Chapter 48
Dominic
I exit the lodge to find the bright sun climbing up the eastern sky. My steps are certain, and quick, my mind filled with the look on Cecily's face when I tell her—
"Dom."
I pull up short, whipping around to find Duke seated at an outdoor table. He does not have a phone, or coffee, or anything to suggest he just happened to be sitting there when I walked out.
He was waiting for me.
"Good morning," I say in a clipped voice. Whatever he has to say to me, I hope he makes it short. Cecily is probably warm in our bed, and I'm anxious to return to her. I want to tell her my idea, and then I want to have a private celebration for two.
Nowhere in my plans for this morning was chat with Cecily's big brother.
"I learned something interesting last night.
" He crosses an ankle over the opposite knee.
His posture is relaxed, casual, but it's only designed to look that way.
So far I've thought of Duke as a nice guy, but he was raised by Glenn Hampton.
Nature might be strong, but nurture is tenacious.
There is no way Duke has escaped his father unscathed.
"Yeah?" I ask, schooling my voice into polite interest. Duke pushes aside the only other chair at the small table, a silent offer for me to take it.
Stowing my sigh of irritation, I sink down. I hope he makes this quick. I have big plans to make his little sister's back bow off our bed.
"Let me spare you the trouble." I meet his gaze. "I understand that if I ever do anything to hurt your little sister, I'll have you to answer to."
Duke chuckles dryly. His hair, equally in need of a haircut as mine, swoops sideways. In another conversation, where the tone isn't mildly threatening, I might ask him what he uses to deep condition. The guy has the hair of an early 2000s Abercrombie & Fitch model.
Duke looks out at the sweeping expanse of Sky Island. There's movement in the distance, a guest on the lake in a canoe. "Presently, you have a lot more to answer for than my little sister's future heartbreak."
The sentence grips me, and not because it's the kind better found in a suspense novel. I don't know what Duke's talking about, but in the back of my mind, I am afraid I do.
"Please do me the favor of cutting the suspense portion of this talk. Tell me what it is you think I have to answer for."
"Last night, my sister let it slip that your Vegas wedding was something you did while under the influence of alcohol."
I try not to show how much this surprises me, but it's not without difficulty. Cecily made it very clear from the beginning she did not want the rest of her family knowing this truth. Why tell them now?
"I found that very, very interesting. So I made a call and looked into you." He glances my way briefly. "Like I told you I would."
"I didn't care then, and I don't care now." I open my laptop, input my password, and turn it to him. "Look through it. Look through every single file. My personal email, and my work email too."
"That won't be necessary," Duke says smoothly. While I might never lay a hand on Sally the nepo baby, I have no qualms about punching my brother-in-law in his square jaw. "Your dad is not the cleanest of showmen."
His sentence is enough to disorient me. Duke's use of that fanciful term my dad prefers makes my blood run cold. "What are you talking about?"
"Are you working together?"
There's no schooling my reaction anymore.
I am fucking furious. "Working together on what?
" My molars bite together. I wish it were only Duke's accusation making this fury roll through my body, but there's a second emotion riding the coattails of my anger.
Fear. It takes these already unpleasant feelings and adds acid to them.
My dad would never outright do anything criminal, but he is foolish enough to be unwittingly dragged into something.
I moved all the way across the country to put distance between myself and my dad's antics. I went to therapy to deal with the emotional fallout of an unstable home. But here I am, years later, still dealing with the ramifications of my father.
I close my laptop. "My dad isn't a bad man, but he is an idiot sometimes.
He means well, but the shiny idea of getting rich quick has always lured him in.
I distanced myself from him a long time ago, and even though I still see him, I am not privy to what he does on a day-to-day basis.
So, Duke, while I understand you are motivated to protect your family's interests, please hear me loud and clear when I tell you to fuck off. "
My heartfelt expletive does not shake Duke. "Do you want me to tell you what I found?"
"I do not. My dad can tell me himself, or, you know what? Not at all. Because it has no bearing on me, or my life, or what I do." Without additional fanfare, I stand up and walk away. On the outside, I am calm. On the inside, I am enraged.
What has my father done now?