52. He Refused to Believe #2
“You’re such a boy scout.” She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “You’ve got to play his game. Tell him what he wants to hear.”
“He’s your brother. Family .”
She scoffed a laugh. “He’s also an interfering know-it-all who underestimates me. Lots of people make that mistake. I’ve dealt with dangerous criminals and big players in this city—even bigger than him . You’ve got to have a thick skin as a prosecutor. You can’t be scared. You can’t back down.”
“Gwen, it’s not like it used to be. We have Noah to think about now.”
“If he was in any danger, do you honestly believe I’d be sitting in this hotel room doing nothing?
No way. Let Liam play protector and have his quilt-loving Italian follow me.
I’m not scared of Ian or Kayleigh or any tactics her lawyers have come up with.
I’m going to be okay.” Gwen curled around me, her hand stroking down my chest as she tried to reassure me—or distract me—with kisses up my neck. “Promise.”
“Promise noted. Well, that’s all I’ve got on your dumb brother. What’s the news you need to tell me?”
Gwen’s hand stilled on my chest. Slowly, her gaze lifted, her eyes shadowed with guilt.
“What?” I laughed, uneasy. “It can’t be worse than what I shared.”
She took so long to answer that I knew it was worse. “Toby, how much do you know about your dad?”
“Enough to know he was a shit person,” I offered cautiously. “Why?”
“He…had… affairs .”
“That’s hardly a secret. What does this have to do with seeing my mother, doll? Was she talking trash about him?”
Gwen wriggled up higher against the pillows, her hair fanning her face as she looked down at me.
“Your mum and I got into a bit of a… thing tonight. She went for the low blows at me like always, but I managed to wrong-foot her this time.” Her face scrunched up.
Whatever her triumph had been, she wasn’t relishing it.
“I was cruel to her, Tobes. I know how much it hurts to be cheated on, but I threw your father’s affairs in her face.
And she dropped her guard… Just for a second. ”
The fact Gwen had found any level to empathize with my mother made my gut churn, but I shoved the feeling aside. “So, my mother said something…about Dad?”
Gwen nodded. “She told me he’d promised another woman the world.”
I grunted. Was that all? He’d probably promised that to a hundred women. “Who?”
“Your mother said it was…” Gwen exhaled a slow breath. “Abigail.”
It took a few seconds for the name to sink in.
“Abigail…as in Ian’s mum?” I laughed in complete disbelief.
“You think my father had an affair with that Abigail? Nah. No way. She’s so quiet and…
and… nice . Dad got around, but…” My mother probably led Gwen down that path for some other screwed-up reason.
Maybe this had something to do with Kayleigh, too?
They were practically besties after their cooking classes. “What exactly did my mother say?”
Gwen took a deep breath. “She said she’d won. She said she got all the money, and Abigail ended up with nothing…” She bit her lip. “Except…”
“Except…?” Silence stretched between us. “Gwen?”
“She said your father paid for her little boy to go to your school. His son…with Abigail .”
A smile froze on my face. “His son…” My mouth was cotton.
I slid a look at Gwen. Panicked eyes glanced back.
Was she worried I was going to freak out?
I wasn’t. This was ridiculous. There wasn’t some secret love child.
There was only… “Ian.” Gwen nodded like that was the answer.
That couldn’t be the answer. “I don’t—it can’t—it’s—that’s wrong. ”
“Toby, I think it might be the truth.”
“It’s not! Ian’s not my…my…” I launched off the bed. Gwen reached out her hand, but I took a step back. “This is just my mother creating more drama! She never liked Ian or his mum. Dad was the one who always pushed that—”
“Why do you think he did that?”
“Not because we’re brothers ! My mother’s just making shit up!”
Gwen edged closer, but I flung myself out of reach.
“Toby, I looked at every photo I could find. You guys look nothing alike but also…kinda…the same. Your dad…and you… and Ian. This dimple.” She poked her finger into her cheek. “Right here.”
“What? I can’t believe I’m hearing this! You’re buying her lies? You?” I paced across the floor, shoving down every emotion clawing at me, desperate to keep calm. My kid was asleep in the next room. I couldn’t lose my shit. “You’re supposed to be on my side! She’s lying!”
But the more I paced across the suite, letting it all sink in while Gwen sat silently on her knees, her eyes never leaving me, the more it made sense.
My parents had a strained relationship behind closed doors. For years and years, my mother’s fury had been hidden under the fake smiles my father had coaxed from her before they’d walked into a room.
“At least pretend to love me, Sarah,” he’d said.
We’d all pretended.
Tanya and I had played board games when the arguments echoed through the walls. We’d ignored the hours my mother had spent in the kitchen, sipping wine, muttering to herself that Dad had disappeared again— “With her.”
Our family had never been falling apart. We’d been perfect. That was the lie we’d all lived by.
And who was my father…really? I’d never spent much time with him.
He’d rocked up to rugby matches and played the proud dad when it suited him, but mostly, I was a disappointment.
I was stupid. A bit too soft. He’d hated that I’d avoided every suggestion of working in the family business and dreamed of doing good in the world with my own two hands.
But Ian…
He hated being a dentist. I never understood why he’d even applied to dental school in the first place.
He’d turned getting accepted into some kind of competition, taunting me with how easily he’d breezed through his schoolwork.
But he’d turned as pale as a ghost when I’d stood up at dinner the week after results came out, bursting with pride to announce I’d made it in. Somehow. Thanks to Gwen.
Ian didn’t care about using his hands or being a dentist. He’d always wanted to be a property developer.
Like Dad. He’d interned at the office. The two of them had shot the breeze for hours about boring shit like stocks and options .
Ian schmoozed, drank expensive scotch, and used women for his own pleasure, proudly boasting about his conquests to anyone who’d listen.
Just like Dad .
My knees went weak. Shock crumbled me into a heap on the carpet.
Gwen must have leaped off the bed and sprinted for me.
Her arms were around me before I hit the floor.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever held on to her so tight.
I was numb. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Everything I thought I knew was imploding, but the one true thing was that Gwen was there .
And I clung to that woman—that feeling—for dear life.