‘That’s not true,’ her father replied, colour rising in his cheeks.‘The day you were born was the happiest day of my life, my first-born, my eldest.’
‘Yeah, right …’
‘It’s true,’ Ernesto insisted, his voice shaking slightly.‘From the minute I held you in my arms, I knew what you were.A warrior.A fighter.You were so strong, so determined.I knew you would be something special even then.’
‘Jesus, you’re incredible,’ Emilia shot back.‘Do you really think you cancharmyour way out of this?You never gave any of us a moment’s thought.It was the life you loved – being a big shot, dealing drugs, throwing your money around.’
‘No, no, no,’ Ernesto exploded, banging the table with his fist.‘That is not true.Yes, I made mistakes, plenty of them, but I loved you all, cared for you all.You had a roof over your head, food on the table, smart clothes.Who do you think provided all that?Father Christmas?’
Emilia stared at him, wrongfooted by his anger and annoyed by this uncomfortable truth.He had provided for them, there was no question of that.But that didn’t make up for the callous way he’d exploited them, endangering their own lives simply to make a buck.She hesitated, uncertain how to respond, but before she could do so, her father resumed his attack.
‘I never had any of that, let me tell you.I grew up on the streets of Oporto withnothing.’
Emilia squirmed in her seat.She didn’t really want to go there, didn’t want to entertain the possibility of having any sympathy for this man.
‘I never knew my father and my mother … well, she was murdered when I was eight, beaten to death by one of her “clients”.’
Emilia looked away, didn’t want to hear it.
‘After that, it was just me, surviving by my wits, until my uncle found me, got me out of there, brought me here.He had his reasons for that too …’
Once more Emilia saw anger flare in her father’s eyes, before he brusquely continued:
‘I never had a family, Emilia.I never knew what that meant, what you were supposed to do.So, yes, I messed up, yes, I let you down.But I never wanted any of that, I never wanted to hurt you, I just didn’t know any better.I … I did what I could do to be a decent parent.I’m … I’m just sorry it wasn’t enough.’
Despite herself, Emilia felt the first stirrings of sympathy.This man had suffered in ways she would probably never know.But did this excuse his bare-faced lies, his callous treatment of them all?Emilia thought she knew the answer to that, picking up her bag and rising.
‘Please, Emilia, don’t go.I’m trying to explain.’
‘You’ve said enough already.’
‘Be angry with me, hate me even, but please don’t abandon me.’
She stared at his entreating face, the man she had often hated, on occasion missed, perhaps sometimes even loved.
‘Sorry, Dad.No one makes a mug out of me twice.’
She saw disappointment grip his features, but she wasn’t done yet.
‘You’re a parasite, a disease.A man who has brought me nothing but trouble.So, thanks for the kind words, but it’s too little too late.’
She paused briefly, before delivering her coup de grâce.
‘You’ll never see me again.’
Chapter 45
‘What’s her name?’
Christopher stood in front of Helen, ashen, silent.He was used to confronting others with their wrongdoing, but todayhewas the one in the dock.
‘Well?’Helen demanded, scorn seeping from every pore.
Still he said nothing, paralyzed by shock and embarrassment.To Helen, her lover seemed to have suddenly shrunk in stature, as if the air had been let out of him, the exposure of his duplicity robbing him of his vigour, his power.
‘Her name is Alice,’ he eventually replied, finally meeting Helen’s eye.
‘And how long have you been married?’she continued, her eye zeroing in on the thick gold wedding band that now adorned his left hand.
