Page 37 of Scarred Heart

It was almost funny, the way his mouth fell open.“What?”he asked with a short, disbelieving laugh.

Coming to a stop in front of him, I said, “Grandfather.You have a granddaughter.Congratulations.”

He still thought this was a joke, laughing lightly.I could barely stand the sound.“We weren’t gone for that long, Spencer.”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about.”

Lifting his shoulders, he murmured, “I’m sure I don’t.”The man wasn’t human.What little esteem I held him in before today was long gone, thanks to that careless gesture.

“Then allow me to enlighten you.”It was gratifying the way his gray eyes widened slightly when I placed my palms on the desk and leaned in.“I have a daughter.She is ten years old.I know you knew Rowan was pregnant.She told Jarvis.Don’t tell me he didn’t pass that on.”

“Oh.That’s what this is about?”Just like that, he collected himself, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded over his flat stomach.“How was I supposed to know she decided to have the child?Don’t tell me she looked you up after all this time.”

“She never would’ve done that, and you made sure she wouldn’t.”I could hardly speak through my gritted teeth, but I managed to add, “I could fucking kill you for this.”

His face darkened in time with the narrowing of his eyes.“Remember who you’re speaking to.”

My back pocket buzzed, but I ignored the call in favor of slamming a fist against the desk hard enough to make his coffee cup rattle.“I know damn well who I’m speaking to, and I would love to rip your head off and shit down your throat for this.How dare you play games like that with other people’s lives?That girl was injured, hurting, terrified.”

“Yes,” he snapped.“And that girl might have decided to press charges while in a heightened emotional state.She could have made life extremely difficult for you.That company of yours?”he asked with a dismissive wave of his hand like it was a joke.“It wouldn’t exist.The people you employ would not have jobs.The comfortable lifestyle you’ve enjoyed ever since that night?Nothing but a fantasy.I stepped in.I did what a parent does.”

“You bullied her.You painted her into a corner.Goddammit,” I whispered, getting to the heart of the matter.“You told her to never contact me again.You didn’t need to do that.She could have signed an NDA, something vowing to never press charges or go public with the details so long as we paid her bills.But no…” I snarled.“You had to make sure she was out of my life permanently before you ever knew there was a baby, which changed nothing in your eyes.”

He stood slowly, unfolding his tall body from the chair and meeting me eye-to-eye.“It’s called making tough choices.I thought you knew how that goes.Have you gone soft on me?Is that the problem here?”

“The problem here is, you didn’t give either of us a choice.”

“She had a choice.She always had one.Nothing was forcing her to sign the document.”

“Is that how you sleep at night?”I asked, and the way he scoffed didn’t help matters.I could hardly see straight, thanks to the rage blurring my vision while disgust and adrenaline fought for dominance in my system.“Yes, I guess that is the kind of thing you would need to tell yourself.Forget the fact that the girl was in massive pain.She was looking at a future where there was no guarantee she would ever recover.She had just found out she was pregnant.Her career, hopes as an actress were dead, as far as she knew.What did you think she was going to do?”

His mouth opened, but I’d be damned if I listened to another one of his sorry excuses.“I don’t need to ask,” I snapped, cutting him off.His stunned expression was almost too gratifying.When was the last time anyone spoke to him this way?“You knew what she would do before you sent Jarvis over there.She would look at the dollar sign and all the zeros that came after it, and she would sign because she needed some security after what I did.She needed her hospital bills paid.She needed money to go to school.”

My phone rang again, but I ignored it, too intent on him.

“You wonder why I never wanted to work for your fucking company?”Now that I had started, there was no stopping.A flood of sheer hatred poured out of me.I couldn’t pretend it didn’t feel good to let it go.“All your bullshit about legacy… keeping it in the family.I learned more about you in the two years I spent in China than in the years I spent living in this house.The way you tend to ignore regulations.The cover-up when it came to incidents caused by negligence, cutting corners where it mattered.I see who you are as a person.All this latest situation did was reinforce what I already knew.”

My phone started ringing again, and I might have checked it if it wasn’t for the light footsteps coming down the hall.“I swear, this trip ruined my backhand.”A second later, Mom rounded the door frame, addressed in tennis whites, with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.It used to come naturally, that hair, but she had started covering her grays as soon as the first one showed up years ago.

“Spencer!”She held her arms out to me, crossing the room, oblivious to the crackling energy filling the room.She was good at that.No doubt it was the only way she was able to remain married to a heartless bastard like him.It wasn’t like she needed the money.She had grown up more than comfortable, and her family assets were protected.Was it for status?I was never quite sure.

“You look too thin,” I told her after a brief hug because it was what she loved to hear.“I was having a conversation with Dad.”

“A conversation that’s now over,” my father announced.“I have much too much to take care of now that I’m home.I don’t need you coming around, dredging up the past.”

“Let me tell you something.”Turning away from Mom, I hit him with a glare that sent his ass back into the chair.It was probably for the best that I did not launch myself at him, but I sure as hell wanted to.Good thing for him we now had a witness.“You are the one who’s lost out in all of this.You kept them both away from me for ten years, but that’s over now.”

“What is this all about?”Mom stepped up beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.“Spencer, what happened?”

I wouldn’t have been cruel enough to throw it in her face, but it was clear her own husband didn’t care.“Spencer dropped by to inform us we are grandparents,” he announced, his voice flat.Mom’s sharp gasp was barely audible over the fresh rushing of blood in my ears.This fucking bastard.He would have to bring her into it like that, wouldn’t he?

“And you will never see her,” I warned as my phone rang yet again and left me wondering what the fuck I was missing.“He will never know her, and he will no longer know me.”

“Spencer!”Mom’s nails dug into my shoulder.“You don’t mean that.”

“I mean every word,” I told her, glaring at him.His shrewd gaze traveled over my face like he was trying to decide whether I was bluffing.“He will never know the granddaughter he was so callous about.And that’s his loss because she’s a great kid.”

“You know her?You’ve met her?”The hope in Mom’s voice was almost heartbreaking.“I don’t understand what any of this is about.Would somebody please tell me?”

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