Nico jerked back as though he’d been punched in the gut. “Excuse me? I’m *nothing* like him.”
Leopold sighed. “Gerard was my son, and I loved him. But he was not a good husband nor a good father. Part of that was my fault for virtually abandoning him after my Aline died. But part of the blame belongs to him. I insisted he marry your mother after she became pregnant with you.”
Nico’s eyes rounded. “What?”
“Did you never do the math?” Leopold queried with a wry smile. “You were born six months after their marriage.”
Nico shook his head, feeling rather foolish.
“Insisting they marry was a mistake as well, I see now. Still, it was generally how things were done back then. But marriage changed your father, and not for the better. He felt trapped, and he had no interest in being a father. Eventually, the resentment he felt toward your mother turned into hatred.”
Nico swallowed. This story was sounding all too familiar, and not in a good way.