Chapter 45 Craig
Chapter forty-five
Craig
T
he recording device was in my pocket. I would never be ready to hear my best friend confess that he touched my baby girl inappropriately, but I needed to hear it. And I would. For her.
Knowing Anna truly believed I had only ever seen her as a disappointment completely gutted me.
I never meant to cut her down, but to push her into being the best I know she can be.
Still, my words made an impact on her that she’s going to need time to heal from, and it hurts me to know that I’ve hurt her all these years.
I believe in my daughter and tonight I’m going to prove that.
Standing at the grill, flipping some sirloins, I hear my best friend before I see him. “Mmm, smells good out here. This retirement thing is working out really well. You should grill for me more often.” He slaps my shoulder as he comes to stand beside me.
“I really do enjoy it. Kara claims it’s become my whole personality, but I had to remind her I still golf.” I smile at Daniel, but it doesn’t feel right. It feels forced and it must look it, because his eyebrows bunch up as he looks at me.
“Everything okay, Craig?”
No, everything isn’t okay. You assaulted my daughter, you asshole.
I step back from the grill and shove my hands in my pockets, secretly pressing the button to have my phone start recording. I shake my head and let out a fake, heavy sigh. “I’m just worried about Anna. She doesn’t seem like herself.”
Daniel shrugs his shoulders, “But hey, she’s back home. That’s great news.”
“She is, but at what cost? I think that guy did a real number on her. Still can’t believe she got married in Vegas.
” When my friend doesn’t reply, I continue, “He’s just not the type of man I thought she’d end up with, you know?
I imagined her sticking around the city with someone more mature.
Someone who would come over for cookouts and go to the club to play a round of golf with me. ”
“Aww, buddy, sounds like you wanted Anna to marry me,” Daniel jokes.
“You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing. It might be kind of nice for my best friend to become my son-in-law,” I tease him, but his face looks like he’s sincerely considering it.
“I’d do it, you know. I’d marry Anna.”
I swallow down the glass stuck in my throat at what I’m about to say. It would hurt her, but I’m only saying it to help her. I hope when she hears the recording, Anna knows I don’t mean any of what I’m about to say. “Oh, you don’t mean that. First of all, she’s too young for you.”
Daniel scoffs.
“And you can’t be attracted to her. I’ve told her for years she needs to try and lose weight, but she just won’t listen. I’m afraid she’s at the point she doesn’t care, and you don’t want some woman who has just let herself go. You want someone who can still get your dick hard.”
“Oh, she gets my dick very hard.” I catch him adjusting himself and I have to conceal my face when I can taste the bile creeping up.
I clear my throat before speaking, “I didn’t realize you were attracted to my daughter.”
He lets out a chuckle, “Now you can’t go getting mad at me about being attracted to your daughter after you go and say you wish she was married to me. But yeah, I like her curves. I like the way she feels.”
“Wait a minute,” I need a little more, “has something already happened between the two of you?”
He smirks at me, like the question amused him. “She didn’t say anything to you?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Then maybe it’s best you don’t know about what I did to her in my office.” He winks at me like we’re talking about anyone other than my only child. I don’t want to know. I really don’t want to know. But I ask. I ask because my daughter deserves justice.
“So, the two of you have kissed?” His smile is pure evil, and I don’t know how I’ve never witnessed it before.
“You could say I know what her lips taste like.”
He licks his own lips and I think I’m going to be sick.
I suck a deep breath in and blow it out. “Wow. I had no idea she felt that way about you.”
“Oh, she may not yet, but I have ways of making her come around.”
My hands create fists and I’m mere seconds away from laying my best friend out. I had no idea he was a predator. I had no idea he was hurting my daughter.
Before I can show up my son-in-law's punches with a few of my own, the devil himself walks out of the house and into the backyard.
“Did you get what we needed?” Keaton asks.
“What is this asshole doing here?” Daniel demands, but I ignore him.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and stop the recording. I hold it up and shake it. “Yup. His confession is all on here.”
“What are you talking about? What confession?” Daniel looks between the two of us like he’s completely innocent and I wonder how I was friends with such a dumbass for so long.
Keaton speaks before I can open my mouth, “Just the one where you admit to violating my wife.”
“My daughter,” I grit between my teeth.
“Wait a minute. You knew? You said she didn’t tell you that something happened between us. You lied to me,” Daniel accuses.
“And you fucking assaulted my daughter,” I yell.
He throws his hands up in front of his chest, “Hey now, assault is a strong word. There’s no way Anna doesn’t want me. Hell, she would probably take any attention she can get from a man. Have you seen her?”
I look over and see my daughter’s husband marching over, ready to throw yet another punch at Daniel’s face.
Not this time, kid.
I curl up my fist and land it straight into Daniel’s gut, making him double over and gasp for breath.
“That’s for hurting my baby girl.”
He straightens and I can’t help but punch him in the same spot again.
“That’s for breaking my trust.”
Daniel is wheezing but still manages to pull himself to standing. He schools his features. “Craig, we’ve been friends for too long to let a misunderstanding come between us. How about we just drop the issue and move on, okay? I touched her. You touched me. We’re even.”
“We are far from even,” I growl at him.
“Listen, it’s my word against hers. You know this won’t hold up in court.”
“Maybe the recording isn’t strong enough to hold up on its own, so it’s a good thing I have another piece of information. You see, when you fuck with someone who works in the technology field, you may want to do a better job at covering up your secrets,” Keaton says to Daniel.
“We happened to uncover some interesting accounts at Brenner & Associates. Accounts that reveal what appear to be quite a bit of fraudulent activity. As a businessman myself, I think it’s important to share anything we find untoward with someone at the SEC.
We wouldn’t want any corrupt companies to be taking advantage of unassuming folks. ”
Daniel’s eyes grow wide in fear.
My son-in-law is a mastermind.
“So here is how things are going to go down,” Keaton continues. “Let me know which option works best for you.”
“Is this a threat?” Daniel says, straightening and popping his shoulders back.
“It’s a choice, Mr. Brenner. And I advise you to choose wisely.”
I would never admit this to my wife or daughter, but I think I’m actually starting to like my son-in-law.
“Option one. You resign from your company. You sell it and leave town. Quietly. You don’t contact this family, and you sure as fuck don’t contact Anna ever again.”
Daniel huffs out a laugh, “And if I don’t?”
“Well, that’s option two. That’s the option where I hand everything over to the SEC, along with the FBI cybercrime unit.
You’ll be prosecuted for wire fraud, embezzlement, and securities violations.
And once that hits the press, we follow it up with civil suits for harassment, stalking, and sexual assault. ”
Damn. Did my daughter marry Batman?
“So, what’s it going to be, Mr. Brenner?”
My former friend looks over at me. “Craig, come on. What do you want from me?”
Years of friendship should have made me feel something. Remorse. Loss. Anger. But when I look at Daniel, I feel nothing. “I want an answer. Will it be option one? Or option two?”