As he walked into the formal parlor, Damon noticed that Greyson didn't rise to greet him. Based on the fact that he had been quietly summoned through his trusted valet, that fact didn't surprise him. He nodded at the man respectfully and took a seat once it was offered to him. He knew Greyson had every reason to be angry with him, and he needed the man to see he was being deferent. He needed the man to agree to let him marry Elena, after all.
"You came," Greyson said in a flat tone.
Damon nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Of course I did. You're willing to talk to a Salvatore, and I won't waste my chance."
"Your chance?"
Looking Greyson straight in the eyes, he said, "I want nothing more than to marry Elena. The fact that you're willing to meet with me makes me think you might let me."
"Interesting," he replied. "But at what cost? I know what occurred last night. And right now, I'm assuming that since your father wishes to disown you, you've compromised my daughter to ensure your future. Her dowry is large, and many fathers have been known to increase a dowry to ensure such things get covered up. How much will it cost for me to protect her from what you did to her?"
Damon clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "Is it me you hate or my family?"
"At the moment, I'm undecided," Greyson admitted. "It's no secret I don't like your father or your brother. You didn't make the list until I found out what you did to my daughter."
Greyson was really trying to force himself to hate Damon right now. The truth was, he was testing him, and so far, he was passing. He was aware Damon knew that John was Elena's birth father, and not once had he brought it up so far. It was a secret that a man after a large dowry would bring up quickly. It would be one more secret he would pay to keep confidential.
"You didn't hate me?" Damon asked, truly surprised.
"Why would I?"
"My own father hates me. Why wouldn't you? Everything that man says about me is how I've 'failed him.'"
With a half smile, Greyson said, "Failing Giuseppe isn't the negative you seem to think it is with anyone but him."
"People avoid me."
"Because as much as that man doesn't like you, he's around you a lot. They are avoiding him, Damon."
Tucking his chin, Damon said, "You hate me now." He shook his head to clear it a bit and added, "But I love her. I'll sign any marriage document you ask of me. I'm not asking for a larger dowry. I'm not asking for any dowry. I just want to be able to marry her."
"You slept with her," Greyson said accusingly.
"And I was honest the whole time with her. I told her it was my way to get her hand in marriage. I was desperate, and I will do anything to try and force your hand."
"What made you so desperate?"
"My father, trying to engage her to Stefan. I promised myself I would do anything I could to ensure she wasn't my sister."
Greyson scoffed, "You don't think much of my intelligence, do you?"
"I thought everyone loved Stephen," Damon said, confused. "Don't they?"
"Some do. I don't think highly of them either, though. He's too much like your father. I wouldn't condemn my daughter to what your poor mother went through."
"Will you allow her to marry me?"
Not answering him, Greyson said, "You haven't commented on her being another man's daughter. I know you are aware of the circumstances behind her birth."
"I am. Honestly, I'm not sure what you want from me on this."
"You'd marry her knowing her past?"
Damon nodded, "It doesn't matter to me whose daughter she is. Does it matter to you that she's John's natural daughter?"
"Many men would care."
Laughing, Damon shook his head. "As much as it's not in my favor to admit it, I'm not the only man in town who wouldn't care about her birth. Not when it comes to Elena. She's too special for that to matter."
"And if she's already pregnant?"
"You're the town doctor. You managed to fake a whole pregnancy for Miranda while hiding Elena's birth mother's pregnancy. I'm sure between the two of us that we could make the town believe anything about her in order to protect her reputation."
Greyson stated, "You won't get a cent of her dowry."
Smiling, Damon said, "You'll let me marry her?"
"I'm talking about the money."
"And I don't care about getting anything except Elena. She's what I'm after."
"And how would you support her?" Greyson asked.
Damon said, "My mother left me quite a bit of money, knowing my father hated me. In fact, he doesn't know the full extent of the inheritance. She hid it from him. I've been careful with that money and invested it well. I will have my banker disclose the full sum to you before you draft the marriage papers."
Greyson scowled, "I don't like how you went about this."
"I understand you don't like what I did, but as I've said, I would go to any lengths to get to marry Elena. I love her, and I truly believed that I would have to force your hand."
"You're dead wrong," Greyson said, looking Damon in the eyes. "You sleeping with her didn't get me to agree to this marriage, and I am agreeing to the union. Elena loves you. That's why I will allow this. Well, on one condition, she's the only woman you will take to bed from last night onward."
A large smile lit up his face, and being Damon, he said, "Why would I sleep with anyone else again? I was just pretending every woman was Elena."
Rubbing his temple, Greyson said, "You shouldn't say those things."
"Why? It's the truth, after all. You know about my proclivities. Thanks to my father, everyone does. It's not a coincidence I preferred brunettes."
Less than a second after Damon exited through the door to the hall, Jeremy walked in from the adjoining room. Greyson was fully aware that his son was listening to the whole conversation. In this case, he had asked him to.
Greyson asked, "What do you think?"
"That he manipulated everything and is going to get his way. My friend Matt works for the Sheriff. I'll have him find out if he can do some work for me on the side to discover if Damon really does have the money he claims he does. His banker could be lying for him."
"He didn't flinch at all when I said he wouldn't get Elena's dowry. You couldn't see him, but there wasn't any sign of concern on his face."
Jeremy nodded and said, "True, but we both know you were bluffing. You wouldn't deny her the money that's rightfully hers. He probably knows that too."
"Point taken," Greyson conceded. "He is sharp enough to deduce that about me." He sighed, "This whole thing is a huge mess."
"It is, but the real crux of the matter is, do you believe he loves her? I couldn't see his facial expressions while you were talking with him. He sounded genuine, though." That fact had shocked Jeremy.
Greyson crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his seat. "I believe he thinks he loves her. If it's real, I can't tell. Elena claims to see the proof in his eyes, but she's missing the self-sacrificing part of love. He manipulated the situation to his benefit, not hers."
"All the Salvatores are selfish."
"That's my worry. He might be more like his father than I realized."
