Chapter 19 #2
“Nope. He’s staying in the city, and she hasn’t spoken to him. Her mother isn’t speaking to him either. Our little secret has fucked up her entire family.”
“No fucking way I’m buying that shit. What they did to you and River—this is just karma biting him in the ass.
His daughter falls in fucking love with the kid he put into a shitty prison for teens for a crime his own son committed.
That shit is real, and he needs to feel it.
I hope it haunts his goddamn dreams for years.
” Hayes leaned back against the couch and crossed one leg over the other as if what he’d just said was no big deal.
“Her brother wants her to come to some family therapy session at his rehab out in Boston. And that’s the thing with Demi; she’s pissed at him for everything that’s happened, but she doesn’t give up on people.
She wants to go, but I don’t want her to go alone.
What if he’s not even in rehab? What if that other fucker shows up to mess with her?
” I said, because we were all aware that Ronny was still a loose end that hadn’t been dealt with.
From my experience, loose ends didn’t just go away.
“You want one of us to go so you can train, and we can keep an eye on her?” River asked.
Like I said, these guys always had my back. And I’d always have theirs.
And now they had Demi’s back, and I fucking loved it.
“Let me think about it. I’m leaning toward going with her. We can be back in a day, and at least I’ll be waiting outside if she needs me.”
“Never thought I’d see the day our Golden Boy would fall hard, and for a nice girl, too.” Kingston whistled over his laughter.
“Yeah, we were used to you dating crazy women who might burn your house down if you didn’t return their call quickly enough.” River barked out a laugh.
We were all giving one another a hard time about our dating track records when Pinky knocked on the door.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Uhhh…” He glanced around. “Governor Miller is here, and he asked if he could speak to you.”
Demi’s grandfather.
He wasn’t the governor anymore, but apparently, that title stays with you. I pushed to my feet, and so did the guys.
They clapped me on the shoulder, grabbed their plates, and dropped them into the trash while Pinky went to get Demi’s grandfather and bring him back to my office.
I wasn’t sure what this was about. Maybe he was going to ask me to keep my story to myself. I didn’t have any plans to share it with anyone else.
“Take no shit,” River whisper-hissed in my ear before leading the guys out.
Governor Miller stepped into my office. Pinky’s eyes were wide as he stood behind him, and I motioned for him to close the door.
“Thanks for seeing me, Romeo.” He extended a hand.
“Nice to meet you, Governor.”
“Please, call me Carson,” he said, and I motioned for him to sit down. He took the chair as I moved across from him to sit on the couch.
“Okay, what can I do for you, Carson?” I cleared my throat, preparing for the threat or the bomb that he would drop.
“You can’t do anything for me, son. I’m here to see what I can do for you.” He was in his late seventies, and he had the same green eyes as Demi’s.
“I don’t need anything.”
“Well, I’m going to start with an apology first. I need you to know that I do not support what my son-in-law did to you and your friend, River.
I plan to go and apologize to him in person, as well.
I never cared for Jack when he started dating my daughter in high school.
But she was smitten; you know how teenage girls can be. ”
“I have a younger sister, so I know all too well.”
“But they’ve been together for a long time, and he gave me two of my greatest gifts.
Demi and Slade.” He held his hand up, even though I made no attempt to interrupt.
“Slade is a lost soul, but I don’t use love as a weapon.
He’s my grandson, and I’ll always do what I can to help him.
But I do not condone what either one of them did.
At least Slade has the excuse of being young and an addict, but his father made a very poor decision, and it’s one that he has to live with now. ”
I nodded. “I don’t expect anything from all of this. I had to tell Demi the truth if we were going to be together. And trust me, I tried like hell not to go there.”
He chuckled. “That girl is all sunshine and goodness, isn’t she? Always has been. Sees the good in everyone. Loves hard and works hard. And she’s always known right from wrong. She’s always known who she is.”
“Agreed. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing with me, but I’m not arguing.”
“She’s a good judge of character. She’s been blindsided by her father, and frankly, so have I.
I wouldn’t have guessed he’d do what he did.
And being a politician, that doesn’t happen often.
So, I’m here on behalf of my family to tell you that I’m sorry for what happened.
It’s unacceptable. Demi told me that she’d like you to come out to the house and you don’t feel comfortable, and I understand why you wouldn’t, but I came here to tell you that we would welcome you coming to our home.
My wife is devastated by this latest news, and we’d like to try to make it right.
You’re important to Demi, which means you’re important to us. ”
This was probably the last thing on the planet I would have expected.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. She wants me to come out and run with her while she’s riding horseback,” I chuckled.
“Let me just say this: You’re much more welcome than her father is at the moment.
He’s a smart man; he’ll stay away for a while.
He’s ashamed of his actions, whether it be because of what he did or the fact that he got caught—I don’t know for certain which it is.
But he knows he messed up. That’s why he’s hiding away. ”
I wasn’t sure if that was true, but Carson Miller seemed like a straight shooter.
“I’ll definitely come by with Demi soon.” I cleared my throat. “But I do have another concern.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Ronny Waterstone. I know Demi shared what happened, and I don’t like that he’s just out there walking around.”
“We’re on the same page, then. His grandfather and his father have received a call from me.
There will be no further business interactions on my end, and I reached out to a police officer friend to see if we can do anything about a restraining order, but we’re going to need Demi to get this documented if we want to do that.
He’s a piece-of-shit kid. I don’t think he’d be brave enough to come near her now that he knows we’re all aware of what happened, but I wouldn’t have thought he’d do what he’s done, so I can’t say for certain.
I will crush that little pissant if he comes near her, though.
But I have a hunch he’d have to survive you first.”
I nodded and felt my lips turn up in the corners. “You’d be correct. What about Demi’s father’s business ventures with Ronny’s father?”
“I have not spoken to Jack since everything came to light. I’m too angry at the moment. But after my conversation with Ronny’s father and grandfather, I don’t believe they’re going to be doing anything because they were very disturbed by the information.”
“All right. That’s good to know.”
“So, you’ve got this fight coming up, and my granddaughter tells me you’re training hard. How about you come and have a big T-bone steak with us this weekend?”
I thought about it. “Okay. I’d like that.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be heading over to River’s law office to see if I can get him to come out to the ranch, as well, and maybe he’ll even join us for steaks.”
River wouldn’t normally be into that, but he had a soft spot for Demi, so I figured he’d probably agree, seeing as this was her grandfather.
I offered him my hand, but he pulled me in for a hug, which shocked the shit out of me.
In a way, it felt like that bad chapter in our lives was finally being put to rest.