Page 60 of The Billionaire's Accidental Legacy

“I decided to go and introduce myself to him. Since I am going to be his son-in-law, after all.”

“He’s a dangerous man. I thought the entire point of this was to avoid him.”

“No, the entire point of this is to get rid of him once and for all. I’m not a man who lets other people determine how I behave. Your father needed to understand the power balance.”

“He’s dangerous.”

“So he told me. Repeatedly. Men who are so dangerous don’t need to tell you. Anyone who has any substance whatsoever will simply show you. He’s violent, that’s clear. But he is not half as clever as he thinks he is, and that is going to be the end of him.”

She looked away. “He doesn’t forget, though.”

He reached out and cupped her chin, forced her to meet his gaze. “Perhaps not. He remembers everything, just like you, but I think that because of that he often does not see. Often does not understand. That some are smart in other ways, and who might have stronger motivation than he realizes.” He let that sit with her for a moment. “He’s a sociopath, isn’t he?”

Her eyes widened a fraction. “Yes. I suppose that’s a fair characterization.”

“And you aren’t.”

“How do you know that?” She suddenly looked worried. “I mean really, how do you know that? Because I worry sometimes. I was just saying to you I don’t like conning people, and I think that’s true. But sometimes... When I won that poker game against you, I felt like I was high. I might as well have taken an illegal substance. I was so thrilled with myself. And I knew at that moment that it was a little bit sad that I was finished with my games because my games made me feel alive.”

“You’re not a sociopath, because you worry that you might be. Do you think your father has ever given one moment’s thought to whether or not he was hurting the people around him? Do you think he just does what is expedient for him?”

“You’re right.”

“My father wasn’t a sociopath. In many ways, that’s worse. He was often in a cycle of shame and regret but then his rages were unparalleled. His lows were more than the entire sea.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It sounds horrible. But your mother...”

“We can be done with this.”

Dinner was served after, and it was delicious, but he could not keep his mind on the meal before him when he was consumed with Jessie.

“Dinner was delicious,” she said when they finished. They walked back out onto the street. He couldn’t escape the feeling that he should be touching her. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to close the distance between them.

“The hotel we’re staying in is just down there.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Do you wish to know about my mother?”

He kept that space of air between them, made sure that he wasn’t touching her at all.

“It seems like the thing you want to tell me least.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

She stopped and looked at him. “I don’t want to hurt for you. But I do. I already do. You make me act so out of character. You make me... From the moment that I met you, and I mean, saw you, not met you, I have thought of nothing else. I was obsessed with you. And that has never happened to me before. I’m focused. I’ve had to be. But you have disrupted everything. You wrecked everything. Look at this. Look at me,” she said, gesturing to her stomach. “You have changed me forever more, and there has never and will never be anything the way that it was. I can never have that uncomplicated and free life, because of you.Because of you.I’m not even sure that I want it. Because it feels good to change. But I’m afraid. I’m afraid of hurting even more for you. Feeling even more for you. I’m already carrying your baby. I don’t want to crack myself open. Not again. But also, I have a feeling that this is the one thing that you need to tell me. Really.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

He nodded and turned away, continuing to walk down the street. “When I was eleven years old, she died giving birth.”

It was a surprisingly easy thing to say. Such a surprisingly simple thing. No real explanation was required, and he was shocked when that story fell out of his mouth. So complete, with so few words.

“Oh,” she said. Not a simple sound, but one as if she had been punched in the stomach.

“I saw it. Her. And the baby.”

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