“By protecting you.”
“From what?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
“From becoming your father.”
David stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“He had two lives. Two families. Two sets of promises. I spent years cleaning up what he left behind.”
Her voice trembled.
“You think he was kind because you were a child. You think he was honorable because he taught you to ride a bicycle and took you to baseball games. But I was the one who opened the bills. I was the one who found the letters.”
“Did he father Maya?”
Eleanor looked away.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer sounded true.
David exhaled slowly.
“Why pay Jonathan?”
“Because he said Marisol was threatening to contact you.”
“So you paid him to keep her silent.”
“I paid him to verify her claims.”
“For sixteen months?”
“He kept finding new documents.”
“Did you ever see them?”
Eleanor’s silence returned.
David understood.
Jonathan had not only manipulated Maya.
He had manipulated Eleanor too.
Perhaps by promising to bury the past.
Perhaps by inventing new threats.
Perhaps by feeding on the fear that had ruled both women from opposite sides of the world.
David looked at his mother.
“You were being deceived.”
Relief flashed across her face.
Then David continued.
“But that does not excuse what you did.”
The relief disappeared.
“I know.”
It was the second honest answer she had given him.
David held out the building key she had once used.
“I need yours.”
Eleanor stared at his hand.
“I’m your mother.”
“And Maya is my wife. Liam is my son.”
