Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,2
it. We were well-matched in that regard.”
“Save me the gory details. What about the girlfriend?”
Her smile turned almost pitying. “I wondered if he would ever tell you.”
“He didn’t tell me,” I informed her. “He told Frankie.”
“Why would he tell that—”
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Extinguishing her cigarette, she studied me. “Madeline Grayson, now known as Curtis, was engaged to your father for three years. The relationship blew very hot, and they were prone to their…mutual indiscretions. He was rather put out with her over something she’d done, and honestly, I didn’t care. He was handsome and interested.” After lighting another, she exhaled, then shook her head. “I didn’t break them up, but I also wasn’t opposed to the pregnancy tying Edward and I together…”
“Because you had your meal ticket.”
“What? You want me to apologize for securing my future and, may I remind you, yours?”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you for an apology, Muriel. What I want to know is if you knew he and his ex-girlfriend hooked up after you and he were together?”
“He could have,” she admitted with a shrug. “He had several affairs in the early years, and that didn’t change. When I chose to move to Texas to get away from the city and your interfering grandfather, I did it because I’d found her and I wanted to put her in Edward’s path.” She flicked some ash away and then took a drink of her coffee.
“You moved there specifically so he’d run into her?” Who did that?
“Yes,” she told me simply. “The prenuptial was quite clear, the marriage a contract for your father and for me. If he asked for the divorce, I got to keep my assets, or I simply had to maintain the marriage until your eighteenth birthday. I think we were all tired of the farce, yourself included. So I had to give him incentive.”
My stomach curdled, and even the cold wind didn’t register against the heat racing through me. I’d met Frankie because Muriel wanted to get a divorce.
Fuck, the world was twisted.
“But he didn’t ask for a divorce.”
“She put him through his paces. Played hard to get. I told you, they blew very hot back in the day. Considering she lives in that shitty little apartment with her—”
“Muriel. Not one word about her. I mean it.”
“Archibald, you need to get over your crush on your little friend. She’s—”
“Lady,” Jake said in a clipped tone as I curled my fingers into fists. “He wasn’t kidding, watch your fucking mouth where she’s concerned.”
“Fine, I won’t warn you against her. But you have too much of your father in you.”
“Thanks for the insult.”
“Oh, grow up, Archibald. The world is an unpleasant place at times. Everything in this world is very practical. Business transactions. Investments. Allies. But the thing your father—even your grandfather—does is fixate, obsess over one person. That person for your grandfather was your grandmother. For your father, it was always Madeline. What does it matter if they’re back together now?”
“It doesn’t. It doesn’t even matter that their affair has gone on for years. You always knew when he had a fling. We always knew. So if you always knew, did you know he and Maddy were together roughly four and a half months after you were married?”
I’d done the math. I had the window of time we needed to eliminate.
“Probably, I had a bit of a difficult pregnancy and it required rest. He grew bored with that, and for about three weeks, he was very busy. Then one day, he returned home and recommitted himself to you and I. He was very devoted for the next few months…”
How he always behaved following the end of one of his flings.
“I assume she threw him back out… Maybe she punished him by giving him another taste before taking it away. She begged him not to marry me, and he told her he had no choice. Which he didn’t…your grandfather would have disowned him if he’d refused. Your grandmother expressed her own wishes and desires, but they wanted you to be born a Standish…”
“It’s a fucking piece of paper,” I reminded her. “Not some love story. They had the affair when?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes you do. You hate her. Because he wanted her when he had you, and even if he was just a meal ticket, you also loved him. So every single affair was another nail being beaten into you, and you retaliated over and over, but he never cared.”