Page 69 of A Little More Forgiveness

I took a long, deep breath and let every last detail come spilling out. “Malcolm Taylor is a greedy sonofabitch who screws over anyone who gets in his way. He knows everybody, and all their dirty secrets, and isn’t afraid to use them to get what he wants.”

He nodded his head. “Okay, so how is he blackmailing you?

I ignored his question and barreled on. “If I do persuade Mitch to sell, it’ll be extremely lucrative for my stepfather as he’ll be able to pressure the councilmen at city hall to give his company the primary build contract. He somehow found out you tend to use local contractors, so plans on being the firm who wins the bid. If I don’t get Mitch to sell, he’ll lay off a whole bunch of staff at his firm.”

“I’m still not sure why what he does with his staff affects you?”

I really didn’t want to have to reveal the extent of how beholden I’d become to Malcom but figured Gabe wouldn’t rest until he had all the gory details. “My stepfather is pinning a successful outcome on my weakness.”

“You’re not weak, Leo,” he answered firmly.

I didn’t have the nerve to tell him how untrue his statement was. I am weak and always had been.

“If I don’t get Mitch to sell, he’ll ensure his staff know I’m the one responsible for them being laid off.” I took a shaky breath. “Do you have any idea how devastating that’ll be for them? And for me to know I failed them, to know I’m not good enough at my own job to save theirs.” I shuddered inwardly as the responsibility weighed heavy on my shoulders.

“You can’t blame yourself for his own mishandling of his company.”

He didn’t get my point at all. “Don’t you see? The buck still stops with me, so I can’t fail. I can’t let those people down. I can’t let my sister down.”

“Your sister?”

Shit, I hadn’t wanted to mention Caitlin. I slumped into the sofa cushions, allowing the familiar pain to slice me to the bone. Not sure I had the strength to relive the worst day of my life all over again but needing Gabe to fully understand my reasons for kowtowing to my stepfather, I had to reveal the darkest part of my attachment to the man I loathed with every ounce of my being.

“I’d just turned fourteen when my sister almost drowned.” I scrunched my eyes shut as the familiar image of Caitlin in the pool came into focus. “It was my fault,” I whispered. “I should have been looking after her.” I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the image, but I’d never be able to unsee her so still, so lifeless. “She’s still in a coma. After all this time, it’s unlikely she’ll wake up.” Whenever I allowed myself to think about her laying in a hospital bed, her body full of tubes, instead of living a full and happy life, ripped my heart from my chest every single time. “I should have been looking after her,” I repeated before my voice petered out, unable to continue.

“Where were your parents in all this?”

“Out. At a benefit luncheon. They’d ordered me to watch her while they were gone. She was my responsibility.” The familiar tightening of the bands across my chest made breathing almost impossible. Gabe pulled me in close, wrapping me in the protection of his arms.

“It shouldn’t have been up to you to look after your sister on your own. It’s not your fault, Leo,” he said, his lips against my hair. “You were a child yourself. The fault and blame for what happened lies squarely with them, not you.”

I so wanted to believe him, but deep down, I never would. My sister almost drowning was due to my failing to protect her, no one else. “If I don’t get Mitch to sell, my stepfather is going to cut the funding for Caitlin’s medical bills.”

God, I can’t let that happen.

“Jesus,” Gabe muttered. “What a heartless bastard.”

“We’re not his kids. Our mom was his second wife. Now that she’s gone, he doesn’t feel he has any obligation to either of us and is only paying for Caitlin’s expenses out of respect for my mother.”

“Bullshit,” Gabe snapped. “He’s doing it because he’s guilty of neglect. Plus, he knows damn well it’ll keep you under his thumb. I bet he threatens to cut her off any time you don’t fall into line.”

He looked down at me expectantly until I reluctantly agreed. No point denying Malcolm owned me, and I’d do nothing except give him what he wanted—whenever he wanted it.

Gabe shifted in his seat, and I could almost hear his brain sifting through all he’d heard about Mitch, about my stepfather, and about Caitlin, looking at the issue from every angle to figure out a solution. He wouldn’t find one as I’d done nothing else but work through every possible scenario for the last few months, finally concluding there was no way out.

“First, don’t worry about your sister’s medical bills.”

“Wh-what?”

“I’ll cover them.”

“No, Gabe, no. I can’t ask you to do that. You’re not responsible for my sister’s health. Plus, there’s no quick fix. Caitlin needs long-term care, so you’d be paying the fees for years and years.” I adamantly shook my head. “I can’t let you do that.”

He twisted around in his seat to look me in the eye. “Yes, you can, and if you’ll allow me to, I will. For your sister to be dependent on an asshole to decide whether she gets the care she needs or not is disgusting. Whatever happens between us has no bearing on what I’m offering. Caitlin needs help, and I’m in the privileged position to be able to afford it, so why wouldn’t I?” He paused a moment letting his words sink in before he continued. “Second, to ensure your stepfather can’t influence or withhold Caitlin’s care going froward, we’ll have to replace him with you as her legal guardian.” His eyes turned flinty. “And if Malcolm Taylor tries to stop us, he’ll have a whole team of lawyers down on his ass so fast his head will spin clean off.”

I didn’t dare trust myself to believe him, as this was far more than I ever hoped for. I wanted to grab hold of his offer with both hands and cling on with all my might. If Gabe were able to get Caitlin away from under Malcolm’s control, he could ensure she received the quality healthcare she desperately needed.

The only dark cloud on the horizon, despite his vehement words and the threat of using his own lawyers if Malcolm didn’t step down as Caitlin’s legal guardian, was knowing the old bastard would do everything in his power to prevent her being taken away from him. He’d never want to lose his bargaining chip and ability to keep me under his boot. Gabe’s argument would need to be a compelling one to convince any judge to transfer her guardianship from my stepfather to me as her closest blood relative. If, by some miracle, we managed to achieve that, I’d scour the country to arrange for her to be sent to the best healthcare facility Gabe could afford.

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