Page 109 of Secrets, Lies and Love

Cecily

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

I’ve spentmonths preparing for this day. For the moment when the whole truth came out.

I prayed and tried to build courage, because I knew that the moment of our confrontation would not be a pretty thing to see.

I could never have prepared myself, however, for the look on his face when he finally finds out the truth.

At first, I see pain, and it nearly tears me in two, but then it’s replaced by contempt as I confirm what I’m sure he already knew.

Receiving hate from the man I love almost kills me.

I try to hold myself together, but inside I’m breaking into a thousand pieces. “I was going to tell you everything.”

“What? Have you come to give a new version of the story that Peyton revealed to the newspapers? A different outcome, like: I came to strike a blow, but I fell in love?”

His irony is like a knife, but I don’t let him see it.

“You can’t believe that. You know I don’t care about your money. I’m only interested in you and Joseph.”

“Leave my son out of this, Cecily.”

“Why would I leave him out when he is the one I came for?”

“What?”

“If you want to believe I’m a gold digger like Peyton claims, I can’t convince you otherwise, but I can give you my word that I didn’t come to New York for you. I came for Joseph.”

If I expected any change for the better in his expression, I’m disappointed. He looks even angrier. “Are you related to that son of a bitch?”

“Don’t talk about Keith like that! And no, he wasn’t my relative—he was my best friend.”

“Friend? A woman abuser? A bastard who beat his pregnant wife?”

“That’s not what happened, Dionysus. For the love of God, you need to listen to me.”

“I don’t need to do anything. You have no rights, Cecily. You are a liar who sneaked into our lives. You gained my trust, the love of my son and my family.”

It doesn’t go unnoticed by me that he doesn’t talk about his own love, and that is, of course, because he never loved me. He doesn’t even give me a chance to explain.

“I won’t be able to reason with you now. You’re very upset.”

“Upset?You have no idea what I’m feeling.”

“Anger, I know, and I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m so sorry, Dionysus.”

I try to take a step closer, willing to do anything to obtain forgiveness, but he stops me with a wave of his hand.

“No. I don’t want you to touch me. I don’t want to breathe the same air as you. Unfortunately, we know that I will have to do so, however, because you carry my child, but you will never touch me again, Cecily.”

I try to take into account how hurt he is, based on what I know about the Kostanidis pride, but still, I can’t control the hurt his words cause me. “Keith wasn’t who Sue said he was,Dionysus. She married him out of self-interest. It angered her when he donated the money from the sale of the company anonymously to charity. She’d planned a coup that didn’t work. She wanted to be the queen of a naïve boy, and all she managed was to gain an upper-middle-class lifestyle. It was good, much more than she’d had in the past, but not enough for someone so ambitious.”

“And why should I believe you?”

“Because I love you and I love Joseph. I’m sorry I didn’t reveal this sooner. I intended to leave, to let him live his life as your son, because I knew he was safe at your side.”

“What if he wasn’t?”

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