Free Young Revelations (Young Series) by W.R. Kimble Page B

before I even tell you, please understand I’m not accusing you of anything; I just want to find out what’s going on. Okay?”
    Dread fills my body and I know exactly what he’s about to say. Since Claire found out, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would have to bring it up to Matthew, but as I hadn’t figured out a way to do so, I’d kept it to myself. “Okay,” I whisper, my eyes wide as I stare across the room at nothing in particular.
    Matthew sighs very heavily. “He says the reason you left is because you’d tried to blackmail me and he paid you off to drop the threats and left me for good.”
    My emotions are all over the place—shock, confusion, fear, and finally incredible anger. “What?” I shout, forcing myself away from Matthew.
    A hurt expression passes his face as I scoot to the other side of the couch from him. “I’m just telling you what he said.”
    I have no words right now, or at least none that I would want my son to hear; though Tyler is sleeping two floors above us, I have no doubt he’ll hear everything I shout. Matthew’s expression is blank as he watches me closely—I’m not sure if his gaze is just wary of my reaction or wondering if what his father said was true. “That isn’t…” I whisper, trying to find a way to explain.
    “Just tell me you didn’t,” he says quietly, his eyes pleading. “Tell me that didn’t happen and we’ll never discuss it again.”
    “I didn’t,” I tell him emphatically, watching as a huge sigh of relief leaves his body and he rests his head on the back of the couch. “You thought I would have…”
    His head jerks up to meet my gaze again. “No,” he says firmly. “I know you wouldn’t do anything like that, Samantha. I just needed to hear you confirm it.”
    When all I do is watch him for several minutes, his brow furrows and I know he’s working something out in his mind. “Why would he say something like that to me?” he wonders out loud. “Did something else happen?”
    Again, I want to disappear. And again, he gets an answer from me by merely watching me.
    “Sam, what happened?”
    We can’t have this secret between us any longer, despite my desire for him to never hear this. I let out a shaky sigh. “He bribed me,” I breathe, unable to look at him. “While you were in the hospital after the attack. He cornered me one morning and spent an hour telling me how I didn’t deserve you and how I’d never be good enough and that if I had even one decent bone in my body, I’d just leave and never look back. He even tried to convince me to leave Tyler behind, because you could do a better job raising him than I ever could.”
    I can’t tell if he’s livid or disgusted by what he’s hearing. Probably both. “What did you say?” he asks in a measured tone.
    “That I wasn’t going anywhere. That I loved you and nothing would ever change that.”
    He nods once in acknowledgement. “How much did he offer you?”
    I blink in surprise at the question, but answer, “Half a million.”
    His eyes close tightly as though he’s in pain. I wait for him to speak, not moving, barely breathing. Finally his eyes snap open again, narrowing on me. If I could scoot further away from him right now, I would. “You left me not six months later,” he reminds me, his jaw tightening. “Did my father’s offer have anything to do with it?”
    My mouth drops open. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I whisper in horror. “No, Matt! Of course not!”
    He looks skeptical as he watches me silently for several moments, and I finally see the fight leave his body. He believes me. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, reaching out for my hand. I give it to him reluctantly. “With everything that’s been going on, I don’t know who to trust anymore. I know that’s not you, Samantha, and that you would never do that. I’m so sorry.”
    I nod, still feeling slightly hurt that he would doubt me.
    “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” he