Page 34 of Cruel Love

I said nothing as I entered his space but kept him in my sight. “Say what you need to say, then I’m leaving.”

“Come in.” Joe eyed me warily but with misplaced hope that made my gut churn. “Have a seat. And I’ll tell you everything.”

I went farther into the room but drew the line at sitting. The visit would be in and out. I wanted nothing from the man and was only there for Shane.

“Okay, then.” Joe took a breath and sat on the couch in the small sitting area of his suite. “I never wanted to leave.”

I snorted, and Shane glared from where he sat on one of the peninsula’s two chairs. Against my better judgment, I kept quiet. I wanted to go off.

“Cece and I moved into the house where you still live, and shortly after, we learned that she was pregnant. Then your grandfather found out.” Joe stood, went to the mini fridge, retrieved a small bottle of vodka, emptied it into one of the glasses, and downed it before continuing.

I refused to comment until he had his say. Then it would be my turn.

“I got into some trouble when I was younger. It made getting jobs hard, and before I went to college, I did something to make my record and name disappear.”

“Did what? Let’s be specific here.” If I was going to listen to the guy, he didn’t get to keep any secrets.

“Murder. It was self-defense, but it was questionable in the jury’s eyes. And the NFL wouldn’t have wanted to touch me with a ten-foot pole.”

“What was questionable?”

He looked away and then, with a deeply expelled breath, turned back to me. “I stabbed a foster brother nine times and left the scene afterward.”

“What the fuck? Why?”

“It doesn’t matter now. I was protecting someone else in the house. The brutality of what I did that caused alarm with the law. But with the name change, I got a clean slate and a chance that I wouldn’t have had to go into the NFL.

“Your grandfather golfed with a judge who’d presided over my case. They were buddies, and he managed to ferret everything I’d buried from the judge. From what I was told by your grandad, the judge was looking out for him and his family. All the information I thought was gone, he had access to. He’s a powerful man. When your mom left the house, he visited me.”

“This is where it gets fucked up.” Shane shook his head.

Joe grunted. “Your grandfather paid me to leave. He threatened to cut you boys and Cece off if I didn't. I was fine with that. I was new to the NFL, I would make enough to support my family, and Cece was damn sure better off without her controlling and manipulative father in the picture.”

He emptied another mini alcohol bottle into the glass, but instead of downing it like a shot, he took a sip then set it on top of the desk. “Then he told me that if I didn’t do as he said, everything I’d erased from my past would come out. I would lose my contract with the NFL. No health insurance. Dismal job prospects. Cece and you both would have been tainted. So I did what he asked and left. He promised to make sure you and your mom were taken care of financially but said he would leak all my history if I gave any of you a dime or spilled about our deal.”

“If that’s true… you took a payout from Grandad. What does that say about you?” I thought he was guilty despite the nagging thoughts about Grandad around what he’d said about Aspen. A chill entered my blood, seeping into my bones. It can’t be true. If it is, what will he do to Aspen and our baby?

“I didn’t.” Joe went to his suitcase and unzipped one of the inside pockets. He withdrew a check and handed it to me. “I didn’t take the money. Never cashed the check. I’ve kept it in case you boys came looking for me someday to prove that I left because it was best for your mother.”

“Yeah, I don’t believe that.” I handed the check back. “It was best for you, not our mother. You abandoned her in so many ways. Did you tell her? Talk to her about what her father did so she could be a part of the decision? Because how it sounds to me, if everything you’re saying is true, is that you wanted to protect your career. And you couldn’t do that if your past met your future, even at the cost of your family.”

There was a slight shake of his head and deep sorrow in his too-similar silver eyes. “I was young. But I never stopped loving your mother or you boys.”

“I call bullshit. If you truly cared, you would’ve stayed and fought for us.”

“That’s naïve. Open your eyes to who your grandfather is and realize this isn’t a fair world. The people with money rule. I had barely one foot in the NFL, and he would have taken it away in a second. The damage would have hurt your mom and you boys too.”

“So you have a record. Big deal.”

“I have a record for murder.”

Fuck. Who is this guy? “Then why aren’t you still in jail?”

“I was young. Thirteen. And in the foster care system. The details don’t matter, it’s another life, and I did what I had to survive.”

“Does Mom know any of this?”

He shook his head. Shane remained silent, a deep frown on his face. This was a fucking nightmare. “I never married.”

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