But at the same time, this man was his son. Perhaps nothing would ever come of that. Perhaps they’d never have any sort of relationship, much less a good one. But until he knew for certain, Damien had to try.
“You may be right,” Damien said slowly. “You may have a product that will truly take off. The cornerstone of your own growing empire. Maybe one day, you’ll dwarf Stark International. You have a good product with impressive potential. You know I believe that. And I haven’t made a secret about the fact that I’d like to be part of that. But I understand why you don’t want to let me in.”
Damien took a sip, then leaned back. “So who else knew about me back when you were a child?”
Ashton shook his head. “No one, as far as I know.”
“What about Dr. Beauchene?”
Ashton seemed to consider the question. “You mean the doctor who worked with the team?”
“Yes.” It was a long shot, but Alaine’s parents had taken care of Sofia after Richter died, so perhaps Richter and the doctor had been close friends.
“As far as I know he didn’t know anything. Why?”
Damien ignored the question. “What about Jeremiah?”
Ashton leaned back in his chair, then took his own sip of bourbon. “You mean Jeremiah Stark? Your father?”
“Yes. Did he know Sofia had a baby?”
“I have no idea.”
Damien watched Ashton’s face, but it was completely unreadable. He wondered if it was true.
He had no specific reason to believe that Ashton knew about Jeremiah. But he definitely suspected that Jeremiah knew about Ashton. Back then, Jeremiah knew everything that was going on, including what Richter had done with and to Damien and Sofia. So was it really that long of a stretch to believe that he also knew about Sofia’s child?
It wasn’t.
“Did Jeremiah tell you that I knew about you? That I stayed away on purpose?”
“I never even met the man.”
Again, his face was unreadable, without any of the usual tells that he might be lying or holding back.
“All right,” Damien finally said. “But Jeremiah Stark has a way of popping up when you don’t want him to. Now that you’ve announced to the world that you’re my son, I imagine he’ll be popping into your life. So let me tell you a few things about him. For that matter, let me tell you a few things about your mother. About Sofia, I mean. She was a sweet girl. Kind and loving. And also brilliant. I see a lot of you in her.”
“I heard she was nuts,” Ashton said, his voice flat. “That she tried to kill your wife.”
“That’s true. She was messed up. She had reason to be. But to be honest, she also liked Nikki. In the end, she saved her. She was jealous, though. And as for Nikki, she understands what happened to Sofia. What happened to both of us.”
“You mean the abuse,” Ashton said. “I read all about it in the news. My mother said it was bullshit.”
“I assure you, it wasn’t. You’ve seen the pictures. I can’t believe you didn’t watch the news when I went public.”
Ashton stood and walked to the window, looking out as he spoke. “The pictures were blurred. All we have is your word saying that my grandfather was vile. And it was in the context of that murder trial, right? The court got a hold of that evidence and dropped the charges? Wonder how easy it would be to Photoshop something like that. You were that close to life in prison,” he adds, holding his thumb and forefinger millimeters apart. “Makes the timing seem pretty damn convenient.”
“Perhaps it does to an outsider. Let me bring you inside the circle.” He opened his phone to show the worst video of all. The one the court hadn’t received, or at least the one that no one had ever given Damien. The one where his face and Sofia’s face weren’t blurred out, and there was no mistaking what they were doing.
He passed it to Ashton. “That’s me,” he said unnecessarily. “And that’s your mother.”
He studied Ashton’s face as he watched the video. The disgust, the horror, and even the sadness. When he handed back the phone, he looked a little ill.
“Your grandfather forced us to do that. For years he forced us to do … things. It broke your mother.”
Ashton turned away, not meeting his eyes. “I thought you were going to tell me about my other grandfather. Your dad.”
“There’s not much to tell, except that he’s a shark. He’s a worm. He spent most of my adult life backstabbing me. When I was a child, he knew about the abuse, what Richter did. He knew all of it. He considered it the cost of doing business. The price that I was paying to be a tennis star. It’s not a price I was willing to pay, but I was a child. I wasn’t given a choice. And believe me when I say I never knew that Sofia got pregnant, much less that she actually gave birth.”
When Ashton looked at him now, he seemed a shade paler. “You’re saying that my grandfather was a monster. Hell, you’re saying both my grandfathers were monsters.”
Damien heard the anger and confusion, and he kept his own voice level when he said, “Family can be the best. But it can also be the worst. And yes. My father and Merle Richter were bad men. You say you didn’t know Jeremiah, and I believe you. But be careful. Because like I said, he may come knocking at your door. And a smart man doesn’t let a snake into his bedroom.”
He put the glass down and stood up. “Thank you for letting me talk to you.”
“That’s it?” Ashton said. “I don’t get any big speech about retracting what I said at the renewal? About being a good boy and playing nice?”
“I hope you stop with the text messages—”
“I swear, I’m not sending those. I don’t know who is.”
“All right,” Damien said, not sure if he believed him or not. “As for what you said at the ceremony, of course I don’t expect you to retract it. I am your father, Ashton. As for your statement that I’ve known about you, I’ve already denied that. People can think what they will. And as for you and me? Well, I guess we just have to move forward one step at a time.”
He crossed to the door, opened it, then stepped over the threshold. When he turned back, Ashton was right behind him in the doorway. “I genuinely like and respect you. I’m sorry you don’t feel the same, but I do understand the reason. You were fed a lifetime of lies. Some day, I hope you realize that.”
Ashton said nothing, but Damien thought that maybe, just maybe, he saw a hint of respect in his son’s eyes before Ashton closed the door firmly in his face.
17
I wake up with a cat on my pillow, a toddler’s foot in my face, and two little girls snuggled against me. I move slowly, trying to extract myself without waking them, and realize that Damien’s no longer in the bed.
I smile, remembering last night. It had been the first relatively normal hours we’d had in a while. We’d all climbed into bed with a big bowl of popcorn and another of candy, then we’d watched Frozen for the billionth time, with Lara singing along at the top of her lungs.
The bathroom door opens, and Damien steps out, a towel around his waist. He smiles at me, and I see that the stress that had been building on his face has finally faded, and that simple knowledge makes my heart fill with happiness.