Page 46 of Sinful Desires

“And that flunky of yours,” he continued, teeth gritted. “That was some performance you two put on for everybody’s sake. The little fight that landed him in the hospital. Does Aria know it was an act? Do any of them?”

When all I could do was gape at him, shocked, he released a derisive snort. “You honestly thought you were going to stroll in and pull the wool over my eyes? Like I’m some rube? I can see how it was so easy for your mother to get you twisted up.”

“Magnus…” Evelyn murmured while I regretted breathing.

He knew.

He had always known.

Magnus ignored her. “It was your meeting at that shitty little diner that brought everything together. Did you think doing business in a different borough would throw me off your scent? You’re an amateur.”

There was nothing I could say and no defense I could mount. I could only sit and take it, looking back through every step, every foolish mistake.

“Here’s what I want to know.” Unfolding his arms, he gripped the desk to either side of his body, his gaze unwavering. “Here you are. You made something of yourself despite everything life handed you from day one. No father, a motherwho was absent more than she was present. You managed to avoid the pitfalls she dropped into. And there’s nothing but a bright future out there for you. Why in the hell would you waste that for the sake of settling a score that wasn’t yours to settle?”

I couldn’t take any more. I would’ve rather he hit me than withstand this verbal onslaught. It was more than the words. It was the truth behind them. A truth that crushed me to the point where I bent forward, holding my head in my hands as the two of them watched. “I don’t know anymore,” I admitted. “I told myself to do it for her. I had blinders on. I couldn’t see anything else.”

“But why, dammit?” he growled out when Evelyn remained silent. “You were here. You lived with us. We took you in, we made you part of our family. How could you look us all in the face, knowing what you planned?”

“Have you ever had something drilled into your skull so many times, for so many years, that it becomes part of who you are?” I lifted my head from my hands, looking up at the man I was so sure had destroyed my chance at a normal life. It had never occurred to me to remember I’d built a damn good life despite everything.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, that cold gaze weighing on me.

“All my life.For as long as I can remember, she fed me the stories. I know, it’s easy to blame her now that she’s gone,” I pointed out when his eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t negate the truth. Everything that ever went wrong was your fault. She led me to believe you knew about me all along and didn’t want to be a father. That you abandoned us for Evelyn. You humiliated her. You left her with nothing… no friends, no reputation, and certainly no money. The nights I spent hungry and alone were your fault, not hers. Hell, it never even occurred to me she wasn’t working. She was partying, for fuck’s sake.”

I barked out a laugh at my own stupidity. How could I have continued believing her all these years? “Can’t you understand? I promised to make you pay for something she fabricated. After a lifetime of feeling like I was the reason she couldn’t make you stay with her, that I was the reason she ended up with nothing. Succeeding in spite of everything, punishing you, it became my reason for living. Everything she told me became the only truth I knew, and every step I took resulted from it. Can you imagine what that’s like?”

“I don’t have to imagine.” It wasn’t Magnus who spoke. It was Evelyn, still sitting in the chair beside me.

I lifted my head, looking at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She turned away from me, looking up at her husband. “When you think about it, it was the same for me,” she murmured. “Every day of my life, someone told me how worthless and ugly and stupid I was. Over time, I believed I deserved to be hurt. You remember how I was when we first met and how long it took to undo all that damage.”

She released a long breath, looking down at her folded hands. “And still, I have my moments.”

Magnus groaned, his head tipping back until he looked up at the ceiling. “Fuck.” That single word contained an entire volume.

“It’s the truth,” she pointed out in a soft voice. “And we both know what Leila was capable of. Nothing he’s saying comes as any surprise to me.”

“That’s the thing,” he muttered darkly. “I’m not surprised either. Why not use her own son to get back at me for something she did to herself thirty years ago?”

“I swear to you, I didn’t know,” I insisted. “Not until the night of the gala. I wanted to take back the envelope, truly,” I told Evelyn, turning to her, silently pleading for her to understand.“But it was too late. You had already picked it up. I wish I could take it all back.”

“I believe you,” she whispered, nodding.

Something inside me broke at the sound of those three words. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I am sorry. Truly, deeply sorry.”

“That doesn’t change a damn thing,” Magnus reminded me. “You’re lucky I haven’t gone to the authorities yet. I have in my possession a device containing fabricated audio files compiled using recordings I did not consent to. I assume that’s how you did it, right?”

I nodded, my heart sinking. This was it. I knew it was coming. “Are you going to the authorities with this?” I asked, miserable but knowing I deserved it.

“Don’t have to,” he decided. “All I have to do is talk to my good friend, Connor Diamond, and the world will know the lengths you’re willing to go to. Even if it means manipulation, hacking, and manufacturing false records. Your name won’t be worth shit a week from today.”

By the time he finished, he sounded downright gleeful. “Once the dust settles, your company won’t be worth shit either. Which is when I will purchase it, dismantle it, sell it for scrap.”

Everything I had worked for. All of it, up in smoke. I looked forward to a future now devoid of meaning, hope, and purpose.

I felt nothing. In the end, what did it matter?

---