“What made you want to do that?” he asked while turning down a side street toward a collection of apartment buildings.
I bounced my knee in the car, my fingers tingling as I tried to come up with my answer. “I guess you could say I was born wanting to be an advocate for children,” I whispered.
Jack nodded and let out an, “Ahh. Your mother.”
I snapped my head to the left to stare at him as he pulled into an unfamiliar parking lot. “What do you mean?”
“I, uh, I just mean I know about your mother. She was in an abusive situation, yes?” I knotted my fingers in my shirt, desperate to get out of the car. Jack must have seen something in my expression, because his eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, honey. It’s not my place.” I was fiercely protective of my mother, and Jack Beauregard just dropped that bomb as if he was talking about the weather.
“How do you know about that?” I asked.
Jack let out a sigh. “My team did a background check on your family when Joseph announced that they were dating. I didn’t mean to be intrusive. The report was very enlightening. I’m shocked your mother managed so much at such a young age.”
I scoffed. Didn’t mean to be intrusive? What the fuck? “And what exactly did your report tell you? Did you find out that my father was actually one of my grandmother’s boyfriends?”
Jack pulled over, then looked down at his lap. A white-hot anger burned through me. “You both are very tenacious. You’ve overcome so much. It’s honestly impressive how far you’ve come. I didn’t mean to overstep. I’m just protective of my son. You have to understand that. He’s wanting to get into politics, and he’s going to inherit a lot of money. I didn’t want any scandals. I mean, goodness, Joseph mistakenly got her pregnant. I understand why he wanted to do the right thing and marry her, but we had to be smart about it.”
I gaped at him. “So how did your people decide to spin it to the papers, hmm? Charity case or a redemption story?”
“Neither. I made sure your mother’s abuse was sealed in court records.”
“So, a shameful secret,” I said softly in disbelief.
Perhaps it was the intensity of the last few days, but I didn’t bother holding back. “Thanks for the tour, Jack. I can handle it from here.” I unbuckled my seatbelt with a huff of frustration.
“Vera, when you’ve been in the public eye for as long as I have, you learn that you have to be careful. I’m just trying to protect my family. Joseph impulsively married your mother, and I wanted to know what we were up against. I’ve never intentionally tried to make you, or your mother, feel like outsiders. But you didn’t grow up in this world.”
I understood where he was coming from, but it still upset me. I couldn’t quite figure out if I was upset because he knew our dirty secret or because it hurt to think about. I blew out a noisy breath and angled my body away from Jack. “You just caught me off guard. You’re protective of your sons, right? Well, I’m protective of her. Mom wouldn’t want her new father-in-law talking about her trauma so flippantly. She could have been a statistic, but she overcame. She worked hard and protected me. The moment I was born, she got us out of her mother’s trailer. She dropped out of school, got her GED, and busted her ass to take care of me. She didn’t have to keep me, let alone take care of me, but she did. Please don’t let her know that you know. It’s bad enough she has to look me in the eye every day of her life and see him. She doesn’t need to see your pity, too.”
Jack sighed. “Most men in my position don’t allow their sons to marry for love. We do business arrangements. We set our kids up with someone who will make our fortune grow. Be glad I even allowed it—”
“Allowed?!” I shook my head in disgust. “You think you’re so much better than us. I thought you were so kind and welcoming. I had no idea you were looking down your nose at us this entire time.”
Jack didn’t falter. He had a true politician’s soul, because he kept to his views implicitly. “I own some of the largest corporations in the world. I’m the governor of one of the wealthiest states in the country. I’ve lived my life in the public eye. It’s unfair to expect you to seamlessly adapt to a world that molds infants into ruthless billionaires, but you should get used to this.”
“Used to what?”
“Every bit of your life will be picked apart from here on out. Your mother married into one of the most well-known families in the world. You see that black car following us? That’s my security detail. I’m in the newspaper daily. You’re under a microscope, now. I can control what the media knows, but this isn’t a fairy tale, Vera. This is your life. I won’t apologize for making sure your mother wouldn’t ruin the legacy I worked so hard to build. I don’t like uncontrollable variables. All I did was look into her past and make sure it wouldn’t come back to bite us in the ass. You should be thanking me for handling such a scandal. It’s hard to cover up something when there is living, breathing proof. If people knew what you were a product of—”
My heart clenched. My chest felt so tight that I clutched it. “How dare you!” He’d voiced an insecurity that had been plaguing me for years.
“You act like this is a bad thing!” Jack sounded exasperated. “The world is at your fingertips. Your mother could have never hoped to provide you with the sort of opportunities I have access to. She won’t have to work three jobs. You won’t have to bend over backward for a scholarship at a mediocre school. I don’t understand the problem. You’re just like Ha—”
Jack chewed on the inside of his cheek.
“Just like Hamilton?” I asked, finishing his statement for him. “The son you sent away?”
“He wanted to leave. I gave him an out. He asked for a normal life away from me, and I gave it to him. I can give you the same thing if you’d like. University in Europe. A job at one of my companies. This is a choice—a choice your mother made for the both of you when she got knocked up and trapped Joseph in a marriage. If I weren’t running on a platform that prioritizes family values, I wouldn’t have even considered it. I have too many corporations relying on the legislation I pass to let anyone ruin my chances for reelection. You can think I’m cruel, but it’s just business. I’m just giving you an opportunity to be a part of the family, Vera.”
I wasn’t sure this was a family I wanted to be a part of. I placed my hand on the door handle, desperate for space from Jack. “Vera,” he called after me as I exited his car. I kept walking. “Vera!” I put more distance between Jack and me, mulling over Jess’s words as I did.
“Everyone hates him eventually…”
6
Mom had called me six times in the last two days. I texted her, blaming poor cell service in my new apartment for not answering her call. She was very worried about me. News about Saint breaking into the Beauregard home and accosting me became public, and there was a lot of sympathy surrounding the entire ordeal. I went to the grocery store for some comfort food last night, and someone took photos of me buying ice cream and Coke. The gossip was nauseating. Some said I was eating my feelings. Naturally, there were comments about my weight. Some said I was too skinny. Some said I had gotten fat. There was also gossip that my late-night food run was a product of pregnancy cravings. Now that Mom and Joseph had announced her pregnancy, everyone was curious about our family. Apparently, there was a good portion of the population that believed Mom and I both got pregnant at the same time. They called it the Mother-Daughter Pregnancy Pact.