Page 90 of Greed
That made her go all warm and fuzzy, but then he turned quiet.
“What is it?” she asked, returning her head to his chest. She liked hearing his heart pound.
“There’s something else I need to tell you.”
This had her sitting up, dragging the sheet to her chest. A slash of panic slid through her. “More secrets?”
“Not to do with me. You know everything there is to know about me. It’s about someone else you know.”
“Okay.” Where was this going? “Who?”
He hesitated. “Your father.”
“I don’t need to speak about him anymore. He’s alive, that’s all I need to know.”
“Would your feelings be different if you knew the deadly sin I sensed wasn’t coming from him, but your mother?”
“What do you mean?”
“When we intercepted the kidnappers, I realized his greed was rather small in comparison to other criminals I’ve met. For a mafia boss, it didn’t make sense. The only possible explanation is that your mother influenced him to become the man he is today. I feel like, maybe he was coerced.”
She thought about it, and while her heart ached to understand, her head pointed out the facts. “He still did many bad things. He’s murdered people. Stole from them. Put guns in the hands of teenagers. He should go to jail. There’s no coming back from murder.”
Griffin turned away, and she realized her mistake too soon. “No, Griffin. Don’t ever think you’re in the same league as him. Please, baby, believe me.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder about the point of all of this. Are we making a difference, or drawing out the pain…”
“You sound like Humphrey Bogart fromCasablanca.”
“Maybe he had a point.”
“Griffin. I believe in you,” she said, teary eyed, and it earned her a small smile.
“Your father turned himself in,” he said. “He’s already in prison.”
“He did?”
“He confessed to a lot of crimes. He wants to pay for his sins.”
Lilo’s heart cracked a little, because now she was thinking of questions like: can a person change; can he earn forgiveness; and, how long do you hold a grudge?
“I can go with you to see him, if you would like some closure.” Griffin’s hand landed on hers.
“I suppose it would be a good opportunity to ask him about the pictures. I now understand why they’re so valuable, and why you didn’t want to show them to me.”
“I should have trusted you from the start.”
“Well, there goes my unicorn.” She slapped herself in the face, only now realizing she could never write an exposé about Griffin and his family. Not now. Not ever.
“Unicorn?”
“Yeah, I… God, this is embarrassing.” She flushed. “I’ve wanted to write about the Deadly Seven for years. Wanted to be the journalist who cracked your identity, or at the very least uncovered your purpose. Anything, really. It was going to be my big break. I can’t do that now. I was completely ignorant to think writing a story like that wouldn’t be harmful. I see how much pain and suffering you all go through to help out those who don’t deserve it.”
He took her hands in his. “You can still help.”
“How?”
“Control the narrative. Don’t let Doppenger write his lies.”
