PROLOGUE
JONAH ANDERSON
ELEVEN YEARS OLD
“You bastard! You lying son of a bitch!” Mom shouts from the master bedroom of our penthouse on the Upper East Side of New York City.
Dad arrived a half hour ago with a briefcase and a grim expression.
He sent me to my room after handing over a small drone wrapped in shiny gold paper.
The gesture is straight out of his How to Buy My Son’s Love & Allegiance playbook.
He probably couldn’t care less about my love, but a part of me still likes to believe my dad cares about me for more than just blind loyalty when he needs backup against Mom.
Gift given, Dad proceeded to the master suite where Mom always lazes the day away in her massive bed, feathered robe, and an unending supply of wine.
Their fighting began almost immediately once the door shut.
Which is never a good sign.
Throwing the drone on my bed, I tiptoe back into the hallway to eavesdrop. Not that I need to be stealthy. Mom and Dad are only ever aware of what’s going on in their own little worlds.
“Susan is getting suspicious, and she’s threatening to call her father to pull his funding. You know how important this campaign is, Pamela. This is the next step on my way to the presidency. Being named the state’s next governor will cement my leadership abilities.”
I roll my eyes. I’ve heard Dad’s plan to become President of the United States so many times I could repeat it in my sleep. He’s obsessed with holding the most powerful position in America. Power and prestige—two words that define Phillip Anderson.
But it’s hard to obtain those things without money and a squeaky-clean public image. Which is why he’s here dumping my mom. We’ve been his dirty little secret for years. Something I found out last year after overhearing a conversation Dad was having with his best friend, Congressman Lieber.
Mom is his mistress, and I’m his bastard son.
If the public ever found out, he’d be persona non grata . That’s what he said. I’d had to look up what it meant on the computer.
And if his father-in-law ever found out that Phillip was cheating on his perfect princess? Well, that would be career suicide and a suspicious murder. Probably. I couldn’t tell if Dad was serious when he mentioned disappearing and fish food .
“Fuck you, and fuck Susan!” There’s a crash from the room, and I’m guessing Mom threw one of her wine bottles at Dad’s head and missed.
The splatter of red will match the rest of the splashes she’s created over the years.
At first, Dad ordered a maid to clean up the mess, then he just stopped caring.
It’s a twisted mural to their relationship.
“What am I supposed to do with your son when you’re kicking us out of our home? The little devil is hell to raise already. How can I survive with the measly pittance you’re offering?”
Uncomfortable with this turn of the conversation, my eyes scan the hall and snag on the open door to my bedroom. Posters of baseball players and trophies from my little league games litter the walls and shelves. It’s the only home I’ve ever known, and Dad is making us leave?
Scooting closer to hear better, I place my ear on the wall.
“I’ve got plans for Jonah. I’m sending him to a sort of boarding school run by an old associate of mine. Conrad Steele has taken in a couple of other boys, so Jonah will fit right in.”
Boarding school?
“And what about me?” Mom’s tone has changed, softened to a whine. I imagine the pout on her Botoxed face. Time to switch from angry bitch to sniveling pet.
The unflattering description of my mom’s manipulative personality matches her hateful feelings towards me. Devil. Menace. Useless wretch. There’s no love lost between Mom and I. None between me and Dad either, if I’m being honest.
My parents aren’t the loving type.
They’re nothing like my teammates’ parents.
That doesn’t mean I want to be shipped from the only home I’ve ever known to a stranger’s weird boarding school.
Sinking to the expensive runner lining the middle of the hall, I bang my head against the wall as Mom and Dad continue to fight. What am I going to do? My hands ball into fists as I blink back tears, erecting a steel barricade around my heart.
Mom and Dad won’t break me.
Let them do what they want.
I’ll survive.
After all, if I’m a devil, I’m meant to thrive in whatever hell I end up in.
***
Continue reading Jonah and Valerie’s story in Devil’s Kiss !