Chapter 18 #2
Liberties? What person under the age of eighty, however wealthy and pretentious, actually used the word liberties?
She had to stifle a snort, even as she fought back tears of relief.
He knew her—trusted her—enough to understand that she’d never cheat on anyone. And he wasn’t judging her for the pregnancy. If she understood him correctly, he was mostly upset that he hadn’t been able to protect and coddle her even more assiduously than he already had, which was…
Wow.
She really wanted to kiss him. And she would, as soon as she explained herself.
The story didn’t actually take long to share. The twenty-year anniversary of the worst moment of her life. The broken condom. The positive pregnancy test. Vic’s decision to sign away all his parental rights.
“Gwen…” With the issue of possible infidelity apparently settled in his mind, Hugh reached for her hand at long last. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The uncomfortable heat of the car had subsided to a gentle warmth, but his fingers were hot as they intertwined with hers.
“Yesterday morning, I rolled up to your apartment before dawn and demanded an audience even though you hadn’t seen me in over two decades.
” She held on tight, willing him to understand.
“With all our lives on the line, I needed you to believe what I told you and follow my lead without doubting my judgment. Especially since I’d lied to you a whole heck of a lot during our last encounter, so my integrity was already very much in question. ”
He shook his head. “A broken condom says nothing about your judgment. It’s a simple accident whose consequences you’re handling as best you know how.”
Every overtired bone in her body seemed to sag in relief at that firm declaration.
“What happened twenty years ago wasn’t an issue of missing integrity or bad judgment either.” A brief pause. “Well. To be fair, if you were going to lie, you should have predicted something that would happen long in the future, in hopes of possibly earning a paycheck in the meantime.”
Her gratitude fading fast, she frowned at him. “Yes. I realize that.”
“Also, you shouldn’t have chosen to recount the plot of a worldwide blockbuster movie involving famously extinct animals and several internationally famous movie stars.”
Her frown turned into a scowl. “Yes. I know. Must we truly relitigate the least shining moment of my existence right now, Hugh? Because—”
He was still rolling along, apparently unaware of her growing irritation. “So there were some judgment issues there, obviously.”
Her stare should have turned him to stone, Medusa-style.
“But here’s the thing, Gwen.” He refocused on her, seemingly unaffected. “None of those issues brought your essential goodness of character into question. You acted out of desperation, not a desire to harm anyone. I know that. I’ve always known that.”
So he’d told her earlier too. Which raised the same question as before: Why? Why had he believed in her good intentions, even back then?
“In fact,” he added, “I’ve often wondered whether you subconsciously chose such an unbelievable tale because you did not, in fact, wish to mislead anyone.”
Often wondered implied that he’d thought about her frequently in the intervening years, which felt good. He also raised an excellent point. One that, amid all her self-flagellation, she’d never considered before.
“You think I sabotaged myself?”
“Perhaps?” His shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Like I said, Gwen, you absolutely hated lying. And if we’d believed your story, you would’ve been forced to continue hiding the truth. Maybe some subconscious part of you refused that potential future and guided your words that day.”
That possibility was something she’d have to consider later. For now, though, they had more urgent matters to discuss—and she was still stuck on his conversation with Goodling.
“If you don’t mind explaining…” She squeezed his fingers. “What does your sister have to do with our current circumstances?”
According to Gwen’s internet-stalking forays over the years, both he and his sister had joined their parents’ law firm after passing the bar. Occasionally there had been references to Eloise serving as counsel for some industrial or tech behemoth, but then…
Nothing. About a decade ago, all mentions of her had vanished.
At the time, Gwen hadn’t thought much about the absence.
From what little she knew about high-powered demon-owned firms like Blackes, they valued discretion and privacy for both themselves and their clients.
Human and Supernatural elites might rely on the firm’s work, but average citizens might never hear individual lawyers’ names.
Now, though, Gwen had a bad, bad feeling about that black hole of information about Eloise.
“Ah, yes.” A bitter smile tipped his mouth, and the warmth in his gaze chilled to bleak resignation. “Our Blacke ‘family affliction.’ ”
She had no desire to make an already-difficult day even harder for him. “Forget that I asked, Hugh. It’s okay.”
“Apparently my family history has impacted our investigation, so you should know.” His nostrils flared with his exhalation.
“Besides, it’s not truly a secret. Even my parents and Josiah couldn’t keep such a lurid, sensational incident entirely private.
I’m certain everyone at SERC headquarters knows.
Most prominent demons and business execs too. ”
She met Hugh’s grim stare. Braced herself.
“Ten years ago, Eloise drafted a confidential contract for one of her corporate clients. Its terms led to countless human deaths, and she found out that her client had known those deaths would occur before signing the agreement. She…well.” His hand tightened convulsively around Gwen’s.
“One article that my parents managed to kill before publication was titled ‘Demon Lawyer Goes Scorched-Earth.’ I thought that was clever. Eloise would have appreciated it too.”
Would have? That phrasing choice didn’t bode well.
“She set fire to the CEO’s office.” The words might have been widgets in a factory line, produced without fanfare or emotion.
“It was a Sunday. He and his fixer were alone in that wing of the building for a secret meeting, and she confronted them. According to both men, she was poised to either burn them alive or turn them inside out. Before she could act, though, a witch on the corporation’s security staff appeared and…
” His throat bobbed. “And froze her to death.”
He’d lost his sister in a horrible way, and now his colleagues were using that history to tar him as a possible arsonist too?
“I’m so sorry,” Gwen whispered, unable to think of anything wise or helpful to say.
“Me too, Gwen.” Hugh’s face might have belonged to a stone monolith. “Me too.”