Free White Lies by Evelyn Glass Page A

I asked her to join us . ”
     
    “ What we need to talk about, Alex, are private family matters . ”
     
    “ Sh e’ s closer to my family than you are . ”
     
    He saw the weight of those words hit Zoey square in the gut. She hid it well, and he was fairly sure that someone who had n’ t made a living out of reading people would n’ t have noticed. The slight smile that pushed at Cind y’ s lips told him that sh e’ d caught it as well .“ As you wish , ” Cindy murmured. He wondered if she knew she was quoting a movie that Alex had grown up with, one of the few things h e’ d shared with his father before the old man had just given up on his son.
     
    “ Tell me what leads you to believe that you are Philip Blankenshi p’ s child . ” He was fairly sure he had sufficiently hidden the layers of concern in his voice.
     
    “ My mother told me I was. You know the time line as well as I do, I’ m sure, the charities they were both involved with, as well as the rockiest portions of your parent s ’ marriage . ”
     
    “ And what did your father have to say about that ? ” James Walden had drunk himself to death around twenty years back. It was around the same time the old man had gotten himself back together for a little while. H e’ d actually been around the house, Olivia had been happy, Claire had been bor n— and then he disappeared again. Shocked, Alex had always supposed, that his dark-as-night wife kept having dark-skinned babies.
     
    “ Philip paid Daddy for his silence by giving him information. What to buy, what to sell. Those sorts of things. Never anything that would get him into trouble. But Daddy started getting greedy. The FTC started to watch him more closely. He caved under the pressure . ” Cindy sighed .“ Not surprising, really. But when he die d— well, they stopped looking at the money. And all it took was a few words in the right ears for me to get my position, and then I told Philip that I wanted nothing more to do with him. He left Mother and I in peace . ”
     
    “ Why was it your fathe r’ s silence that he had to buy ? ” Zoey asked .“ What about your mother? Was n’ t there concern that she would speak out about the affair ? ”
     
    Cind y’ s eyes chilled down until they resembled chips of ice more than anything human .“ There was no affair , ” she said, each work quiet, but perfectly audible and enunciated. The joys of elocution lessons.
     
    It took Alex a moment to connect the dots, and then his gut clenched .“I’ m so sorry , ” he said.
     
    “ Sorry I exist ? ” Cind y’ s voice was cold, hard, cris p — and fragile.
     
    “ Sorry that you were told . ”
     
    “I’ m glad , ” she said .“I’ m very glad that my mother told me, when I was quite young, how vicious people in power can be in order to get what they want. She was very clear that he did not physically force her. She was also very clear, however, that he never obtained her consent . ” Cindy shook her head for a moment, and then her pretty, professional smile returned .“ Tha t’ s not what I’ m here to talk about. If yo u’ re done quizzing me, I’ d like to speak about the others . ”
     
    “ The others . ” The words escaped before Alex had a chance to vet them .“ How many others are there . ”
     
    Cindy studied him for a long moment, and then shook her head .“I’ m so sorry , ” she said .“ But I’ ve worked hard to prevent Olivia from finding out that information. She has suspicions, I’ m sure, and I’ m sure Arturo made everything much worse, but if she does n’ t know, then I ca n’ t let her find out . ”
     
    “ A number does n’ t put anyone in danger . ”
     
    “ A number tells her if sh e’ s found them all, or if there are more to find . ”
     
    “ I am not my mother , ” Alex said.
     
    “ No, yo u’ re not , ” Cindy agreed .“ But you are her son. If our positions were reversed, I know where my loyalties would lie .