Closure

by A. P. Jensen

  Juliet nodded. “Anything else?”

  Callie looked under the bed and reopened every drawer. “No, I think—” She looked behind Juliet and paled. “Daddy?”

  With a sense of impending doom, Juliet turned and found Gray standing in the doorway in a button up shirt and slacks as if he was about to head into the office. His cold eyes were fixed on Juliet. Her skin prickled with alarm.

  “You’re a plague,” Gray said, words saturated with loathing. “Everything was fine before you came back.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Juliet said.

  Gray’s eyes flicked to Callie with the promise of punishment and then refocused on Juliet. “Callie knows her place. If it wasn’t for your meddling, everything would be back to normal.”

  “Juliet,” Callie whispered, her voice a mere thread of sound.

  “We don’t dance to your tune. We choose our paths, be who we want to be,” Juliet said, voice shaking with conviction.

  “You think so?” Gray asked, his voice lethally soft. “You live in my town, my world. You follow my rules or pay the consequences.”

  “That’s why you kept getting me fired and paid Chad off?” Juliet challenged, hands fisted at her sides.

  “I can make you disappear like that, Juliet,” he said and snapped his fingers. “Do not push me. Every boss you’ve ever had, every man who thought you were worth something dropped you the moment they find out what filth you come from.”

  She once called this man ‘Daddy’ and did everything in her power to please him. Now, all she saw was a monster. One fueled by hate and rage. “What’s the point?” she asked quietly.

  “You’re not allowed to pretend to be anything but what you are,” he seethed.

  “Which is what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “How can you hate me so much?” Juliet whispered.

  “I warned you what I would do if you came back,” Gray said and took a step forward. “Scarlet, Lee and Brent never forgave you for killing their mother. How do you feel knowing my grandchildren will never know her? That they were deprived of her light because of your carelessness?”

  Juliet’s body locked as she thought of her nieces and nephews. They would never know their grandmother. It was a major, unnecessary loss. “Stop.”

  “Does Dominick know what a slut you are? Do you want me to put your relationship with him to the test?”

  Tears brimmed as she was battered around by waves of his loathing. He would never allow her to have a normal, happy life. He wouldn’t stop until she was penniless, alone and miserable. She had been deluding herself to think that things had changed and that she could live here.

  “Daddy, stop!” Callie said.

  “Shut your mouth! If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t talk to me like that. You aren’t going to divorce Freddy. Once he comes back, you’ll play nice during marriage counseling to placate Brent and Scarlet. If you challenge me, I’ll take away your inheritance. Things will go back to normal once she leaves.”

  Callie shook her head, but Gray didn’t notice.

  “This is the second marriage Juliet has interfered in. She persuaded Brent to promote Scarlet. A woman’s place isn’t at the top, it’s at the bottom.”

  “You haven’t changed,” Juliet said.

  “I don’t need to change.”

  “Blame me all you want. If you hadn’t screwed Margaret, none of this would’ve happened.”

  Gray moved faster than she believed possible. He crossed the room and punched her so viciously that she staggered back into a wall. Pain exploded in her head. She crashed to the floor with flashes of white bursting behind her eyelids. Voices buzzed around her. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Brent crouching over her, face pale with shock.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Brent demanded.

  Juliet saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Scarlet and Trina stood in the doorway, staring at Gray as if they’d never seen him before. Apparently, they had finished moving the last of Callie’s things. Juliet grabbed the back of her head and felt the knot forming. When she pulled her hand away, she saw it was smeared with blood. Her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat.

  “Are you okay?” Brent asked.

  Juliet nodded as he helped her stand. Juliet licked her split lip and tasted blood. Hell.

  “You hit Juliet?” Brent asked his father.

  Gray pointed a shaking finger at Juliet. “It’s her fault Annie’s not here. She should never have come back.”

  “You hit her?” Brent repeated as if he couldn’t believe it.

  Juliet gingerly touched her face and winced. She hadn’t healed completely from Freddy’s attack and now she had more bruises.

  “She doesn’t belong here,” Gray spat. “She’s an ungrateful whore that didn’t even bother to show up at Mom’s funeral. I don’t know how you can look at her. She makes me sick.”

  There was a long, buzzing silence. Shame burned in Juliet’s gut when no one spoke. What had she expected? For them to leap to her defense? Gray was right. No one would forgive her for Annie’s death. Time to go. Juliet took a step towards the door when Callie spoke.

  “I never told the truth about the night Mom died.”

  Juliet froze in the middle of the room, staring at her sister’s bloodless face. Callie’s eyes were fixed on Gray. There was terror there, but also a spark of defiance Juliet had never seen before.

  “What are you talking about?” Brent asked.

  “Callie,” Juliet rasped and shook her head, which was a bad idea since it felt as if someone was drilling into her skull.

  “They need to know,” Callie said and stared right at Gray as she said, “Daddy had an affair—”

  Gray made a movement towards Callie. Even as Trina and Scarlet pulled Callie behind them, Brent stepped in front of his father. Scarlet’s face contorted with horror. She had never been exposed to this side of Gray before. Juliet stared at Gray and Brent who were nose to nose.

  “Dad?” Brent asked, the single word filled with disbelief.

  “Callie’s lying,” Gray stated.

  A sharp silence.

  “Callie,” Brent said without taking his eyes from their father, “tell us.”

  Gray’s lethal gaze locked on Callie, promising retribution. Callie trembled and her eyes went to Juliet who shook her head. There was no point to this.

  Brent whirled away from Gray. His eyes locked on Callie. “You say he had an affair?” Brent bit out. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Juliet’s our half-sister,” Callie said.

  The sudden silence was deafening. All eyes fixed on Juliet who dropped her gaze to the floor.

  “He had an affair with an intern, Margaret Lindsey,” Callie said in a rush as if she couldn’t hold it in a second longer. “Nora Lindsey, Margaret’s mother approached Juliet at Rudy’s graduation party and told her—”

  “Shut your mouth!” Gray roared and started for Callie.

  Brent whirled and shoved Gray with such force that his father staggered backwards. He regained his balance and stared at Brent.

  “Yield,” Gray bit out.

  “Don’t interfere,” Brent ordered.

  Gray flushed. “You’d believe Callie over me?”

  Brent didn’t cower under the suffocating weight of Gray’s pulsing, violent energy.

  “I never questioned you when Mom died,” Brent said calmly. “We were all in shock and you were grief stricken. But Juliet came back. She never asked for money or accepted my bribe. She came straight to me when she found Callie beaten. Juliet says you paid off her partner to accuse her of embezzling. Freddy’s check to get her to leave—one million? I looked into Freddy’s finances. He barely had a quarter of a million a week before and all of a sudden, he has over three million in his account. Where did that money come from, Dad?”

  “Are you accusing me of something, boy?” Gray hissed.

  “Yes, I am,” Brent snapped. “Did you give
Freddy the money to pay Juliet off?”

  “No,” Gray spat.

  “I don’t believe you.” Brent turned his back on Gray who looked as if he had been stabbed. “Callie, tell us everything.”

  “N-Nora Lindsey told Juliet about Daddy’s affair. Nora said Juliet wasn’t adopted and that Daddy was her father.” Tears spilled down Callie’s face. “Juliet came home and confronted Daddy. Mom and I overheard. H-He denied it but Mom asked him to take a paternity test and… And…”

  Guilt, grief and shame engulfed her. Juliet pushed past the women in the doorway. Brent called her name, but she didn’t stop. Even though she felt like she might pass out, Juliet ran down the stairs and out of the mansion. Her chest heaved as panic got a hold of her. Her hands fumbled with the keys as she turned it in the ignition of the bug and tore down the driveway. Away. She needed to get away from here. She shouldn’t have come back.

  Chapter Fifteen

  15 Years Ago

  “Maybe we should talk about this first,” Kai ventured as he stopped in the driveway of the Grant estate.

  Juliet stared straight ahead. “Talk about what?”

  “I don’t know, Juliet. I mean, you’re just going to walk in there and accuse your dad of having an affair that happened over seventeen years ago with Nora Lindsey’s daughter?”

  Juliet glared at him. “You got a better idea?”

  Kai tapped his hands on the steering wheel and eyed the mansion with great trepidation. “What if Nora’s lying? What if you really are adopted? Your dad is going to flip.”

  “I want to know the truth. Thanks for the ride,” Juliet said and slid out of the truck.

  Juliet ran up the steps to her family home and strode towards her father’s closed office doors. She shoved them open without knocking, something she had never done in her life. Daddy’s office was his sanctuary and no one intruded without permission. Daddy looked up from the papers spread over the gleaming executive desk. His dark brown eyes were irritated and unwelcome. That was nothing new, so Juliet ignored the warning. Despite the salt and pepper hair and the fact that he was in his late sixties, Daddy remained attractive and capable of running his home, extensive business and five children’s lives without breaking a sweat. His eyes moved over her outfit. Under other circumstances, his killing look would have made her rush upstairs to change. Not tonight.

  “What do you want?” Daddy asked.

  Now that she stood in front of her father, she felt a flicker of uncertainty. She tried to think of a diplomatic way to ask if he was the biggest liar on the planet.

  Silence reigned.

  “What. Do. You. Want?” he bit out.

  She said it before she lost her nerve. “Did you cheat on Mom?”

  He didn’t react to her outrageous question. Juliet’s fingers twitched at her sides as her heartbeat pounded in her ears. He set the papers down and steepled his hands on the desk. A chill slid down her spine as he focused his full attention on her.

  “You dare ask me such a thing?”

  His voice was quiet, too quiet. Juliet resisted the urge to step back.

  “Nora Lindsey came up to me at the graduation party tonight.” Juliet was proud that her voice sounded steady.

  “And you believed her?”

  The buzz of alcohol that stirred up her emotions and uncertainty began to disperse.

  “What else did she say that made you think you could question me?” Daddy asked.

  Juliet hesitated, but when his eyes narrowed, she blurted, “She said you’re my biological father.”

  “And you believe I’m your biological father?” he asked in such a mocking tone that all the blood seemed to drain from her body. “Do you look like me? Possess even a modicum of class or dignity?”

  Juliet didn’t need to look in the mirror to see that she had no resemblance to him aside from their dark hair. She definitely didn’t possess his control. She had a hard time reining in her passion. Heart sinking to the pit of her stomach, she shook her head.

  “Do you act like my real children?”

  Juliet blinked hastily when she felt the burn of tears and shook her head again. The confrontation with Nora and the alcohol still in her system lowered defenses she usually kept fortified when she was in Daddy’s presence. A tear trickled down her cheek.

  “I am not your father.”

  “What’s going on here?” asked a concerned, gentle voice.

  An arm wrapped around Juliet’s waist and more tears slipped down her face. The smell of gardenias wreathed her senses as Mom pulled her close.

  “Gray?” Mom asked and her voice was sharper than normal. “What’s going on?”

  “A misunderstanding,” Daddy said dismissively.

  A strangled laugh erupted from Juliet’s mouth. Had she actually hoped that Nora was telling the truth? Why would she want to be Gray Grant’s biological daughter? He made it obvious that he despised her, so why did she have this hopeless need to belong to him?

  “Yes, a misunderstanding,” Juliet said and hiccupped drunkenly. “Daddy never does anything wrong. He’s a perfect, upstanding citizen.”

  “Juliet,” Gray said in a voice that should have stopped her, but she was too distraught to notice.

  “There’s no possible way I could be his real daughter, right? Not when he’s so fucking perfect.”

  Dead silence in the office.

  Juliet shrugged off Mom’s hands and noticed Callie standing in the doorway. Juliet gestured wildly to Callie’s pressed jeans, cardigan and French braided hair.

  “Obviously I’m not like Callie and Scarlet so I must be adopted, right?” Juliet walked up to the desk, planted her fists on the surface and looked Gray straight in the eye. “You never told me who my mother was. Is Nora Lindsey really my grandmother?”

  “You spoke to Nora Lindsey?” Mom asked.

  “She came up to me tonight and told me Margaret was my mother. Is that true?”

  “And she told you Gray’s your real father.”

  Something about the tone of her voice broke through Juliet’s drunken rage. She turned and saw that her mom was ghost white and very still.

  “Juliet’s your daughter?” Mom whispered and stared at Gray who didn’t move.

  “He isn’t,” Juliet slurred.

  Mom ignored Juliet and continued to stare at Gray as if she had never seen him before. “I never understood why you adopted Juliet. Margaret was your intern. Why should you care about her child when she died in that car accident?” Mom's voice was introspective, almost as if she were talking to herself and none of them were present.

  “Annie, it’s a lie,” Gray said staunchly.

  “I asked you point blank if you were having an affair with Margaret and you denied it.”

  Gray opened his mouth, but Mom didn’t give him a chance to speak.

  “You took in your dead intern’s child and still managed to convince me that it was platonic.”

  Mom's eyes moved over every inch of Juliet’s face. There was love there mixed with rage and it washed away Juliet’s buzz. Mom moved her gaze back to Gray who stared back at her with unruffled calm.

  “You lied to me,” Mom said and it wasn’t a question.

  “I did not—”

  “Don’t lie to me, Gray.”

  Juliet had never heard that voice from her mother in her life. Gray looked from Mom to Juliet to Callie and back. Mom didn’t move, she watched Gray with such piercing focus that Juliet wanted to back away. She released something lethal into the air and could almost hear the tick of an invisible clock as Mom waited for Gray to answer her accusation.

  “I swear, Juliet isn’t mine,” Gray said.

  For several beats, no one moved or spoke.

  “Fine. Then you won’t mind if Juliet takes a paternity test?”

  Gray jerked as if he’d been struck. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I know you, Gray Grant.” Mom's eyes filled with tears. “I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me.
I married you against my father’s wishes, bore four children for you and followed your life plan to the tee. Wasn’t that enough for you?”

  Gray rose from his chair. “Annie—”

  Mom held up a hand and he quieted instantly. “I told you, the one thing I wouldn’t tolerate is lies. Is Juliet yours?”

  Juliet’s heart pounded in her chest. She took a step towards her mother, wanting to stop the agony radiating from her. “Mom, please, stop.”

  “No, Juliet, it’s time for Gray to tell the truth. I think we both deserve it, don’t you think?” She was visibly shaking, but her voice was strong. “Tell us, Gray.”

  “Annie,” Gray whispered.

  There was a note of entreaty in his voice that made Juliet’s mouth sag open in shock. Mom hunched over as if she’d been stabbed in the stomach. When Gray rounded his desk and reached for her, she backed away hastily and pinned him with a look that stopped him in his tracks.

  “You told me you were helping Margaret. You screwed a sixteen-year-old?”

  Cold spread through Juliet’s limbs and her body went on lock down. Margaret Lindsey had been sixteen when she had an affair with Gray?

  “You paid Nora off, didn’t you? That’s why she kept quiet all these years.” Mom let out a thin laugh that made Gray cringe. “Nora has terminal cancer. That’s why she told Juliet the truth.”

  Gray said nothing, he just stared at his wife who shook like a leaf. Her blue eyes glinted with an unholy light. The sweet, gentle woman Juliet had known all of her life was nowhere in sight. None of them had the courage to reach out to her.

  “How many others have there been over the years, Gray?” Mom said and then screamed, “How many of them were underage?”

  “Let’s talk about this,” Gray began.

  “Don’t you dare touch me! You made me raise your bastard! How could you do this to me?”

  Juliet took a step back from the woman who had always treated her with such kindness. Mom stepped forward and smacked Gray across the face with such force that he staggered backwards. Juliet covered her face with her hands, unable to comprehend what was playing out in front of her.