Page 121 of My Fault
“Nicholas, what are you doing here?” she asked with a smile. She was a thin woman over sixty. My father held on to her because she was as hardworking and loyal as they came, and it wasn’t easydealing with my father at work. I knew—I was interning at his practice.
“Hey, Janine, I need to talk to Dad. Is he in a meeting?” I asked, trying to keep myself from bursting in.
“No, you can go ahead. He’s looking over this afternoon’s case.” I headed straight back and opened the door without knocking. My father’s dark-blue eyes looked up from his documents and straight at me.
“What are you doing here?” he asked me sternly. He never said hello; that was a habit of his.
“I’m here to talk to you about Noah. And about Raffaella, to be precise.” I stood there in front of his luxurious desk, hoping he’d be sincere with me for once in his life. “Do you know about what her bastard ex-husband did?”
After staring at me a moment, my father pushed aside his documents, stood, walked to the bar, and poured himself a glass of cognac.
“How’d you find out?” he asked.
So he knew. That didn’t particularly surprise me. That wasn’t the kind of thing you could keep hidden too long.
“Noah freaks out if she’s in a room with the lights off. The other day she almost had a panic attack. When she calmed down, she told me.” The memory of what those fuckers had done to her enraged me, but I kept calm. “Dad, do you know what that son of a bitch did? Noah almost died… A piece of glass stabbed her in the stomach. She might not even be able to have kids.”
“I know,” he said, sitting down with an expression of grief on his face.
“You do?” I started pacing angrily through the room. “Her own mother left her alone with an abuser! Raffaella’s as much to blame as he is,” I shouted in impotent rage.
“Nicholas, I’m not going to let you talk about my wife thatway. You have no idea what she’s been through or how much she regrets leaving her daughter there… She didn’t have a life like ours. She didn’t have money or anyone to help her fight for her child. She suffered that man’s abuse for years. Her body is a map of scars… So I won’t let you—”
“Noah was a little girl, Dad!” I interrupted him. “For God’s sake! She had to jump out a window! He should be dead, that son of a bitch!”
“Nicholas, sit down. There’s something you need to know.” He motioned at the chair in front of him.
Instead of sitting down, I stood behind it. As he brought his drink to his lips, I wished he’d poured one for me.
“A month ago, he got paroled,” he said. My body tensed as my brain tried to assimilate those words. “It’s been six years since they sentenced him. If Raffaella had pressed charges for abuse earlier, he might have gotten more time, but he was only sentenced for his crimes against Noah… She was hurt, but the worst of it was when she jumped out the window and a shard of glass injured her. He wasn’t blamed for that. It seems he had friends in high places and got his sentence reduced. What I’m trying to tell you is, he’s out, and Raffaella’s scared he’ll try to get in touch with her. I found out not long ago, and I was angry. She should have told me before. We need to keep our eyes open for anything strange… I don’t think he’ll try anything, but I’m worried still. Raffaella’s terrified. She’s been having nightmares every night, and she doesn’t want Noah to know he’s gotten out. You need to keep the secret.”
“How can he be out? You can’t do anything?” I asked, feeling deeply unsettled. That madman could be trying to hunt down his wife and daughter that very moment, and I didn’t know how Noah would react if she saw the man from her nightmares again.
“I tried to get a judge to file a restraining order, but since we don’t have any evidence of him trying anything, it’s been impossible. Probably we’re overthinking it. He’s in another country. I doubt he would come all the way to America. Still, we should keep on our toes, especially for Ella’s sake…”
“Agreed. You take care of your wife, and I’ll take care of Noah,” I said, serving myself a drink from the bar.
I could feel him staring into me from behind.
“Son…please tell me you haven’t hooked up with your stepsister,” he said, closing his eyes.
Shit…was it that obvious?
“I just want to take care of her, Dad,” I said, downing my drink in one go.
“Look, I don’t know what you two have got going on, and I don’t want to know, but please, I beg you, don’t do anything idiotic. It’s hard enough to keep Raffaella from losing her mind with what’s going on. The last thing I need is to learn you’re hot for your stepsister.”
I hated him treating our relationship so blithely.
“I’m nothot for her, Dad… I love her. And I promise you, I won’t let anyone lay a finger on her.”
He nodded.
“Be careful, Nicholas.”
I left the office, and just as I did, my phone rang: Noah.
“What’s up?” I asked. She was supposed to be in class. What the hell was she doing calling me?
