24. Ford
FORDCHAPTER 24
W hen I left Emzee’s apartment for the first time—days later—it was only to get a change of clothes from my place and charge my phone back up.
We had spent the entire weekend in bed, reuniting and trying to plan our next steps.
The last thing I wanted was to face the real world again.
Especially since I knew it was a real world that wanted to drive us apart.
Not that it mattered.
I was fully committed to Emzee and our baby.
I’d fight anyone who tried to separate me from them again.
I also had to call Louie to ask about getting the locks on my apartment changed, but my first priority was talking to my parents.
I was done dealing with their bullshit.
They had to back off my wife.
As soon as my cell had juice, I’d be making that call.
Not that I was ready to confront them about the depth of their mafia ties yet.
I was still trying to decide on the best way to deal with that.
Accusations would get me nowhere, no matter how true they were.
And I wasn’t na?ve enough to think my parents would come right out and admit what they’d done, apologize, and promise to break things off with the Bratva.
If anything, they’d just pay lip service to me and then turn around and keep on doing what they’d always done.
Or maybe it would create a rift between me and my parents that could never be mended.
Then again, maybe I was ready to cut myself off from the Malone family for good.
But that could wait.
For now, I just needed to make it absolutely clear that I was with Emzee, now and forever.
That I wouldn’t tolerate any further attempts on their part to break us up.
She was my wife, my family , and she was the most important thing in my life.
When I unlocked my apartment door, however, I realized that my plan to call my parents was entirely unnecessary.
Because they were sitting in my living room waiting for me.
“Ford! Where on Earth have you been?” my mother scolded, rushing over to me.
“We were so worried. We’ve been trying to reach you for days, but you never picked up your phone.”
She engulfed me in her embrace, overwhelming me with the cloying smell of her perfume and the rattle of all her jewelry.
My father was still in a chair with the Wall Street Journal , per usual; he didn’t bother to get up.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping back from my mom and eyeing both of them suspiciously.
I highly doubted that either of them had actually been worried about me.
But their visit reinforced the fact that I had to get a locksmith over, stat.
It was bad enough that Claudia had shown up unannounced—but clearly she had reported back to good old Mom and Dad about her failure to seduce me, and now I had to deal with my parents’ equally unwelcome surprise visit.
They obviously were not happy with whatever Claudia had told them.
So not happy, in fact, that they’d flown out to New York to talk to me in person.
Actually, come to think of it, I was somewhat surprised (impressed, even?) that my father had skipped his standing weekday morning golf game for this.
“Claudia told us what happened,” my mother said, breaking out her “disappointed” voice.
“Oh did she? So you heard all about how she broke into my apartment and got thrown out because she wasn’t welcome here?” I asked.
“I gave her that key to check on you,” my mother said, still trying to pout.
“I’m a grown man. I don’t need to be checked on. Especially not by scantily clad ex-girlfriends,” I said, adding, “I took her key back already. Now I’m taking yours.”
“What?” Her eyes were wide.
“Ford, I’m your mother. I need a key.”
“Fine, keep it. I’m having the locks changed anyway.”
My mother looked dismayed, but it did nothing to stop her from plowing forward with her coercion.
“You need to apologize for the way you treated Claudia. She was very hurt.”
“ She was hurt?” I asked, holding back an incredulous laugh.
“What about my wife and her feelings? Did Claudia happen to mention what she said to Emzee?”
“It hardly matters, Ford. You’re getting a divorce,” my mother said.
“Regardless of what was or was not said, it’s all water under the bridge.”
I wanted to throw her under a bridge.
“We’re not getting divorced.”
My father lowered his newspaper, frowning.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said.
“You already signed the papers.”
“I didn’t. Emzee forged my signature,” I said.
“I’ll fight it in court if I have to, and I’ll win. Emzee and I are working things out.”
My mother let out a little hiss.
“You will marry Claudia,” my father said adamantly, tossing his paper on the table.
“It isn’t up for discussion.”
“No,” I said.
“I won’t.”
“This is nonnegotiable,” my father insisted, but I just shook my head.
“If you want her in the family so badly, why don’t you marry her?” I said.
He narrowed his eyes and got up from the chair, pulling himself to his full height, which matched mine.
He was seething. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so furious.
“I’ll cut you off,” he said.
“Your inheritance, all the money we have, you won’t get a single penny of it. You’ll be as good as dead to the family. And you think your job is safe at MREH? I was planning to have you take over when I retire, but you can say goodbye to that.”
My mother sucked in a shocked breath.
I wondered if she was thinking that my father had gone too far, but if she did, she immediately chose a side.
“That’s right,” she said, moving to stand next to my father in an attempt to present a united front.
“You’ll be entirely on your own.”
It was obvious they thought they had me, judging by their smug expressions.
What they failed to realize was that I didn’t care about the money, or my inheritance, or even my job at Malone Real Estate Holdings.
Hell, I could start my own real estate firm if I wanted to.
I’d already been doing the lion’s share of my father’s job for years.
Most of the employees would probably come with me.
The only thing I cared about was Emzee and our baby.
Our family.
Nothing else concerned me.
“I don’t care,” I told them.
“It’s not happening. I love Emzee. I’m staying with Emzee.”
My father’s face was turning red.
He wasn’t used to losing, but he had just played his only hand and come up empty.
He didn’t have anything else to use against me.
“You’re being unreasonable,” my father said.
“Me?” I asked. “I’m not the one trying to strong-arm their only son into some kind of arranged marriage.”
“It’s for your own good,” my mother said.
I didn’t believe that for a second.
But me marrying Claudia had to be for someone’s benefit—and I’d bet anything it was theirs.
There was no other reason for them to be pushing me so hard.
“Why are you two so intent on getting me to marry her anyway?” I asked.
“Because she’s the right choice for you,” my mother said.
She couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In fact, the whole situation was so preposterous that I had to laugh.
“No. You know what? I think it’s because she’s the right choice for you ,” I countered.
“She’s the right choice for this family,” my father clarified.
“Because of the family she comes from. A family we’ve known for years.”
“And what about Emzee’s family?”
“They’re dirty,” my mother blurted out.
“You know they’re dirty. Everyone knows what Konstantin did with his business, and even if he’s in jail now, his children are just like him. We can’t be associated with those kinds of people.”
“ Those kinds of people ,” I said, nodding.
Finally, hints of the truth were coming out.
“Let me tell you about those kinds of people, Mom. They’re honest, they’re kind, and they run a tight ship over at the agency. Sure, KZ Modeling might have been dirty, but Danica Rose isn’t. The fact is, you don’t know anything about Emzee and her brothers.”
“It doesn’t matter what they’re trying to do now,” my father said.
“That family has too many connections to the mob.”
“And ours doesn’t?” I asked.
“You can’t speak to me that way!” my father said, his breathing shallow.
“You can’t make me marry Claudia,” I told him.
“You will marry her!” he said.
“Ford. Sweetie,” my mother said gently, switching tactics.
“We need you to do this. For us. Our entire family’s reputation depends on it.”
“That’s right, son,” Dad chimed in, trying to sound reasonable.
“Claudia is clean. We need to appear clean, too.”
I glared at both of them.
“Of course you do. Because you aren’t . Well, tough shit.”
My mother let out a gasp.
“Watch your tone,” my dad said.
But I wasn’t hearing any of it.
I turned to my dad. “I know the truth. You were involved with Konstantin years ago. You want to talk about dirty? You’re just as dirty as he was.”
“How dare you ,” Mom said.
They clearly weren’t budging.
Neither was I.
“It’s not my job to be your PR,” I told them.
“This is your mess, and me marrying Claudia isn’t going to get you out of it. You have to figure it out yourself.”
I didn’t want to spend another minute arguing with them, having the same conversation over and over again that would get us absolutely nowhere.
In fact, I didn’t even want to be in the same room as my parents right now.
They obviously cared more about their reputation and their money than they did for my happiness.
Turning my back on them, I went to my room to get a change of clothes, which I threw into a bag with my phone charger.
Until I got the locks changed, I didn’t plan on coming back.
“Where are you going?” my mother demanded as I passed them on my way out.
“To be with my family,” I said over my shoulder.
“The only family that matters.”
From the expressions on their faces, I could tell that both of my parents were furious.
Walking out the door, I’d never felt so free.