Blackmail
Chapter twenty-five
Jake
“I want to be the one to do this,” I tell Alex. “I need to stand up to him for once in my life. I'm sick of him pushing me around, acting like I don't get a say in my own life."
“Okay, then that's what we'll do."
"What time is he getting in?”
“Eight thirty tonight. We’ll ambush him then.”
I nod. “I still can’t believe you called him. You’re crazy.” I’m impressed though. I’ve never had the guts to say a fraction of the things Alex did.
“I know, trust me. I was second guessing myself for a minute, but this is the only way to move forward. I’ll make sure Brandon and Seth are ready, in case we need backup.”
“Thank you,” I say earnestly. He rubs my shoulder.
“Always.”
***
My father arrives at eight thirty exactly, wearing a pin stripe three-piece suit, greying hair slicked back. I don't think I've ever seen him wear anything else. He looks around the lobby, distain written all over his face.
Alex is with me for support, and Brandon and Seth are lounging quietly along the wall. I’m thankful Alex is allowing me to take the lead on this. As he walks in, I quickly give myself a mental check. Energy is good. I can do this.
It takes him a minute to notice me. He’s looking at Brandon, confused. His gaze hardens as it eventually settles on me. “Jacob. What is the meaning of all this? Your nonsense has been giving me palpitations.” He rubs his chest, right over where his heart should be.
“Hello, father,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest. He watches my movements, taking in my rolled-up sleeves and bared forearms, giving me a look of disapproval.
“Looking disheveled, as usual. I know I raised you better than that. You need a haircut, you look like a woman. So, tell me, how did you pull this one off? I identified what I thought was your body at the morgue. Your mother hasn’t been able to get out of bed for weeks in grief. Explain why you’d put us through that.”
“I am dead. I don’t know what Andrei told you, but he killed me the night you sent him here to force me to come home. Do you want to know what he did to me before that though?” I don’t want to get into the details with him, but I want to make him hurt, if that’s even possible.
He scoffs at me. “Nonsense. Have you been buying drugs from this one? He’s got that look about him.” He points at Brandon.
“Leave him out of this. I’m not on drugs, I’m dead. I was strangled, and you saw the bruises on my dead body. I’m not lying about that.” I look over at Alex and can tell he wants to say something, but he keeps quiet for now.
“You’re trying to tell me you’re dead, and that Andrei killed you.
You are on something, aren’t you? He took you under his wing so you could attempt to make something of yourself.
He was trying to help you, you ungrateful little brat.
He was a valuable business partner, and somehow you manipulated Kayla into killing him for you.
Or did you seduce that little cleaning boy into doing it for you?
We had quite the interesting chat on the phone yesterday.
You’ve caused quite a mess here, a mess I have to clean up.
Are you trying to destroy this family? You’ll be lucky if I don’t take it out on your hide when I get you home. ”
I run a hand through my hair, anger rising as he talks.
“BULLSHIT!” I yell, anger coursing through me. I’ve never raised my voice at my father. He takes a step towards me and I flinch back. If he could get his hands on me, he’d beat me with his belt until I was begging for mercy. Alex tries to step in front of me, but I hold him off.
I’m shaking now, in rage and fear, but I’m sick of being afraid of him, and having Seth, Brandon, and Alex here has emboldened me to finally stand up to him.
“I came here to get away from him, away from you. You could have just let me go, but he followed me and killed me when I wouldn't submit. He raped me, did he mention that? Just like he’d done a hundred times. Did you know about that? Would you have even cared if I’d told you?”
My nerves are fraying and I’m starting to lose control of myself. I'm unwittingly pulling energy from his emotions and they're all wrong. Tainted. Dark. I hate the way it’s making me feel.
By the time I’m done unloading on him, his face has turned a deep red.
“You are a lying little devil. Stop with the dramatics at once! I’m done listening to this nonsense.
You are going to come home with me and fulfill your responsibilities to this family.
You’re getting married to Katerina, whether you like it or not. ”
Alex gasps, and I wince. We’ll be talking about that later. I haven’t told him that little detail.
“Pack your bags, Jacob, and come home with me.” I shake my head.
“He’s not going anywhere with you,” Alex says, speaking for the first time.
“And who are you again?” my father asks, looking him up and down with a sneer.
“Um, I was the cleaner of this hotel. I’ve recently been promoted to acting manager. I’m a ghost too.”
“We’re not ghosts,” Brandon says, motioning between him and Seth.
My father shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “What do you people want from me?” he asks in frustration.
“I want control of the hotel,” I tell him.
“It’s in my name anyway, right? You did that so if you were ever caught, I’d go down, not you.
We’re going to run this business and make it legitimate.
Turn it into something to be proud of. You are going to keep your blood money away from here.
Your people are not ever going to set foot on this property again.
In exchange, the world doesn’t hear all about your crimes.
Nothing is stopping me from talking now, and I know how much your reputation means to you.
” I stop talking, feeling a little lightheaded, but I don’t back down. I’m never backing down from him again.
“No one would believe you,” he laughs. He looks around at the four of us, realizing he’s outnumbered here. He’s not going to win this argument today, and he can’t do anything to me with them here. He checks his watch with a sigh.
“You think you can run a hotel? Okay, okay. I’ll play along for now.
But Jacob, don’t come crying to me when you fail, and you will fail.
When that happens you will come home, and you will fall in line.
No more running. Maybe this place will teach you a thing or two about being an adult.
But you’ll be done making me look bad, understand?
You will marry Katerina, god willing I can salvage that arrangement. ”
He runs a hand down his face. “Stay here and run this hellhole, if you can. I have bigger issues to deal with right now.”
With that, he walks out the door and out of my life.
Hopefully forever. I’ll never willingly go back home.
I should be proud of standing up to him and winning, but I just feel sad.
Sad that he never loved me, didn’t care that I died and cared less about the circumstances of it.
He just cared that it inconvenienced him.
I blow out a breath, and turn to look at Alex, Seth and Brandon. “I can’t believe I did that.” Seth and Brandon smile at me, and Alex squeals before launching himself into my arms.
Caught off guard, I barely have time to catch him. “I’m so proud of you. That was so hot,” he says before kissing me. We pull apart when Brandon clears his throat, and I set Alex back on his feet.
“Do you think it’s really that simple?” I ask.
“Probably not. But we’ve bought ourselves some time. If he comes back, we’ll deal with it then,” he says.
Brandon pats me on the back and says, “I’m proud of you bro. I know that wasn’t easy, but you killed it.” He holds his fist out, and for the first time ever, I bump it.
Seth nods in agreement. “Your dad’s a dick! I wanted to punch him for you.” I smile at that.
“Thanks. But I’m just glad he’s gone. Now we can focus on getting this hotel back up and running. The right way.”
Alex grabs my hand and drags me towards his room. We’re both quiet as I walk over to the bed and sit down heavily. I put my head in my hands. Now that my father is gone and the adrenaline is wearing off, I feel drained.
“So, arranged marriage, huh? That’s a surprise,” he says.
“Please don’t be mad. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want anyone to know…” I trail off. I didn’t want anyone to know just how little control I have over my life.
“That’s why you really ran from your family?” he asks.
“Part of it. I told you the rest.”
He sits down next to me and slowly reaches for my hand. I don’t move, so he grabs it and caresses my fingers.
“Are you upset?” I ask him, not wanting to hear his answer. I hate the idea of hurting him.
“I wish you would have told me, yeah. But I’m territorial. I’ve already claimed you as mine, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t be. I’m not going to let anyone take you from me, or from this hotel. Seth and Brandon won’t either. Your dad can’t force you to go home, and he can’t force you to marry anyone. He’s got no leverage over you, especially now that you’re a ghost.”
I nod my head.
“Nothing’s changed. We stay the course and work on running this hotel, okay? We can make this place a success. Can I hold you?”
I nod again.
“Words, Jake,” he chides softly.
“Yes, please,” I say, and he crawls onto my lap and wraps his arms around me.
“This is my favorite place in the world,” he whispers against my neck.
“Mine too, brat.” I flex my fingers on his waist. “I wanted to talk to you about something.” I pause, and he waits patiently for me to continue.
“If I wanted to take our relationship to the next level, is that something you’d be interested in?
I know we haven’t known each other long, but I like being with you. I trust you.”
His expression turns serious as he looks at me. “I want that so much. Are you sure you’re ready for that? I don’t want to push you too fast or hurt you.” He places a hand on my cheek, gently rubbing it with his thumb. Soothing.
“I’m sure. I’ve thought a lot about it, and I want it. I don’t want his hands to be the last ones on me. I want it to be yours. But only if that’s what you want, too.”
“Okay. Yeah, I want that too. I’ll make you feel so good, I promise.”
I believe him. If I had any doubts, I wouldn’t be sitting here with him on my lap, allowing him to touch me like I’m something precious.
He never makes me feel like a piece of property.
He backs off when I need space. For the first time in my life I feel powerful, like my words matter to him.
They’re not just something he’ll use against me later.
I wish I could articulate that to him, but I don’t know how, so I give him a light kiss on the lips instead, and hope he can feel it like I do.