strange and beautiful (I'll put a spell on you)

Chapter Nineteen

STORYBROOKE, Maine

"You were right." Mr. Gold's words echoed in her ears as he took a seat in his office in the back of the pawn shop. You were right. Rebekah looked down at his hands that held a file -- a file that had all the information Rebekah needed to prove to herself that Jefferson wasn't...what? Mad? Sick? A liar? "Paige Grace is adopted."

Rebekah had to take a seat, grabbing onto the table as she lowered herself down on the chair. He was telling the truth...maybe everything he said was the truth. Rebekah shook her head at her ridiculous thought. Jefferson believed the curse was real. He believed that they were married and that Regina was the evil queen. It was mad. He may have told the truth about Paige but that didn't mean that everything he had said was real. It can't be, she told herself.

"And the father?" She asked, needing confirmation that Jefferson was in fact Paige Grace's biological father.

Mr. Gold sighed. "I'm afraid I can't share that information with you, Rebekah."

She gave him a skeptical look, eyes narrowing on him. "You can tell me that Paige is adopted but not who her father is? Why not? That's just a privilege you get to know?" She snapped at him in frustration, shaking her head in anger. "Please, I just," Rebekah took in a deep breath, "I just need to know."

He sighed again and shook his head, putting the file in his briefcase. "You're too close to this situation, Ms. Mills."

She swallowed hard. Mr. Gold knew about her former relationship with Jefferson and he wasn't naive enough to believe the lie she told the rest of her friends about who the father was. "Her father is Jefferson," Rebekah said in a whisper.

Mr. Gold looked to Rebekah for a long moment before clearing his throat. "Even if he were Paige's father...as I said, I cannot share that information with you."

Rebekah opened her mouth to speak but her phone dinging interrupted her. She licked at her lips before bending over to grab her phone from her purse. She sighed, seeing that it was a message from Mary-Margaret asking her why she wasn't at the booth yet. Rebekah had agreed to help her friend sell candles since the whole town continued to shun her for her discretion's. Who better to sell candles? The town harlot and the unwed mother-to-be seemed to be the perfect combination for the job. Rebekah couldn't help but give into a smile in amusement when she saw that Leroy, the town drunk, was helping with the booth as well.

After quickly replying to Mary-Margaret to let her know that she was on the way, Rebekah stashed her phone in her purse and got up from her seat. "I have to go." She told Mr. Gold, still annoyed that he couldn't just tell her if Jefferson was or wasn't Paige's biological father. Why did he get to know this information and she couldn't?

"Ms. Mills?" Mr. Gold stopped her. Rebekah closed her eyes at the sound of his can hitting against the floor as he got up from his seat. What more did he want to talk about? He gave her only half the information she had asked for and he expected her thanks? Rebekah knew she was being ridiculous but she was moody and hungry and her belly was growing larger everyday now and tonight the whole town would see that belly because she had no plans on hiding it while trying to sell candles with Mary-Margaret. She sighed and turned around to face Mr. Gold.

His eyes landed on the necklace she wore around her neck. Mr. Gold tilted his head and smiled a mischievous little grin, almost as if he were amused. "I meant to comment on your necklace when you first came to the shop..." He walked forward. "It's quite unique. Do you happen to remember where you got it?"

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at him again. "Why?" What did it matter to him where she got the piece of jewelry?

"-Business purposes, of course. I'd like to find the seller and grab a few pieces for my shop. It's a rather fascinating piece." He strolled forward and leaned on his cane. "As you may have gathered, I am a purveyor of objets d'arte and obtaining collections for the shop."