AUTHORS NOTE: Two for one today as this was part of the last chapter which got just a bit too long and unwieldy.

CHAPTER 140

(ANGUS)

The drive back to the penthouse is in total silence, Gideon is sitting with Jared who now appears to be having second thoughts about what he has done. I don't blame the wee lad at all, he is a child and has had to deal with so much over the past month or so, so some kind of meltdown was going to be inevitable at some stage and the fact he has learnt all he has about Corrine and the way she behaved was inevitably going to provoke some resentment in him. He has also learnt a great deal about his father's life when he was growing up, not to mention the way Corrine has behaved towards him. Gideon has been nothing but totally honest with him and so it is also inevitable that he would feel a degree of loyalty towards Gideon. He just has no idea of the clusterfuck he has unleashed by his unsolicited behaviour. But Gideon does, and at this moment I am furious with him for just standing there and for allowing it to happen, and indulging the boy rather than behaving like the father he now is and using his common sense and protecting him.

Raul had texted me asking me where I was as events unfolded. He was unable to contain the situation alone. I had assured him I was close and coming to help and recall my horror as I'd made my way to Literary Walk in Central Park after speaking with Gideon on the phone. I thought I was seeing things when I received the first text from Raul telling me that Gideon had told him that Jared now wanted to speak with Corrine and that Gideon had also told him to make himself known to Corrine to facilitate that happening. I had a sense of foreboding and it was justified by what I saw as I approached them.

There were a number of people standing watching and filming. Which from what I heard Jared say as I approached them, that was his intention. But it was a gamble and a dangerous game to play, and Gideon knows this, which is why normally he refuses to play it. So, I couldn't believe it when Gideon made his own comments and considering what the subject matter was, I was shocked at his heartlessness. Yes, she is undoubtedly a manipulative bitch but what he did made me feel uncomfortable, and the fact he also did it in front of his son. I am trying to figure out what on earth possessed him to do it. I glance at Gideon and Jared through the rear-view mirror. Gideon has his arm around Jared and is whispering to him. He is totally focussed on Jared, he doesn't even see me looking at him.

I watch him and it hits me exactly what his reasoning – or lack of it was. He has no idea how to be a father, and all he has to go on is his own father's actions and… me. When I met him when he was a wee boy I worked for Chris Vidal and was assigned to him as his driver to ferry him to and from school. He grew to trust me and eventually he clung to me as the only person who seemed to care about him. We grew closer and from what Gideon told me he had loved his father deeply and was severely affected when he took his own life and it appeared Geoffrey Cross doted on him, but it was superficially. He gave him whatever he asked for without question, but very rarely gave him his time. Which makes me look at my own role in his life. I know that I am the closest thing to a father Gideon has had in his life for the majority of it but I am first and foremost his employee and so whatever he asks me to do… I do. Gideon has gone through life getting people to do exactly what he wants, through his own success and level of influence which his wealth inspires. So, he doesn't know any different… Jared asked Gideon to confront Corrine and his own bitterness and sense of vindictiveness towards her for her actions clouded his judgement and that mixed with how he thought a father should behave, which in his mind was doing exactly what Jared wanted and which resulted in the car crash of a situation in the park. Eva is the only person who has never blindly given him exactly what he wants and I recall Gideon telling me about how refreshing Eva was because she didn't do exactly what he wanted, she challenged him and made him work for what he wanted, but at the same time she also loved him deeply and put him first.

I clear my throat, "Have you called Caroline lad?" I ask and Gideon looks up at me.

"No, should I?" he asks.

I nod, "It might be an idea to do so, not only for you… but for Jared" I say. That immediately has Gideon reaching for his phone and I hear him place the call, it is interesting to note he just dispassionately relays the events of today and doesn't seem to display any remorse for his actions. Jared on the other hand now has guilt written all over his face.

"Jared lad" I say gently.

He looks at me and it breaks my heart to see the tears in his eyes. "We'll also have a little chat when we get back lad ok" I say and Jared smiles at me and nods.

"Ok" he says.

oooOOOooo

When we arrive back at the penthouse Jared goes to his room and shuts the door. I watch Gideon as he watches him go and he looks lost. He is clearly torn about what to do. Eventually he makes the decision and goes to his study and I sigh in relief as I need to make Gideon aware of how asinine his decision was today, and I don't want Jared hearing me.

I walk towards Gideon's study and go to knock but then I change my mind and just walk inside. Gideon looks up in surprise at me. He is sitting on his sofa and I go and stand in front of him my hands on my hips.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking lad?" I say.

Gideon's face goes completely impassive, "Jared wanted to…" he begins.

I quickly interrupt, "Ay lad, Jared wanted but as his father you have to decide whether what Jared wants is necessarily in his best interests, and what that wee lad did today was not. I don't blame him, that lad has been through so much and he is a child… but you are the adult here Gideon and more importantly you know exactly what is going to happen now as a result of that performance today. You should not have done what you did today and you damn well know it".

"But… she deserved it" Gideon protests but I also see the realisation starting to dawn on him.

"I don't disagree with that lad but two wrongs don't make a right. You should not have allowed that to happen" I say.

"But Jared wanted to meet her" he protests.

I sigh as that single sentence confirms everything for me. "No lad, being a father doesn't mean doing everything your child wants without question that will only turn him into an entitled brat… something which if you remember Peter Martin wanted to avoid when you first came into his life". I know that was more in line with Gideon throwing his wealth about but the fact still stands and is more than relevant for what has happened.

Gideon sighs and puts his head into his hands, "Shit, what do I do? Tell me what to do Angus" he says.

I sigh and sit down beside him. "You need to do right by that lad, Gideon. I'll help you and I'll guide you as best as I can but you can't just blindly give him everything he asks for" I pause and think… then I smile.

"Eva is a good example for you to follow" I say. Gideon goes to protest but I hold up my hand, "Hear me out lad, she doesn't blindly give you everything you want… you told me that yourself. When you met her you said she challenged you, she said no to you while at the same time putting you first. She doesn't give you an inch if she thinks it's not the correct thing to do and she always expects you to meet her half way. It's a delicate balance but one which she has perfected, admittedly she is your wife which is a totally different type of relationship but the basic principle is one you can apply to your relationship with Jared, but you need to remember you are the adult and he is now your responsibility".

Gideon thinks about that, "I think I was blinded by my own resentment for what she did… regarding Jared" he says quietly. There is a long pause and then he sighs, "I had a loss of judgement" he finally admits.

I feel a sense of relief as he has finally acknowledged what he did was wrong. I let out a small snort, "That is an understatement" I reply wryly.

"I didn't want to prevent Jared from meeting his mother though" he protests.

I sigh again, "No, lad and I get that. But there was a better way to do it… and you know that. It seems that wee lad has his own set of resentment which he is dealing with but bawling out Corrine in a very public place wasn't the way to deal with it. He has no idea of what he has possibly unleashed now… but you do, and it was your place to protect him from that. The media will go into a feeding frenzy over this and that will make our job harder as they will be everywhere… that lad starts a new school on Monday, how is this publicity going to help with that?" I say as I try and make Gideon see sense.

He shakes his head sadly, "I dropped the ball on this didn't I?" he says and I shrug.

"Ay lad" I say simply.

"I'm no good for him, I have no idea how to be a father to him" he says bleakly and I bristle at his tone.

I reach over and grip his shoulder tightly, "Now you get those sorts of thoughts out of your head right now. You made a mistake, it was a mistake made out of love for your son. Raul and I also made a mistake, we could've handled things differently. We could've called in more security to help prevent what happened. We didn't and that one is on us. I understand how you feel about Corrine, and the anger you feel for the fact she never told you about Jared, I understand how Jared feels and I get why he did what he did today… but do you accept it shouldn't have happened like that?" I ask.

Gideon nods, "Yeah" he says simply, "I think I might give Caroline another call" he says and I press my hand to his shoulder once more.

"Ok lad, I'll leave you to it and I'll go and have a chat with Jared" I say.

"Ok, but don't reprimand him, as this was all on me" he says and I smile, I wasn't intending to I just want to make sure the wee lad is ok but that remark tells me everything I need to know that Gideon is going to be ok.

I stand up and go to leave as I do so Gideon calls out to me again, "Angus" he says.

I turn and look at him questioningly, "Thanks… and… you know I've always looked upon you as more than an employee, to me… I mean you were there for me when I was a kid… you were the only one who… " he stops and I nod.

"I know lad" I say simply.

I leave the office and with a deep sigh I make my way to Jared's bedroom. I hesitate and then knock, a small voice calls out to me and I go inside closing the door behind me. I look around and frown as the room appears to be empty.

"Jared, where are you lad?" I call out.

"In here" comes the reply and I look towards the closet and see the door is ajar.

I go inside and find Jared, he is sitting on a beanbag and he is surrounded by the photograph albums and also his uncle's journals.

"Well now, what's going on here then?" I say kindly as I crouch down in front of him.

"I…" he stops and shakes his head.

I rise to my feet and going out to the bedroom I grab the other beanbag and dropping it beside him I sit down on it.

"Why did you do what you did?" I ask.

He looks at me, "I wanted to stop her… she doesn't care about me, she never did. She is obsessed with dad and I wanted to stop her. I remembered how that meeting with Chris Vidal ended up on the internet and I thought… I thought if I said what she was like in public… someone might… and then…" he stops, "Did anyone?" he asks almost hopefully.

I sigh, "Oh ay lad, they did!" I say.

He nods, "Good… but I'm guessing that it isn't… not really" he says as he looks at me carefully.

I nod at him, "Ay lad, it's not you see… you didn't see the fallout from your altercation with Chris, because you were protected from it. You were sheltered in Seattle at Christian's place. You didn't see the hoards of reporters at the gate, or the ones also gathered outside here and also outside the Crossfire and Grey House. You didn't see the photographers jockeying for position to try and get photographs of you, or how your dad flew in a number of his security to help Jason keep the property totally secure, you only got a very brief taste of it the day you went to Grey House with Gideon and those paps were there waiting for you".

Jared goes pale at my words as he realises what will happen now.

"You are not to blame though as you didn't have any idea of what would happen… but Gideon does, and he should've done things differently" I say.

Jared's eyes harden and he shakes his head, "No, it was my fault it was my idea" he says.

I look at him and for a moment I see a young Gideon looking back at me. Those brilliant sapphire blue eyes now hard and uncompromising… so like his father.

"It was your idea, but Gideon should've said no and he certainly shouldn't have encouraged you with what he said" I say simply.

"She deserved it though, she tried to manipulate him – his dad died from suicide, and she tried to make him feel bad for being with Eva by taking some tablets… that's wrong" he argues. He pauses and in a quieter voice he adds, "She also killed an innocent little baby with her actions… that could've been me if she had tried that tactic with him before, she murdered an innocent baby just to try and manipulate someone who doesn't love her".

My heart lurches at his words, "I can't argue with that lad, she did, and yes in a way she did deserve it… but was it worth it for what you, your dad, Eva, and everyone else in the wider family will now have to endure until the media find something else to focus on?"

Jared sags, "Everyone?" he asks his eyes wide, "Even Uncle Christian and Aunty Ana?" he asks.

"Even them" I confirm. "Ana is Eva's sister so to the media they are also fair game. Reporters will gather outside Grey House to try and get some sort of comment from them about what has happened here" I say.

"So… when what happened with Chris happened it also…?" he stops as he finally gets it.

"Christopher and Ireland were hounded relentlessly" I say.

"Oh god!" he replies. "I didn't know… I didn't mean for that…" he stops and tears start to pour from his eyes and he reaches for his phone.

I wait and watch, wondering what he is doing. Then he speaks. "Uncle Christian? Are you ok? I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't realise what would happen?" he blurts out.

"Put the call on speaker lad so I can talk to Christian" I say.

"Okay" Jared replies, "Uncle Christian I'm with Angus and he wants to talk to you so I'm putting you on speaker".

As he presses the button, Christian is speaking, "…all fine, Jared but I'm more concerned about you right now".

"Angus here Mr Grey, is the situation under control in Seattle? Raul is liaising with Welch to try and contain the fallout from this afternoon from this end" I say and Jared watches me.

"We are aware of the situation and Welch is continuing to monitor it. So far it's not too bad, a few reporters are starting to gather outside Grey House as the news has only recently broken here" he says.

"Jared, are you there?" Christian says next and Jared clears his throat.

"I am… I'm so sorry Uncle Christian I didn't realise this would happen" he says.

I hear Christian sigh, "Jared, don't. That damn woman deserved everything you said to her, and we all understand your reasoning behind what you did. This is a good learning experience for you though, because your dad is so high profile and your wider family… namely us also has a presence means anything and everything has its consequences and now what is happening is the consequences of what happened today. However, you needed to say what you said, could it have happened differently? Possibly, but in that sense it wouldn't have been as powerful a message, and also there could've been the possibility with Corrine being the way she is she would've taken it as a positive thing that she was getting Gideon's attention once more, if Gideon had arranged for you to meet her privately. This way she is under no misunderstanding exactly where she stands with your dad and what he thinks of her. However, it is also an unfortunate fact that the media will try and exploit it, but until they find something else more interesting to discuss we will all just ride it out" he says.

I watch as Jared talks with Christian for a while longer and when he is finally satisfied that everyone in Seattle is ok and nobody is angry with him he ends the call. He points to the open journals in front of him.

"I was looking to see what Uncle Pete wrote around the time I was adopted. He told dad what he remembered when we first met dad, and I was just looking to see if there was anything else he didn't tell us" he explains.

I pick up a journal, and glancing at Jared I look at him questioningly, "May I?" I ask and he nods.

"Go for it" he says with a wave of his hand. He leans closer to me and rests his hand on my arm as I start to read. "It's all pretty much what he told dad, how he thought something wasn't right about the whole thing, with all her bizarre demands and ultimatums".

I read and a passage peaks my interest I read it a couple of times, "Your dad and uncle lived in Connecticut at this point in time?" I ask and Jared nods.

"Yeah, but they both worked in New York City. Dad worked with Nick Hamilton, which is how I ended up being adopted because dad and Nick were friends and I think Uncle Pete worked for LanCorp for a while… that's how dad and Ryan became friends as Uncle Pete introduced them" he pauses and realisation hits him about something, "That's how Uncle Pete must have got that photograph!" he exclaims and reaches for a photograph album, and flicking through the pages he shows me a photograph of Ryan Landon laughing with William Martin.

"I showed this to dad and he said it was some kind of publicity shot taken at a charity gala and I said dad was invited to a lot of those and I said I didn't get how Uncle Pete had the picture though, but it's obvious if Uncle Pete worked for Ryan and it must have been taken before we moved to Chicago" he says with a shrug.

"When did your parents move to Chicago?" I ask and Jared frowns.

"I'm not entirely sure, as I was very young so I don't have any real memory of the move. But we visited New York a number of times when I was little and spent time with Nick Hamilton and he came to Chicago a few times as well to see me, I think dad met up with Ryan as well on some visits, I have an early memory of being with dad here in New York and Ryan being there, but it could be a false memory because of who he is in relation to dad… Gideon I mean, not William" he says with a grin.

My mind starts to go into overdrive at his innocent comment, and in my gut I know that there is something to find out. Welch had called me and told me, he couldn't find any nefarious links between Ryan Landon and William Martin and I am hoping that is still the case, but I need to be sure for both Gideon and Jared's sake.

"May I take these journals and have a read of them, it might give me some insight into Corrine?" I ask and Jared nods. I am relieved at that but while I will try and see if there is any more to find out about Corrine my real focus will be Ryan Landon.

"Yeah, help yourself" he says pointing at the open chest.

He stands up and I follow him, placing the journal back into the chest for now.

"I'm thirsty, I'm going to get a drink… do you want one?" he asks me suddenly and I shake my head.

"No, lad I'm fine" I say. He hesitates, "What about dad… and where is dad?" he asks.

"He's in his study at the moment, when I left him he was going to have another chat with Caroline" I say.

Jared nods, "Ok, I'll leave him then" he says.

We make our way out to the kitchen and as we do so I hear someone coming in. I wait, it is one of only two other people who has direct access to the apartment. It won't be Eva as she will still be at work and my deductions are confirmed as Victor appears still in full police uniform.

"What's going on, surely they don't know about it yet?" he asks and I frown at him.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

Victor gestures towards the window, "The vultures gathering outside" he says derisively.

I nod, "Oh that, I take it you haven't seen the incident which happened today in Central Park where Gideon and Jared here confronted Corrine who was following them" I say.

Victor's eyes widen and he shakes his head, "No, oh that accounts for it then. No, I thought they'd found out about…" he stops and glances at Jared, "The reason why I'm here" he says vaguely.

I still at that, "What's happened?" I ask.

Victor hesitates, "Elizabeth" he says simply. "I volunteered to be the one to tell Gideon, some of my colleagues are seeking out Christopher and Ireland as I speak" he says.

I realise that something has happened to Elizabeth, "Gideon is in his study" I say and Victor nods leaving us alone.

"What is it?" Jared asks looking up at me, "Elizabeth… that's dad's mom, right?" he asks and I nod.

"Ay lad it is" I say.

Jared immediately takes off towards Gideon's study and I follow. He hesitates at the door and then opens it. I follow and as I enter I see Victor embracing Gideon who just stands there rigidly.

"Dad?" Jared asks as he makes his way into the room.

"Jared" Gideon says and holds out his hand. Jared doesn't hesitate and walks towards Gideon and wraps his arms around his waist.

"What's happened dad?" he asks.

Gideon shrugs, "Elizabeth is dead… she was found in her apartment, after neighbours raised the alarm when a smell started coming from it… it appears she had taken her own life and had been dead for sometime before anyone found her" he says totally dispassionately as if he is talking about the death of a stranger.

"Oh dad, I'm sorry" Jared gasps and Gideon looks down almost in surprise.

"Don't be, she isn't worth your sympathy" he says coldly and dismissively. He turns towards Victor, "Thank you for telling me, but this information is of no interest to me".

"Alright son, if that is how you feel and to be fair to you I can't argue with your response. I've done my bit and informed you, and you know where I am if you need me" Victor says gently.

Gideon smiles, "Thank you Victor" he replies.

With that I touch Jared's arm, "Come on, let's leave your dad alone for a while" I say. Jared hesitates and then nods before giving Gideon a final squeeze and then looking up at Victor follows me out.

Victor joins us and looks at me, "So, what else has been happening?" he asks.

I look at Jared and an idea comes to me, "You were going to get a drink, I think I'll come with you and we will all sit and have a cup of coffee and I'll let you tell Victor what happened, ok?" I say and Jared nods.

oooOOOooo

"Jesus Christ" Victor says rubbing his head with his hand. He takes a gulp of coffee and sighs.

"Well, it's all been kicking off here hasn't it?" he says a moment later and Jared looks down at his glass of Coka Cola".

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble" Jared whispers and Victor smiles kindly at him.

"Jared, don't blame yourself. You have been through so much, you are not to blame for anything" he glances at me, "I'm officially off duty now, I was going to go home after I'd told Gideon about Elizabeth, but I think I'll hang around here for a while if I may?" he says looking at me and I feel relief going through me. Since Victor discovered the truth about Gideon's past and they had talked and cleared the air, he has been determined to be another father figure for him and at this moment I am so happy and relieved that he is offering to help with that".