The Second Love of My Life by Victoria Walters

Author:Victoria Walters [Walters, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2016-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

‘Will you let me explain?’ Robert asks, raising his head, his eyes catching mine.

My knees are aching. I shift position, bringing them up to my chest, hugging them tightly, my knuckles turning white. I look down at the pen I dropped, unable to hold Robert’s gaze now that I know his eyes are full of lies. I don’t understand. And I need to know it all because this makes no sense. I nod once to let him know he should speak. Right now, I can’t.

‘I think you’ve guessed that I don’t have the best relationship with my family. I know I haven’t said too much about it but I could see that you knew I wanted to get away from them this summer. Well, mostly my father.’ He pauses, sucking in a breath. I feel him glance at me but look away again quickly. He’s still on his knees in front of me.

‘My father is a very tough man to please. All our life he has ruled the family with an iron fist, full of expectations for us all that are pretty impossible to meet. I handled this by doing everything he wanted me to. I became a lawyer and joined his company and basically tried to be the perfect son. My brother, however, handled it very differently. He hated the control my father exerted over us. He got thrown out of a succession of private schools and failed at everything my father tried to push him into. Eventually my father realised Jeremy would never join the family business as I did and threw money at the problem; he was shipped off abroad, to New York, to a university that was paid to take him, and my mother and I barely saw him for years.

‘When he finished college out there, my father brought him back here, hoping he would settle into a career of some sort. It turned out that Jeremy had developed a thirst for gambling out there and basically ran off to London at every opportunity to gamble and drink. They had a huge fight one night when my father found out how much Jeremy owed a casino. He told him he was cut off, that he wouldn’t bail him out anymore and he was on his own. He thought it was the only way to get him to change. But my brother stormed out and drove straight to the nearest bar. I only found out about their argument when I came home from the office later that night and Jeremy wouldn’t answer my calls. I had no idea where he was, otherwise I would have gone to get him.’

My hands fall in front of my face. I shake my head. ‘Stop. Please stop,’ I whisper desperately. I don’t want any of this to be true. I need this not to be true. I look up then at Robert and see a tear falling down his cheek.

‘I have to tell you,’ he whispers back, his eyes pleading with me to listen.

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