Part 14 (1/2)

”Should we go into another room? Or find somewhere private?” I said quietly as I saw a couple looking at us with curious eyes. ”We're drawing attention to ourselves,” I said and looked at Jakob, my eyes darting to Steve and then back to him, hoping he was understanding the message I was trying to convey, that Steve was unbalanced and this wasn't a good place for us to be has.h.i.+ng anything out.

”We're not going anywhere,” Steve snarled, his eyes manic as he gazed at me. ”You're not going to ruin this for me, like your father ruined my life.” His voice rose again. ”I don't care how embarra.s.sed you get.”

”That's not quite true, you know,” Blake interjected, looking at Steve with narrowed eyes. ”It's true that Oliver was in love with Jeremiah. And it's true that he wanted them to be together. He slept with Macy to show Jeremiah that Macy wasn't faithful. He had hoped that Jeremiah would leave Macy and be with him instead. He wanted Jeremiah to come out of the closet and admit their love to the world.”

”My father was gay?” Jakob said softly. He had a glazed look on his face and was obviously struggling to process this revelation.

”Penny thinks he was bis.e.xual,” Blake said, and it was then I realized that he must have been in contact with Penny again. I wondered why she'd been able to open up to him when she hadn't wanted to open up completely to me and Jakob. As if Blake could read my mind, he looked at me sheepishly. ”I was going to tell you what I'd found out right away, but I forgot with so much stuff going on.”

”That's okay.” I could barely keep everything straight myself.

”She's pretty sure that Jeremiah didn't love Oliver,” he continued. ”He was using Oliver so that he could get what he wanted from him, just like he used everyone else. But Oliver was so impressionable. He fell for Jeremiah the first moment he met him. He became his staunchest supporter, his number one fan. He wors.h.i.+pped him. He loved him as he'd never loved anyone.” He looked at Steve sympathetically.

”How do you know this?” I asked him softly.

”Penny sent me an e-mail. It contained copies of letters that Oliver had sent her from school. Oliver was a prolific writer, and his sister was the only one who knew he was gay. She was the only one he could confide in,” Blake said matter-of-factly, but I could see from the way he was staring at me that there was something he wasn't telling me. Something he didn't want Steve to know. Only I had no idea what it was.

”That's what she tried to blackmail Jeremiah with, isn't it?” I said thoughtfully. ”That's why she asked for a million dollars all those years ago. To keep her mouth shut. It had nothing to do with Steve being in a foster home or being Jeremiah's long-lost son. It was about his affair with Oliver. That's what he'd do anything to keep secret.”

”Yeah.” Blake nodded. ”She said she realized after Oliver's death that he'd been used. She said that the second-to-last letter she received from Oliver told her that Nick had walked in on him and Jeremiah in bed. He'd been shocked at first, but then happy because he thought it would be a reason for them to come out, maybe live a happier and more honest life. But Jeremiah was angry and insisted he was going to do no such thing. He said that he was going to pay Nick to keep quiet. He'd been confident Nick would take the money because he was still grieving over his wife's death.”

”My dad would never do that.” I shook my head, knowing in my heart that my dad would never accept a bribe. He had been a good man. I truly believed that. Whatever had happened all those years ago had been a setup. And my father had paid for it with the loss of his wife and his own life.

”No, he didn't.” Blake nodded. ”He didn't accept any money. He wasn't trying to hurt your father, Steve.”

”He stole my father's inventions and pa.s.sed them off as his,” Steve shouted. ”And then he ruined my father's relations.h.i.+p. And then, then he said I needed to stay away from Bianca. As if I wasn't good enough for her. I'm good enough. I'll show him I'm good enough.”

”What are you talking about, Steve? Calm down.” Blake touched his shoulder. ”No one has said you're not good enough.”

”He's not good enough,” Jakob spat out, and put his arm around me. ”Go back to the loony bin, Steve.”

”Jakob!” I gasped, and saw Blake's eyes widen in fear as Steve's face grew angrier. Jakob had said the absolute worst thing he could have said in that moment.

”Sing a song of sixpence,” Steve said as he glared at Jakob.

”What?” Jakob's voice was harsh. ”What are you talking about?”

”Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,” Steve said, and Jakob, Blake, and I looked at one another. I could feel my skin growing clammy. Steve was even more unbalanced than I'd thought.

”If you're not going to tell us why we're here, or introduce us to whoever it is you want us to meet, then we're going to leave.” Jakob drew me to him protectively ”No!” Steve shouted adamantly. ”Mary had a little lamb.”

”Yes, she did,” I said, and touched his hand. ”Its fleece was white as snow,” I said with a smile, though inside I felt like crying. I didn't understand what was going on, but I knew that I had to try and reach Steve in some way. Try and show him that I understood where he was coming from, and this was the only way I could think of in the moment.

”You could love me, couldn't you?” His eyes glazed over as he looked down at my hand on his. ”You could love me with all your heart?”

”You are deserving of love, Steve,” I said carefully. I didn't want to lie to him. I wouldn't do that. Not about love. He'd been hurt enough in his life. I couldn't toy with his emotions and make him think that there was that possibility. At least not now. Not unless he pushed me to and I had no other option.

”So was my father.” He nodded. ”All I want is love. All I need is love.”

”And you deserve love.”

”Steve, you need to understand that we're here to help you.” Blake spoke up again. ”Your father was a good man. Jeremiah should have proven his love to him if he loved him, but he didn't. You can't blame anyone but Jeremiah for what happened.” Blake's voice was increasingly urgent, and I could see that he was worried. What was he hiding?

”How do you know so much?” Steve looked at him and frowned. ”No one knew they were gay. Only me and Aunty Penny. No one else knew.”

”We spoke to Aunty Penny,” I said to Steve. ”She sent Blake some e-mails, remember?”

”She's gone.” Steve looked sad as he stared at me. ”She went to France.”

”She can send e-mails from France, Steve.”

”She's gone to Paris.” He looked at Blake. ”Do you speak French?”

”Je ne parle pas francais,” Blake said, and I wanted to groan. Now was not the time for him to play smart.

Steve frowned at Blake and turned to me. ”She asked me if I wanted to go with her. She said I could have a good life in France. We'd be family.”

”Why didn't you go with her?”

”Because I haven't gotten what I want yet,” he said matter-of-factly.

”What do you want?” I asked him softly, trying to let him know that I cared. Maybe, just maybe, he would be on our side if he thought we legitimately cared about him.

”You.” He spoke the word so softly that I nearly didn't hear him. His eyes softened as he looked me over, and I stifled a shudder as his fingers stroked my arm. ”I want you, Bianca.”

”Well, you're not going to have her,” Jakob said, and moved so that he was between us. Steve's arm dropped to the side, and he glared at Jakob. ”She's mine.”

”If it had been just me and her on the island, it would have been us. There would have been no you.” Steve's hatred for Jakob was written all over his face.

”No, Steve,” I said, but then stopped as I felt Jakob's hand on my lower back.

”Who do you want us to meet?” Jakob said. ”Is my father still alive?”

Steve looked at him and laughed. His laughter grew more and more hysterical until he was practically gasping for breath, and if it weren't for the fact that he kept his eyes pinned on us the whole time, I would have fled. As it was, I didn't trust that Steve wouldn't pull a knife if we tried to run. I could feel all eyes on us in our immediate vicinity. Steve had drawn a lot of unwanted attention to our group, and I could see a man approaching us.

”Come with me,” Steve said abruptly as he eyed the man. Stepping directly in front of him, he barked, ”Go away,” in a tone that made the man do an abrupt about-face. Guess there'd be no help from that quarter. He nodded to me and Jakob. ”We have to go,” he said, all traces of laughter gone from his voice, and then he looked at Blake. ”Not you, though. You can't come.”

”Okay.” Blake looked upset, but he didn't challenge Steve. Who knew what he would do in this erratic emotional state?

Steve turned to me and Jakob. ”Put on your masks, and let's go.”

”Where's Rosie?” I asked him, surprised that I hadn't seen her yet. ”Where is Rosie and where is David?”