Chapter 20
twenty
. . .
Jameson
I wake to the sound of someone knocking hard on my door. I open my eyes and squint into the painful light filling the front room. The sun is just starting to drop low in the afternoon sky, and there are no clouds to filter the harshness. The empty whiskey bottle is lying on its side on the coffee table. The knock rattles the door again, and I shoot up.
"Nicole," I say as I make my way to the door. My steps are heavy and plodding, and my head feels as if it's being hit by a jackhammer. "We need to talk—" I say as I pull open the door.
"We sure fucking do," Zander says as he storms past me. "By the way—you look like shit," he manages to slip in before he reaches the living room. He picks up the empty whiskey bottle and flares his nostrils. "You must be in a bad way if you're drinking this swill." The bottle lands on the table with a clunk. He turns to look at me. "You're bleeding."
I lift my arm. It hurts almost as badly as when the asshole cut it. The gauze wraps are soaked in blood. "I might have busted open a few stitches."
"I guess that explains the hole in your entryway wall. So, that nightmare of a woman took Rio?"
I nod. "I've got Charlie working on a custody case, but in the meantime—he said I had to let her go with her mom. She's her guardian."
"Only she gave her up when she got bored of her. We need to get Rio back and soon. I wouldn't trust my pet hamster with that woman. Getting drunk and doing things like throwing your fist through a wall is probably not a good start for showing the courts you're the better parent."
"Not the shit I need right now, Zander." I walk to the kitchen for a glass of water hoping it'll kick the drunkenness out of me.
Zander follows me and pulls the carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator. He doesn't bother with a glass.
"Help yourself, buddy." I drink the entire glass of water and go for seconds even though I'm not entirely sure my stomach will hold onto the first glass.
"What do we do in the meantime?" Zander asks. It's still amazing to think just how deeply Rio has giggled, smiled and pancake cooked her way into not just my heart but the hearts of the entire Wilde clan.
"Unfortunately, we aren't going to be able to use our usual Wilde ways to get her back. I have to do this the right way through the court system, or I risk losing her for good."
"Fucking court system. Who came up with that shit anyway?" He finishes the juice and crushes the container in his fist. "I raced over here like my ass was on fire when Dad told me what happened. You're taking this way better than I expected."
I lift my blood-soaked arm. "Other than drinking an entire bottle of whiskey and shoving my fist through a wall, you mean?"
"Yeah, good point." Some of the tension in his shoulders eases as he walks to the front window and stares out at the ocean. "You've got big money now—" He turns back to me. "That's got to work for something. Maybe you can pay Nicole off. She looks like the type who'd hand her kid right over for a nice sum of money."
"And after she spends it, she comes right back and pulls the same shit. I can't put Rio through that. I need to do this the right way, even if having to wait is eating me up. I will get her back, Zander."
"Yeah, I know." Zander flops down on the couch and stacks his big feet on the coffee table. "So, what about Indiana, eh?"
I sit down on the arm of the big chair. "What about her?"
"Does she still push all the right buttons?"
I laugh. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean. Shit, you've been pining for that girl since the sixth grade. You had to sit through four years of high school watching her date your best friend."
"And you're rehashing all this ancient history … why?"
"Cuz I don't think it's all that ancient. And I don't think history should repeat itself. I ran into Zach at Nev's shop this morning. He was buying two sandwiches; one was a ham and cheese for Indi. Said they were meeting at the beach."
"Ham and cheese?" I mutter to myself. "Indi hates ham."
"Not the point," Zander says as he sits up and drops his feet to the ground. The floor vibrates from the impact. "Zach's making his move again. I could see that stupid little sparkle in his eyes. He's planning on rekindling things with Indi."
I'm pretending not to care, but Zander always knows exactly what to say to fire me up. "They're both adults. If Indi wants to get back together with Zach?—"
"I'm calling bullshit on your whatever attitude."
"Zander, I've got too much else on my mind, and you know what—my head's about to split open."
Zander kicks at the coffee table with his boot. "No wonder after drinking that toilet water. Seriously, bro, spend a little of that money on a decent bottle of whiskey."
"Stop about the fucking whiskey already. Look, thanks for being worried about Rio, and tell Dad I will do this the right way. I can't risk doing something wrong. This is too important."
Zander laughs. "You know what Dad'll say?"
I nod. "The right way is the boring as fuck way," we both say together. It's a mantra we heard often growing up. We have a laugh, and it feels good after the last twelve hours.
"Just keep all your options open, buddy. You know what I mean?"
I shake my head. "This is too important. There can't be one misstep. And you're right. A bottle of whiskey, even five-hundred-dollar scotch, isn't going to help my case."
Zander sits forward enthusiastically. "Have you been holding out on me, bro? Do you have some five-hundred-dollar scotch lying around this castle?"
I roll my eyes. "No, I don't, and if I did, do you think I'd share it with the brother who just guzzled half a quart of orange juice without taking a breath?" I get up. "You can stay if you like, but I'm going in to shower and hopefully wash this entire hellish day off me."