CHAPTER 17 DANNY
I’m minding my own business when the doorbell rings, and I absentmindedly head over to see who’s bothering me now with the smallest sliver of hope that it’s Alexis back to surprise me even though I know how unlikely that is.
And when I open it, my father stands in front of me again—for the second time in as many days.
“What the fuck do you want now?” I demand.
I’m about to shut the door in his face when his mouth curls up into a smile—the kind that scares the fuck out of me. He’s up to something, and it’s not going to be good.
“I have something you might want to see,” he says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “But you should invite me in since you probably don’t want me to play this video I have out here on your front porch for all the neighbors to see.”
I roll my eyes and sigh, but then I open the door a little wider to allow him to walk in despite my better judgment telling me not to.
He hits play on his phone when the door closes behind him, and I hear my own voice as my eyes fall onto Alexis and myself in my bed. It takes all of a whole second for me to realize this was from last night.
“Leave Brooks publicly. Be with me…publicly. Stop the charade. Stop the fake relationship—” I’m saying in the video.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask, but I know full well what the fuck this is, and I know what she says next, and I know what happens next, too.
“You’ve been quite the little rabbit over here,” he says snidely. “Last night and this morning?”
“Excuse me? What I do in my bedroom is nobody’s business but mine.” I clench my fists at my side as my body goes right into fight mode.
“I knew something was going on with you and that singer, and here’s the evidence.” He fast forwards the video until he gets to the good stuff. “Eye for an eye. You caught me, and now I’ve caught you.”
The one saving grace is that when I moved over the top of her, you can’t see her face.
In fact, you can’t see much of anything except for my backside, which is largely covered with clothes.
So yeah, it’s technically a sex tape, but the woman being fucked isn’t all that visible once we actually start having sex.
The damage is done, though. It doesn’t matter if she can be seen or not. The audio is clear, and the fact that I’m dominating her while holding her down is also clear.
And I can identify her easily in the part of the recording where we’re laying on my bed having a heartfelt, honest conversation like we should be able to do in the privacy of my own fucking home. My own fucking bed.
My chest swirls with fear as I stare at the screen.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell, slapping the phone out of his hand as it all comes together in my brain.
He asked to use the bathroom yesterday. Brad called.
I stepped outside, and this asshole was walking down the stairs when I stepped back inside.
He set me up. He planted a camera in my bedroom that I never even saw, and Alexis and I talked openly and honestly before I fucked her hard last night, and then she made love to me this morning.
“Don’t worry,” he says, leaving the phone on the floor.
“The scandalous sex tape is all backed up to the cloud. You sure wouldn’t want that leaking out now, would you?
I mean, the conversation you had where you admitted she’s faking with the other guy and you two are sneaking around was golden enough, but then I was lucky enough to catch the rest… ”
“You’re my father. How the fuck could you do this to me?” I scream at him.
“Am I? Because just yesterday, you said I’m dead to you and that you don’t have a father. Pick a side, Daniel. Either I am or I’m not.”
I stare at him for a beat as I try to figure out what to do, but I’m at a total loss here. The only thing I can feel is the hot rage coursing through my veins. My fists clench involuntarily at my sides again. “You do realize that what you’ve done is a crime, right? I could have you arrested.”
“You won’t,” he says, and he’s got a whole lot of confidence for a criminal who’s the fucking scum of the earth. “Because if you did, then your little secret becomes public knowledge.”
He’s right. I can’t turn him in because he’s got the proof.
I have to protect Alexis. Whatever it takes, I have to protect her.
“Besides,” he continues. “You know deep down that you and I are cut from the same cloth, Danny boy.”
I hate him. I hate that I share blood with this man. I hate that he’s any part of my life at all.
My fists clench again, and they’re itching, burning to reach out and connect with his ugly face.
I rein it in. Hitting him now would feel good for a minute, but then I’d be setting myself up for something far worse. At least that common sense slides through my brain.
“What do you want from me?” I whisper.
“Well, the money we discussed yesterday would be a good start.”
“A good start?” I repeat, terrified of what his next words might be.
“Yes, a good start. I’ll need you to cover Olivia’s gift, but I think the wife and I could also use a little nest egg, you know?
Maybe a nice vacation somewhere. Oh, and of course, I’ll need you to publicly acknowledge your wonderful father.
Make me look like the good dad I am to the media.
Make it look like you chose to be part of my life again. ”
“I would never choose you,” I spit at him.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to reveal what I know to the world.”
“You wouldn’t,” I hiss.
“Watch me,” he hisses right back.
I’m silent a beat as I consider that. He would. I really think he would.
“Why would you do this to me? Is it really about the money?” I ask.
He shakes his head as he presses his lips together, and his eyes are hard when they fall onto me. “You ruined my life.”
“Excuse me?”
“You walked in on something you didn’t understand, and you fucked with the balance of everything. You ruined my marriage. You ruined my family. You ruined everything. Your mother couldn’t stay with me when she felt like she had to support you, so she kicked me out.”
“That’s not how it happened,” I protest. He chose his other family.
“You don’t think so?” he demands. “You were seven, kid. You didn’t have the first clue about what really happened back then.
I’ll take the first payment to cover the car by the end of the day today.
I want to get her something real nice, so let’s start at fifty-K and go from there, shall we?
If it’s not wired to this account by the close of business today, I’ll send my video straight to the media.
” He hands me a card with an account number and routing number on it, and then he turns to leave.
“I fucking hate you,” I say to his backside. “And just to be clear, we are not cut from the same cloth. I’d never do something like this to another person, let alone my own son.”
He walks out the door, and I hold the card between my fingertips as I debate what the fuck I’m supposed to do next.