Page 26 of Ashes of Us
“I owe you an apology.” He continued, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Danica sat back in the booth, remembering what Maverick told her about Alex hiring him to look into her and another woman. “As you already know, I never let go of my suspicions that you and Dad were having an affair.” He took a deep breath. He looked remorseful, Danica noted, but he was clearly struggling with apologizing. “I have my reasons for that, none of which are fair to you. I was wrong, and I'm very sorry for any hurt or resentment I caused.”
Danica wiped her mouth. She had a feeling his reasons were much the same as Jasper's. She was a penniless orphan who had latched onto his parents in a desperate bid for a family. The fact that his parent's had sort of unofficially adopted her, doing more for her then they had ever done for any of the other “strays” they took in, including paying for her university and letting her live rent free on their property while working at thehotel, plus making her Alexander's executive assistant when she had no experience in that role, she could, objectively, see why he would think she was sleeping with his father. “What made you change your mind?” She was curious if he would tell her about hiring Maverick or if he would give her “just enough” information to satisfy her.
“There were a couple of things that made me doubt my assumptions, to be honest.” He fell silent as the waitress brought them their main course and took away the dirty dishes. “But I needed proof, so I went looking for it. I told you I knew Maverick through high school track and field, and that's sort of true. We each knew who the other was, but he joined the year I graduated, and we never competed against each other. The truth is, I hired him to look into you and a woman named Veronica Whistler.” Danica had a moment of anger when he confirmed what Maverick said about hiring him to look into her, but it was gone the minute he said Veronica Whistler.
“Why does that name sound familiar?” She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember where she had seen or heard that name before. She was sure she had, but she couldn't put her finger on where.
“Because you met her several times after Mom died.” He picked up his Coke and took a long drink, watching her over the rim of the glass. “Her and Dad met at the grief support group meeting you convinced him to attend, she was the facilitator.
Danica sat back as she made the connection. “Right,” she breathed. She had found the support group for seniors who had lost their spouses online and convinced Alexander to go. She had even sat in on the group the first couple of weeks, working quietly in the back corner of the room until Alexander told her she didn't have to come anymore.
“Anyway,” Alex continued as he started eating his steak. “You and Veronica were the only two people besides Craig and me who were named in the will. You for your friendship and years of loyal and dedicated service, and Veronica for the “last four years of companionship,” which she received two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for. I told Maverick to look into both of you. He started with Veronica, and when he brought me the report on her, I told him not to bother looking into you.”
“Why?” Danica pressed, her curiosity about Alexander's relationship with Veronica burning through her veins.
“Because Veronica admitted to being in a secret relationship with Dad.” He snorted and shook his head. “She claims they were in love, and maybe they were, I have no idea. They kept it a secret because of her children, who apparently think she should have become a nun after their father died, and because Dad didn't think you would approve of his relationship with her.”
“Me?” Danica's jaw dropped. “Why on Earth would Alexander care if I approved of his relationship or not? He was a grown man; it was none of my concern.”
“He felt you idolized his relationship with Mom, and because you were so close to her, he didn't think you would accept Veronica.” He paused, studying Danica closely. “Or at least, that's what she claims. Personally, I think he felt guilty and ashamed for finding happiness with another woman and projected it onto you. You're a lot less angry about this than I thought you'd be.”
It was Danica's turn to clear her throat uncomfortably, not wanting to give away that Maverick had already told her about Alexander's relationship with Veronica. “I'm not exactly happy that you hired a PI to look into me, but looking back, and considering Jasper's response when I told him about myinheritance from your father, I can see why you would think I was sleeping with him.” She groaned and rubbed her eyes, feeling a little stomach sick at the thought. “That doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook; he was almost forty years older than me. That's just gross.”
To her surprise, Alex started to laugh, big, deep belly laughs that suddenly made him seem warm and open, a stark contrast to the usual cold and closed-off personality he projected. “You know what?” He said when he finally calmed down to chuckles. “That's fair.”
Chapter Twenty-One: Clearing the Air
The rest of the dinner with Alex passed with Danica bringing him up to date on what Maverick had found out the night of the memorial about Jasper's alleged infidelity. When she mentioned that Jimmy said Jasper still had his jeans on, Alex leaned back in the booth, looking pensive.
“The question after that is, were they undone?”
Danica shrugged. “Heather didn't say, just that Jimmy mentioned that his pants were still on and in his opinion, Jasper was too high to have sex.”
“Eh.” Alex shrugged dismissively. “I'm not saying he was or wasn't, but it's been my experience that weed tends to, ah, enhance, the pleasure.” He coughed a little, and Danica saw a faint flush rise up his neck. “But it also depends on what type of weed they smoked. Certain types have different effects, and that's important because there are types that make you super relaxed and sleepy.”
Danica put her chin in her hand as she listened, trying to follow his train of thought. “So, what? You think she assaultedhim?” A flash of pure rage went through her, and she suddenly wanted to hunt Lucy down and make her disappear.
Alex shook his head. “Let's not jump to conclusions, but if he were super high and fell asleep after having sex, he wouldn't have put his jeans back on, trust me.” He fiddled with his napkin for a moment, looking like he was deep in thought. “But we know Lucy was pregnant, it's on record at the hospital that she suffered a miscarriage because of the car accident, and if we believe it was Jasper's, they didn't have to have sex for her to get pregnant.”
Danica furrowed her brow and let out a groan of frustration and disgust. “Are you saying they were dry humping, he ejaculated and managed to get her pregnant through his underwear, jeans and her clothes? That's a little far-fetched, don't you think?”
“Ah!” Alex sat up, looking quite pleased with himself. “Since Jasper was shirtless and Lucy was in just her bra and panties, we can assume they were at the very least fooling around.” He paused, his smug expression fading as he looked at her. “Sorry, just keep in mind this is all hypothetical.”
Danica shook her head, letting out a deep sigh. “No, it's okay. As much as I want to stay blissfully ignorant, the facts all point to him cheating, and even Emilia and Xavier pointed out that Jasper wouldn't have picked her up if nothing happened between them.”
“Right.” He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and placed his hand on hers. “I'm really sorry, Dani, I can't even begin to comprehend how gut-wrenching it is to know you'll never be able to confront him and get his side of things.”
Danica smiled sadly. He was the first person to openly acknowledge that the lack of closure on Jasper's side was reallymessing with her emotions and mental state. “Thanks. Like I said, there's a lot of back and forth between anger and sadness.” He patted her hand gently, and Danica pulled it back after a second, running it awkwardly through her hair. “Continue with your theory.” She encouraged him, not wanting him to feel self-conscious about the physical contact.
“Well.” He paused, clearly trying to figure out how to word things. “What if she gave him a hand job, collected the cum and...” he waved his hand in a circle, wrinkling his nose in distaste.
“Oh, god, gross.” Danica recoiled in disgust. “You think she - ugh, that's so gross and underhanded.” She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. After a minute to let her shock and disgust fade a little, she had to admit, she'd heard of woman doing similar things before and since Lucy had the nerve to approach her in the hospital and ask for Jasper's sperm to impregnate herself, while claiming she lost their baby in the accident, she wouldn't put it past her to do it. “Do you lose your memory when you're high?”
Alex shook his head. “It's not the same as alcohol; weed doesn't cause blackouts or amnesia. Long-term chronic use can mess with your short-term memory, but for an occasional user like Jasper, it wouldn't have an effect.”
“Jasper must have thought there was a chance if he met with her that night.” Danica pointed out. “Why else would he pick her up?”
“We don't know what she told him, though.” Alex countered. “You said the text's messages look like they were doctored.”
