Page 132 of All Your Hate

“Why the fuck are you working for Dmitri Volkov?”

“I don’t know who that is,” Gregory responds, clearly flustered by the question.

“Cut the crap. I know you’ve been giving away properties for him to turn into whorehouses. What I want to know is why.”

“Noah,” he looks sheepishly between the two of us. “I really have no clue what you mean and I don’t think we should be discussing business in front of a stranger.”

“She is not a fucking stranger. Wynter is your future daughter-in-law so pay her some fucking respect. Anything we discuss happens in front of her.”

I place my hand on Noah’s chest and he calms down as he looks me in the eye.

Gregory looks full of regret as he stares at us. “My apologies. I’ve never seen Noah with the same woman twice. I assumed you were a fluke. But you really care about my son?”

Steeling myself, I look Gregory in the eye. “He saved my life. Dmitri Volkov and his men kidnapped and trafficked me. Noah got me out of it.”

His eyes widen as he looks at his son. Really looks at him.

“I had no idea. I’m sorry." Gregory hangs his head in shame. "All this time I tried to turn a blind eye to what Volkov was doing. I’m a coward.”

“It’s too late for apologies. Just give us the truth. The company is all I have left of Mom. You can’t give it up. Especially not to someone like him.”

“You think I want to be doing any of this? I have no choice.”

“I can help,” Noah says sincerely.

His father takes a seat at a nearby table and hangs his head in his hands. “Would you though? You’ve always been so wrapped up in your own life, I know it’s partly my fault. I should never have left you alone in that house after what happened.”

“Don’t make this about me. Why the fuck have you been working with criminals?”

“You’re one to talk,” he scoffs. “You think I don’t know the sorts of people you hang around with? I did what I had to do to protect us! You don’t know what I went through after your mother died.”

“What do their deaths have to do with any of this?”

Gregory sits back and loosens his black tie. “You’re not going to drop it are you?”

“No.”

“You want her to know?" He nods towards me and Noah pulls me in tight to his side.

“I’ve told her everything.”

Gregory’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. After a moment, he nods to himself and pulls out the chair next to him. “You might want to take a seat for this.”

Noah remains standing next to me and his father sighs. “The cops said it was a random break-in. That we were just unlucky to be targeted. They knew the men who did it, but apparently there wasn’t enough evidence to convict them so the case was dropped.”

Noah’s face is hard stone as he listens to his father. I lace my fingers through his on my hip, letting him know I’m here for him.

“I found someone that could help. Dmitri Volkov and his gang took care of the bastards that killed them. He’s been hanging it over my head ever since. I’m sorry, Noah. I never wanted you to find out. I was desperate.” Gregory runs a hand over his stubble before rubbing his eyes. This secret must have been weighing him down for years.

Noah doesn’t move an inch. I’m not even sure if he’s breathing. “I spent years searching for their killers. But all this time you knew they’d been dealt with.”

Gregory gets up and tries to put his hand on Noah’s arm, but is knocked away. His son’s rejection hitting him hard. He’s shorter than Noah and now he looks even smaller.

“I couldn’t risk Volkov involving you in his blackmail, so I did as he said. The best thing to keep you safe was to keep you out of it entirely.”

“It’s a bit fucking late for that." Noah's face contorts into an angry snarl. "The day you put him first is the day you lost me. If I had known, I could have killed him years ago. Wynter would never have been put through any of the shit he forced on her.”

“Noah,” I say softly. “Your father was only doing what he thought was best. You can understand that. I went through hell, but I’m here now. And although I wish it never happened to me, I also don’t…I wouldn’t have met you otherwise.”

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