CHAPTER 29 DANNY
“Do you want to press charges?” I ask.
I hear his heavy sigh over the phone. Alexis and I called her dad after the interview, and she admitted she detailed how he’d been blackmailed by Brooks. We’re sitting on stools at my kitchen counter, the phone on speaker between the two of us.
I should’ve asked him a while ago if he wanted to press charges, but it was under wraps before. It won’t be anymore, not once this interview goes live.
And it’s set to go live in just five days. This Thursday night, the interview will be streaming on devices all across the world.
“I’ve thought about it, and at first I didn’t want to make waves with Arthur. We’ve had a great working relationship for many years,” Raymond says.
“But Daddy,” Alexis interrupts. “He blackmailed you. In California, that’s extortion, and it’s illegal. He is the one who made waves when he did that to you.”
“Right,” Raymond agrees. “And that’s why I started by saying at first. Now that Arthur knows, I think he’d understand.”
“And you can get your money back,” Alexis says.
“I don’t know about that. He was smart about how he handled this. There isn’t a paper trail. He made it look like an investment opportunity—which it was, but he’s a sneaky little son of a bitch. He was careful not to cross the line into extortion, at least until he offered to pay me back with the merger.”
“He deserves to rot in prison for what he did. It’s a crime, and I hate that he pushed so hard to come between us,” Alexis says.
I’m quiet as I listen to the two of them. It’s true that Brooks was a vehicle that drove a wedge between father and daughter, but Raymond did his own share of that by controlling Alexis for as long as he did. And the fact that she forgave him for that proves what an amazing woman she is. She didn’t have to. She could’ve held a grudge. But she handled things in the way that was best for her, further proving that she’s fully capable of taking the reins of her own life.
“What do you think?” she asks, nudging me.
“I think he’s an asshole that karma will take care of,” I say. “But if you want to press charges, he deserves it. He’s out of a job, he’s out of a home…he’s already living in a prison of sorts just from those things. I imagine he had to move in with his dad, the man who just fired him. That can’t be comfortable.”
“But once the interview goes live, will we look soft if we don’t press charges?” Raymond asks.
Alexis’s voice is soft when she speaks. “Dad…for once, I want you to think about what you want. I don’t want you to think about how it looks. I don’t care about our image or our brand or how any of this affects any of that. This is what you feel is right in your heart after a man took advantage of you.”
He’s quiet a long time before he finally says, “Then I don’t think I want to press charges. I made mistakes, and I acted stupidly. I trusted the wrong person. I don’t want to get involved in a legal battle that he might end up winning because of loopholes and technicalities. I just want to move forward.”
Alexis presses her lips together and nods. “Then that’s good enough for me. If he did this to you, I can’t imagine he didn’t do it to other people, too. He’ll get what he deserves.”
“He already is,” Raymond says. “I’ve had two of Arthur’s top managers approach me already about a possible management division, and I want you two to look over what they had to say.”
“A management division?” Alexis repeats. “Instead of a merger?”
“That’s right. What do you think?”
She looks at me, her eyes wide, and she waits for me to react first. The look on her face says it all, though. We had the idea first, and she already loves it.
And so do I.
“We’ll look it over and get back to you,” I say, doing my best to keep the emotion out of my voice. We say our goodbyes, and my eyes meet my wife’s. “What do you think?”
“I think I want to stay far, far away from D-Three and any of its current employees, but I like the idea of our own management division…starting with Gemma.”
“Would her current company be okay with you stealing her away?” I ask.
“Her company has a non-compete, but I added a couple of clauses to my contract. One is that I’m her exclusive client, which Leila is pissed about but also okay with since Gemma’s sister also works there so she’s just switching over to her, and another is that I could take her with me if I choose to switch management companies. And switching to my own company would fall under that umbrella.”
My eyes glaze over with lust. “God, your brain is hot.”
She laughs. “It feels good to finally be able to use it for more than just songwriting. And you’ve got a pretty hot brain yourself. It’s such a turn on watching you flip from athlete to businessman without missing a beat.”
“Speaking of songwriting and turn-ons,” I say quietly as I stand and move in behind her. I one shoulder a little as I lower my mouth to her ear. “Need some inspiration for new material?” I drop my lips to her neck.
“Uh…” she says, and she moans a little. “I mean, I don’t write songs about sex, exactly, but…”
“But you could,” I suggest.
“Mm. Yeah, I definitely could.”
I sweep her up off her stool and perch her on the edge of the kitchen counter. I move my lips to hers, and as hers mold easily beneath mine, I can’t help but feel like we really have it all.
This is our home now, and I’m about to fuck my wife on top of the kitchen counter we share.
A year ago, I never would’ve believed it. I never would’ve imagined myself settling down when I was in a scoring position with every woman who crossed my path, but all it took was for me to be caught looking once at the beautiful woman who turned out to be my destiny to give me the greatest grand slam of my life.