Chapter 56
Chapter
Fifty-Six
Alana
Iwalk up the few steps of my parents’ old brownstone and ring the doorbell.
Hugo waits in the car, watching me. Waiting for my decision.
Do I go back to LA with him or stay here with my father?
My pulse races as I wait for the door to be answered.
I pored over the papers Alejandro gave me last night, and they made for very interesting reading indeed.
If they’re genuine, then my father’s explanation for my forced marriage to Alejandro doesn’t make any sense.
If what I read is true, then he did commit tax fraud, and the Montoya Corporation helped make it go away.
It seems that my father had an entirely different reason for marrying me off to the heir of the Montoya family business.
Of course, paperwork can be faked, but I have an awful feeling it’s real. That Alejandro is the only one telling me the truth. And how do I feel about that? About a man who bought me like a car?
I take a deep breath.
I can do this.
Can I? I’m about to confront my father, a man I’ve always admired, and accuse him of something so heinous it’s unthinkable.
My father’s personal assistant answers the door. “Alana?” Cassandra says. “I didn’t realize you’d be visiting.”
“I’ve come to see my father. Is he home?”
She steps aside and opens the door wider. “Of course. Come in, come in. He’ll be so happy to see you.”
I follow her and give Paolo a nod hello on my way to the kitchen, where my father is reading the morning paper.
I wonder briefly why Cassandra’s here so early in the morning but dismiss the thought from my mind.
I have enough to confront him about, and I don’t need to add the question of whether he’s having an affair with his PA to my list.
“Sweetheart.” He folds the newspaper and sets it aside. “What are you doing here?”
I shrug. “I just needed to see you, Daddy.” It breaks my heart that this will probably be the last time I ever call him that.
He gets up and places a hand on my shoulder, looking every bit the concerned father. “Is everything okay?”
I blink back tears. How the hell am I going to do this? “Where’s Mom?”
“In bed.” He rolls his eyes. “She’s having one of her migraines.”
My mother always has some ailment or another.
I consider asking him to go get her or marching up the stairs and waking her myself, but I think better of it.
I wonder if she has any idea what her darling husband has done.
Was she complicit or simply not bothered enough to care?
As far back as I can recall, she’s only ever shown an interest in his needs, at least back when she showed any consideration for anyone.
He’s always been the most important person in our family.
Everything has only ever been about him and his career, and I never thought to question it until last night, when I was reading through the files Alejandro gave me.
I look sideways at Cassandra, and she reads the situation like a professional. “I’ll leave you two to it. You must have lots to catch up on, and I need to prep for our interview later. I’ll see you for lunch?” she says to my father.
“Yes. I’ll see you there, Cassie,” he says warmly, and I notice the way their eyes lock for a fraction of a second longer than they should.
For the first time, I’m seeing my father without the filter of being his adoring daughter.
Maybe my mother’s constant illnesses are due to something more than her being a hypochondriac, and like her, I was too focused on him to consider anyone else.
Perhaps he has always had us both right where he wanted us.
Cassandra snaps me from my thoughts. “It was nice to see you, Alana.”
“Yes, you too.” I nod politely and turn to my father once she’s gone. “Is anyone else here?”
“Only Paolo,” he answers, frowning. “Why?”
Paolo has worked for him for two years, and I doubt much goes on in my father’s world that his personal bodyguard isn’t privy to. “I have something delicate to discuss, that’s all.”
“Well, Paolo is right outside the door, and he won’t bother us,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “What is it, sweetheart?”
I sit down at the table, and he returns to his seat.
For the first time in a long time, I really look at him. His hair is grayer than I remember, and he doesn’t seem as tall now. I used to find him formidable, but now he just looks like an old man. Still, he is my father and I love him, and what I’m about to ask isn’t easy.
“I want to know the real reason why you asked me to marry Alejandro,” I say, my voice trembling.
He frowns. “You know why. I would have gone to jail for the rest of my life, sweetheart. He threatened to expose me.”
I shake my head. “But with what, Dad? The information he has on you could damage his business too. Why would he ever expose it?”
His frown turns to a scowl. “For lots of reasons, Alana.”
“Such as?”
He snorts and shakes his head. “You wouldn’t understand. I’ve always protected you too much, and in doing that, I’ve failed you. I can see that now. You don’t have a clue how the real world works, sweetheart.”
Wow. Patronizing much? Does he actually believe any of that bull crap?
“But that’s just it, Dad. I do. And what you told me doesn’t add up.
Not to mention that on the day of our wedding, you received a three-million-dollar payout from the Montoya Corporation.
So, I’ll ask you again. Why did you force me to marry Alejandro Montoya?
Because it sure as hell wasn’t to stop him from ratting you out to the Feds like you told me. ”
“He’s been filling your head full of lies about me. And like a stupid little girl, you believe him,” he spits.
“I’ve seen the papers myself. And I am not a stupid little girl.”
His cheeks turn red, and spittle flies from the corners of his mouth. “I can’t believe you would believe that animal over your own father.”
“You think he’s an animal?”
“I know he is!” he snarls.
I’m not sure if he understands the ramifications of what he’s admitting. “So you truly think he’s an animal, yet you sold your only daughter to him?”
“How dare you come into this house and accuse me.” He jumps out of his seat and shakes his fist in the air. “You ungrateful little bitch. I tried to give you a better life. And it was no easy feat either, convincing him to take you.”
“W-what do you mean?” I remain in my chair, trembling and blinking up at him.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you that, did he?” he scoffs.
“How I had to do a real sales job on him to even consider looking at you. I convinced him you were a Manhattan socialite who would be able to hold her own in his world, instead of a boring bookworm who’d rather spend her Saturday nights working than going out with friends.
But of course, you don’t have any friends, do you, Alana? You never did.”
I stand and stare him in the face. “I did have friends back in Brooklyn. But after I had to move in with you, I never had many because you insisted on making me work for you every spare hour I had.”
He laughs in my face. “I did that to give you some purpose in your life, Alana. Without me, you’d be nothing.
I arranged your marriage to the king of fucking LA, and even that’s not good enough for you.
And now that he’s seen you for who you really are, he’s tossed you aside.
So you’ve come crawling back, trying to blame me for the fact that he doesn’t want you.
I hope he realizes he doesn’t get a refund for returning you. You’re used goods now, sweetheart!”
The sting of his words is like a slap to my face, but I choke down the sob that bubbles up.
He will never see me cry.
I am Alana fucking Montoya.
“You couldn’t be more wrong. Alejandro loves me because of who I really am, not because of who he tries to make me be or who you tried to convince him I was.
You sold me to him, Dad. You sold your only daughter to a man you knew to be a ruthless killer.
You call him an animal, but you are a fucking monster. ”
He raises his arm and brings the back of his hand crashing down against my cheek so hard that my head snaps backward. “You ungrateful little whore.”
I back away as he advances toward me with his fist in the air.
Paolo comes through the kitchen door so fast that I don’t have time to process the fact that he’s in the room until he has my father in a chokehold.
“Get off me,” my father sputters, flailing against Paolo’s superior strength.
“If I let you go, are you going to sit your ass down?” Paolo snarls.
“Yes,” my father croaks.
Paolo releases him, and my father stumbles to a chair, rubbing his throat. “What the hell are you doing? You work for me.”
Paolo glances at me like he’s reassuring himself I’m okay before he turns back to my father. “Actually, I work for Mr. and Mrs. Montoya.”
“What? But you’re my security.”
I’m stunned too. Alejandro has had Paolo working undercover for two years? I know Alejandro and my father have a long-standing business relationship, but wow. That is sneaky, and I’m so grateful for it right now.
“I am,” Paolo says. “But I’m employed by the Montoya Corporation. I was selected by Mr. Montoya himself to protect you and also to keep an eye on his interests.”
“You’ve been spying on me?” my father accuses.
“Keeping an eye on Mr. Montoya’s interests,” he repeats.
“Does that mean me too?” I ask Paolo.
“Not until today, ma’am, when Mr. Montoya told me that you were coming here.
He asked me to make sure no harm came to you.
I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner.” He grimaces, and I wonder if he’s worried about what Alejandro’s reaction will be when he sees my cheek, which is sure to be bruised after the smack my father gave me.
“There’s no need to apologize. I appreciate you intervening when you did,” I say, then glare at my father.
“You sold your own daughter, and you tried to convince me that Alejandro was the monster. You made me marry a man because I believed he was blackmailing you, all for a campaign donation. You make me sick. And I never want to see you again.”
He shoots daggers at me with his eyes, and I can tell he wants to respond, but he’s still sitting under the heat of Paolo’s intense gaze.
“I guess I have nothing left to say.” I shake my head sadly. “It’s time for me to go.”
Paolo walks me to the door and opens it. “Hugo is waiting outside, and Mr. Montoya said to tell you he can take you anywhere you want to go, ma’am.”
Under the watchful eye of Hugo, who remains across the street, I sit on the steps of the brownstone and ponder where to go next.
Visiting my friend Kelsey is tempting given that she’s so close, but if I see her now, I’ll probably turn into a blubbering mess incapable of making any decisions.
I’m not ready to face her when my whole world has just been turned upside down.
I’ve never really known my father at all. Everything I believed about my life and all that I’ve done has been a lie. He isn’t a good man. He isn’t a good father.
He is the monster.
I know the ramifications of that will hit me at some point, but for now I look up at the blue New York sky and watch a bird swoop overhead.
Just like that bird, I’m free. For so long, I’ve lived my life out of a sense of duty and responsibility, and now I have complete freedom to do whatever I choose and not what anyone else wants or manipulates me into doing.
I wipe the tears from my eyes and smile to myself because, for the first time in my life, I know exactly what I want.