CHAPTER 4 DANNY
Well…now what?
Her dad just stormed out after threatening me and my family, so that’s something. Brooks is still standing in this small room with us keeping things as awkward as possible, so I turn to him.
“What do you get out of all of this?” I ask him. “Why did you go along with the wedding?”
His brow furrows as he keeps a mighty strong poker face. “I wanted to marry the woman I love.”
“Pfft,” Alexis scoffs.
He gives her a long gaze before he walks out of the room.
“It’s a lie,” she says. “Plain and simple. He does not love me. We talked about how this is nothing more than a business deal. I’m not even sure he knows what love is unless we’re talking about money.”
Money.
Her words give me a clue as to what’s really behind all of this, but I’m not going to say anything until I dig a little…until I get to the truth. I don’t want to give her any more anxiety than she’s already dealing with over all this, anyway.
But I do have one question, and that’s…what comes next? The hard part is over—the part where we told her father that we’re married now. We have no idea what the fallout will be, but I can’t imagine she wants to go home and spend the night there and wake up on Christmas morning like everything’s fine when it isn’t.
“What do you want to do now?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I have no idea. I just know I don’t want to go back to my father’s house right now.”
“What about Vegas?” I ask.
Her eyes meet mine. “Vegas? Like…your house?”
“Our house. For now, anyway. Until we buy something better.”
“Oh,” she murmurs, and I’m having a hard time getting a gauge on how she really feels about that. “Yes. I love Vegas. It’s always felt like home, and now, with you…it’ll be home. And it’s not far from LA. Maybe we could get a place here, too, for when I have to work here.”
“I love that idea,” I say softly.
“I want to wake up on Christmas morning in your arms and that’s all I need. Aside from bacon. And maybe donuts.” She shrugs a little at the end.
“I’m down for all of that, but I have one request,” I say, my eyes glinting as I pull her into my arms.
“Anything,” she breathes as her eyes connect with mine.
“I want to unwrap you like the gift you are, and then I want to fuck you like the vixen you are.”
Her eyes widen and her breathing hitches at my words.
Oh, it’s going to be a merry Christmas indeed.
I text Gregory and ask him how we can get our stuff here and how we can get to Vegas tonight, and he lets me know that he already has it in the back of the car waiting for us behind the amphitheater and I’m welcome to drive that to Vegas or we can see if there’s a red-eye flight available.
We head that direction, and he ushers us safely toward the Yukon waiting for us. There’s nobody back here—we’re underground, and it’s safe and deserted since most everybody has already cleared out.
We don’t get in the vehicle yet as Alexis moves to say goodbye to Gregory.
“I just wanted to have a quick word with you,” he says, his eyes on Alexis.
“What is it?”
“First, here’s this,” he says, handing over her phone. “Second, I wanted to tell you that your father is not taking the news well that you married Mr. Brewer.” His tone is gentler than I think I’ve ever heard out of him.
“I didn’t imagine he would,” she mutters.
“No, but he’s already actively looking into Danny’s family for weaknesses. I will do whatever I can to protect them, but you know your father’s connections. If he finds something he can use, he won’t hesitate to weaponize it.” His tone is less gentle with these words as his gaze shifts to me.
“My father,” I whisper.
He nods. “Your father.”
“He hasn’t been in touch with me yet,” I say.
Gregory’s brow furrows. “He had to have noticed by now that he was hacked and all his data is gone.”
“Unless…” I trail off as I think about the worst. What if he died and I don’t even know?
“Yeah,” Gregory grunts. “Unless. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Thank you,” I say, feeling suddenly very much like he’s part of my family, too.
“Where will you go for Christmas?” Alexis asks him, moving toward him for a quick embrace.
One side of his mouth lifts up in what’s almost a smirk. “I’ll be fine.”
She studies him a few extra beats, and then she nods. “Okay. Merry Christmas. Thank you for all you do for me.”
He offers a genuine—albeit small—smile. “It’s an honor, ma’am. Thank you for giving me some of the best years of my life.”
They hug, and then we slip into the car and start the long drive toward home.
It’s after two in the morning when we arrive back home. Alexis closed her eyes through most of it as we let the low hum of soft Christmas music fill the air.
And I thought about my father.
I really don’t have a whole lot of memories from before—you know, when he was still a part of our family and lying to my mother while he broke his vows every time he slept with someone who wasn’t my mother.
The majority of my memories of him come after.
Before it happened, the man was my hero. He could do no wrong. It’s hard to look back and remember much about that time in my life. It feels like he hasn’t been a hero in an awfully long time.
But what if it’s true? What if the reason why he’s been silent is because he’s not around to speak anymore? Or what if he took a turn and he’s in the hospital?
How would I feel if he really was dead?
It’s not fair to say I’d be better off. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody—even the man who is actively trying to ruin my life.
It’s just not how I was raised—by my mother, anyway.
But would I be? If I didn’t have him lurking in the background ready to strike, would I be better off?
Maybe. But maybe someone else would step into his shoes, and I don’t doubt it given Alexis’s astronomical fame. There will be people out there who hate me simply for existing. There will be people out there who wish horrible things upon me without knowing the first damn thing about me.
But that’s on them. I won’t contribute to the negative vibes when this world already has far too many of them floating around.
I guess that begs the question…if he is still living and breathing, what am I going to do about it?
If he’s gone, what am I going to do about it?
For the longest time, I’ve felt like I only had one parent—my mother. Because I have. She’s what a real parent should be. She’s supportive and loving. She looks out for me. She protects me. She encourages me. She does whatever she can to help me.
And I wasn’t always an easy kid. I made it out the other side okay, but I was a bit of a rebel back in my teenage years. I don’t think I even thought about the idea of settling down at all until Alexis came into my life.
But my mother was always there for me regardless.
What would she want me to do when it comes to my father?
She wouldn’t want me holding onto the negativity. That’s for sure.
She wouldn’t want me hurting. She wouldn’t want me anxious over it.
I don’t know if she’d want me to forgive him, but it seems like she did a long time ago. Maybe not forgive so much as realize how very much better off she was without him in her life.
The time in the car passes quickly as I contemplate all of it, and ultimately, I have an inclination of what I want to do.
He didn’t teach me to be the bigger man, but I want to be anyway.
If there’s still time.