Page 10 of Crying Shame
“No.” At eighteen, I’d realized my parents were rich and assumed they’d want all their sons to become part of their world. I hadn’t understood they just wanted us to be happy or that they’d be so accepting of my choices. Now that some of my brothers were married or engaged, I’d realized even more how wrong I’d been about everything.
She pressed her leg against mine and shook her head as she sipped. “I’ve met your maman. I fantasized all my life that they’d adopt m, too, 'cause then maybe I’d be… someone else. There was no way either of your parents would desert you.”
Her father was my pedar’s driver. Her mother was head housekeeper. They’d been staples in the background at almost every major event in our lives. As a teenager, I’d been a damn snob as I’d never wanted anyone to associate me with the squalor from my earliest memories. I sipped my wine and asked, “Like yours deserted you?”
She let out a small laugh. “When you told me to get lost, I mistakenly told my parents that I was pregnant. I didn’t tell them about you, but they finally cut me out of their lives.”
I narrowed my eyes. Her parents had never talked much around me, but I’d always assumed they were similar to mine. “What do you meanfinally?”
She squeezed my palm, and a spark raced up my skin and into my heart. She let go of me. “It means they worked for your parents, but my parents were nothing like yours.”
Clarissa should have been cherished. My body still had aftershocks from her simple touch. “And Hunter?”
She gulped her drink, finishing it. “A huge mistake. When I saw how he treated Sam, I realized in an instant how I’d done exactly what I swore I’d never do.”
I put down my half-finished cup and folded my hands in my lap. I didn’t want to scare her as much I wanted to help her. I also needed her to fill in the gaps of her story. “Look, I don’t want to ever fight with you about Sam, but I need to do right by him and you.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
My lips quirked higher. “You’re too forgiving.”
She let out a sigh. “Look, you didn’t beat me, you weren’t playing me, and you were never cruel. You thought we were a mistake. And I needed to take responsibility and ensure Sam never had the kind of childhood I had.”
“You’re letting me off the hook too easy,” I said and wondered if any other man besides Hunter had mistreated her.
She rested her head on her fist as she leaned back on the couch and studied me.
My nerves grew taut. Then she sat up straight. “No, I'm not. But I need you to swear that my parents will never find out about Sam’s parentage.”
I had no love lost for her parents as they'd never shared anything they knew about Clarissa. For years, my entire family assumed she'd finished college somewhere and didn't want to come home to visit them. I swallowed and asked, “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. They will not profit off us.”
"Fair enough," I said, thinking that my parents would have a harder time following her wishes than I would. “I need you to agree that you and Sam will stay with me for more than a night.”
She moved like she was getting ready to jump up. My skin was prickly, too, as I waited for her response.
She sighed. “You’re asking a lot.”
Maybe hoping to get the rest of her story was expecting too much, but I inwardly swore I’d treat her right from here on out. I met her gaze. “I’m asking that we work together, like a family.”
She hugged herself and closed her eyes as she rocked. I couldn't predict what she’d do next, but she was clearly on edge.
“I’m not good at letting people in,” she said.
I needed her to understand that time had changed me. “Who I was when we were together is not who I am now.”
“How have you changed? You’re still throwing around your cash.”
I finished my wine and decided I wanted to keep her in my life for as long as she’d stay. That was why I’d pushed to get her to agree to come to the hotel with me. I’d not even processed that until now, but my heart knew what it wanted. I was still drawn to her like a magnet, so I needed her to at least feel comfortable around me.
“I realized how I never fought for you when you were in my heart," I said. "I was afraid I’d lose everything I had to the point that I ruined both our lives. And what’s funny is that Maman and Pedar don’t care if I succeed as a doctor. They love me and want me to be happy, no matter what.”
She tilted her head. “You don’t need to include me in your plans to do right by Sam.”
“I’m starting with doing right by you.”
“Why?”
