Indebted - Piper Stone Page 0,88
conscience, no sense of decency. At least according to the news.
“I’m so sorry,” Liam said quietly.
I was able to see his stiff reflection in the glass, his voice barely audible. I actually believed him. “Do you want to tell me why?”
“Why?” he repeated, walking closer.
“Why after all these years did you and our brothers decide to expose me in America? Our father’s will? Is that why you made it a point to destroy me?”
A strangled sound was the only thing I heard coming from my brother’s mouth. I’d caught him.
Seconds later, he moved quietly toward the door, taking a deep breath. “Is that what you really think? Do you honestly believe that I’d reach out to you just to gloat that your family was preparing some kind of strike against you?”
“What else should I believe? Just tell me one thing. Did you pay Luis Toro to sabotage our business in order to have our father’s will changed?”
“You give me too much credit, brother. I don’t have any idea who you’re talking about. I tried to warn you because I was tipped off by a buddy of mine at the Dublin Gazette that someone had spent not only time but money to try and gather details about the crash.”
I finally turned in his direction, able to easily see he was telling me the truth. “Who?”
He sighed. “They couldn’t tell me. Everything was handled through email or couriers.”
“When?” I growled.
“Three weeks ago. That’s when I called you the first time.”
“Three weeks?” My blood had begun to boil. “Jefferson. The asshole betrayed me. I should have known.” I yanked open my desk drawer, pulling my gun from inside.
“Whoa. Wait a minute. You think Mr. Williams had something to do with this?” Liam asked, exasperated.
“He went to Ireland two weeks ago, didn’t he? Tell me the damn truth.”
He shrank back, finally nodding. “But Jefferson had nothing to do with this. He was trying to protect you.”
“That’s bullshit. He’s the only one who knew the horror I’d been through. He’s the only one who understood that this was the one damning piece that would ruin me.” I was sick, unable to get past my fury. I’d trusted the man for far too long.
Still, a nagging remained in the back of my mind. What was his point? Even the offer I’d made him hadn’t been secured. There was nothing for him to gain.
“I’m telling you that Jefferson didn’t do anything.”
“How do you know that?”
Liam leaned over my desk, his nostrils flaring. “Because Jefferson spent time with the entire family.”
I sucked in my breath. “How dare all of you.”
“I would have been happy to tell you that if you hadn’t ignored my calls. Jefferson gives a damn about you.”
“Bullshit!”
“He does. If you’d stop feeling sorry for yourself, then maybe you’d understand that people actually give a damn about you, including Jefferson as well as your family.”
I eased the weapon onto my desk, moving around it until I was mere inches away. “My family? Are you talking about the family who sent me away, treating me like I was garbage?”
“Gabriel, I never wanted you to be sent away,” Liam insisted, his entire body shaking.
“Are you also talking about my brothers, the very people I cared about the most and the ones who held me still while our father burned my face with a red-hot piece of iron?” My rage was off the charts, my voice booming in the room. “Do you see this scar? Do you understand what I’ve had to endure over ten years? Ten. Fucking. Years. He burned his own son because I was a disgrace and you didn’t do a fucking thing!”
“No!”
Alessandra...
Her gasp filtered into the room, floating between us. As his eyes opened wide, I could feel another round of pain rushing in. We were entrenched in the horrible past, unable to free ourselves from what my father had done.
“I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I’m so very sorry,” Liam whispered, finally turning his head toward Alessandra.
And I noticed tears in his eyes.
* * *
Morning had turned into afternoon, the silence in the house necessary. I’d been unable to speak, to even fathom what she must have thought after learning the truth.
There were no words to describe the way she’d looked at me after hearing the damning words. I’d never meant for her to find out the way she had. I’d honestly never wanted her to know just how sick my father truly was. Like father, like son. I sucked in my breath at the thought.