Rage & Revelations
Chapter fifty-six
Marlow
“What the hell do you mean you’re married?!” Daddy’s voice booms through the house, and the headache I’ve been nursing all morning spikes like a hammer slamming into my skull.
“I’m sorry, excuse me?” The words spit out of me like venom before I can even think.
“Don’t you dare come down on me when I literally just caught you with your pants down—with my best friend!
I mean, seriously, I should be in a goddamn institution with the amount of shit I’ve had to hide and cover up for you! ”
“Okay, I think you’re exaggerating—”
I cut him off, fire spiking hotter. “Exaggerating? Are you forgetting the time I had to bail you out of jail because you didn’t realize the pretty lady at a fundraiser was a hooker? Or how about the time I walked in on you with my babysitter sucking your dick?”
Eslin’s head whips to him so fast I hear the intake of her breath. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on!” Daddy throws his hands up, exasperated. “How long are you going to hold that over my head? It was after you were grown, and how was I supposed to know she babysat you in middle school?” He yells.
“Because you hired her!” I scream back, tears blurring my vision but not slowing me down. “More than twice! And because you’re supposed to be a responsible parent!”
I’ve never let him see me like this—never let him hear my rage, feel the full weight of it.
Until now, his antics were just…background noise.
Embarrassing, yes. Frustrating, sure. But never personal.
Never enough to cut me open. This time, though—this time it’s different.
This time it’s close. Too close. And it hurts in a way I can’t swallow down.
My chest heaves, my voice splintering with rage and grief all knotted together. “How long are you going to keep doing this reckless shit? Six months. That’s how long you had to keep your promises, and you couldn’t even do that! How long has this been going on?!”
“Marlow—” Eslin tries to cut in again but this time it’s my father who keeps going, tumbling over her attempts at calming us down.
“This is rich coming from you, when you just said you came here to hide because of a secret fucking marriage—to a player, no less! How ridiculous could you be?”
Declan growls low, a sound that makes the air in the room shift. “Be careful. That’s my wife you’re speaking to…sir.” Respect doesn’t touch his tone; he’s coiled and dangerous. And for a split second, I remember exactly who my in-laws are, what they’re capable of.
“Okay,” Eslin says quickly, gently, stepping forward like she’s afraid the whole place might combust. “How about we sit down and talk this out?”
She turns to me, reaching for my hand, her voice soft. “Marlow, we didn’t mean for this to happen. We really tried to fight it but—”
“Excuse me?” I snap, yanking my hand back like she burned me. “This is family business, and I need to speak with my father. Alone.”
The words come out harsher than I intend, stabbing, cruel. And the way she recoils, like I’ve doused her in gasoline and lit a match, twists something sharp inside me. But I don’t take it back. I can’t. Not right now.
My dad catches my eye, jaw tight, and then nods toward the study. “In here. Now.”
Without another word, we walk, the door clicking shut behind us.
It’s just me and him now.
He drops into the chair behind the desk, running a hand over his face, and I stand there, arms crossed, my pulse hammering.
“Alright,” he says finally, voice low but firm. “Let’s have it out. All of it. Every secret, every lie. No more games, Munchkin. You want answers—I’ll give them to you. But you damn well better be ready to hear mine too.”
I nod while my dad begins.
Grant
I rub a hand over my face, pacing the study while Marlow sits there, arms crossed so tight across her chest I wonder if she’ll leave bruises.
My voice is cautious, but there’s no mistaking the weight of what I’m about to say. “Do you remember that story I told you about Vegas? About the woman I met there? The one I swore I’d never see again once I learned her age?”
Marlow cuts in immediately. “What does she have to do with anything?”
I don’t let her tone derail me. “Everything. Because I was committed to that promise, Marlow. I kept it, even when that woman from Vegas showed up in Atlanta—as the new team therapist.”
Her gasp cuts through the air like thunder. “Wait, what? I don’t get it…”
“We agreed to stay away from each other, out of respect for you, out of respect for her job. But every time we were in the same room, every time we had to work side by side during team activities, it only got worse. The fondness grew. The wanting. Until it wasn’t controllable anymore.”
“So, you’re saying Eslin was, is, the woman from Vegas that you couldn’t stop thinking about?”
I nod once, firm. “Yes.”
Her stare pins me in place, her jaw tightening. “And how long did you two wait before you let something happen between you?”
The air feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. I drag a tortured breath into my lungs, not wanting to admit to the months of near-misses, the brushes of temptation, the times I almost broke. “You have to understand, munch. Eslin really respects you. She loves you and—”
“How long, daddy?”
I shake my head. “Nothing really happened until…” The words scrape out of me, low, ashamed. I bow my head, because saying it aloud feels like betrayal all over again.
But Marlow—my girl has always been too damn sharp. Too quick at piecing puzzles together.
Her eyes go wide, wild, horror blooming across her face. Her voice rises, trembling but fierce, as she spits the words like poison. “ Eslin was the woman from the gala?!”
“Yes,” I admit without hesitation, because there’s no point in dodging it.
“It was her. And I know you’re angry, but we planned to tell you.
We wanted to do it right, sooner rather than later.
Only—Eslin found out you were carrying another secret, and she didn’t want to risk piling more hurt onto you. ”
“Un-fucking-believeable,” she hisses, tears streaming down her face.
“I’m sorry, Low. You have to know how sorry I am.”
She doesn’t say anything. Silence stretches, heavy, until finally Marlow leans back, her jaw tight.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you for this, Daddy.
I don’t know if I’ll ever trust her again.
” She exhales hard, and for a moment, I think that’s the end of it.
But then her eyes flick to mine. “But I sort of understand.”
And then, like she’s dropping a grenade in my lap, she says, “That other secret Eslin couldn’t tell you? I’m pregnant.”
I blink. Twice. Unable to do much else.
Then my beautiful daughter launches right into how she ended up on a reality show that somehow resulted in her marriage, like this is just another catch-up.
Then she says something that makes me completely roll my eyes and even laugh a little inside. “But you can’t tell Declan, Daddy. I haven’t told him yet.”