her into the child he always wanted. “My mom wasn’t having it. She let him run over her and dismiss me my whole life, but she finally stood up to Channing when he tried to get between me and her grandchild.”

It was the only time in memory I could remember respecting my mother. She was screaming at Channing Vincent that she was going to expose all their dirty laundry and tell the world what kind of man he really was. She could ruin him with little effort and Channing must have realized he had finally pushed her too far.

I jolted when I felt the rough tip of Solo’s fingertip trace the track of a tear I wasn’t aware had fallen. “He hit her and told her he would kill her before she said anything to anyone.” I rubbed at the wet streaks on my face and took a deep breath before plowing ahead. “She must’ve lost her balance or something when she went down after he struck her. She was yelling at him, threatening to call the cops, and then everything went silent.” I remembered leaving teeth marks in the back of my hand to muffle my scream. I remembered how quickly the metallic scent of blood filled the air. “She hit her head on the corner of his desk.” At least that was the official story. The unofficial story was that Channing very well may have helped her connect with corner of his antique desk in just the right way. The only two people who knew what really happened in that room were my mother and the man who absolutely would kill to keep his secrets buried. “She died that night, and I knew if I didn’t get out of Channing Vincent’s house, I was next.” I smuggled Noble out of the Vincent estate in the middle of the night and never looked back. Maybe I should’ve gone farther than the city just beyond those protective gates, but at the time, I was too scared to go too far from the only home I’d ever known. It’d taken the man sitting across from me, patiently listening to my living, breathing nightmare, to show me home could be found anywhere if you followed the right person inside. “Like I told you before, I knew Noble’s dad was the weak link, so I paid him off and made him sign away his rights. Channing can’t use him to get to my daughter.” Well, he could, but not without bringing unwanted attention to himself and his past misdeeds. “If he finds me, he’s going to get me out of the way so he can take Noble. If he does, there will be no fighting back. I honestly didn’t think he would look for me in the city. As far as he knows, I can’t survive without his American Express black card and weekly allowance.” Channing had too much money and too many friends in high places. If Channing managed to remove me from the equation, who was left to fight for Noble? I was all she had.