57. Kash
Chapter Fifty-Seven
KASH
I love you. It’s not a lie or a manipulation. Please remember that.
Oh, no. My sweet wife wouldn’t lie or manipulate.
Because the universe needed balance, every sinner had someone good to even out the scales.
I was the liar and manipulator in our relationship.
I looked my father.
“Honestly, I thought you would have figured that out a long time ago,” I said. “But that’s the thing about you, you always underestimate people.”
Shock flickered across his face.
“You knew.”
I tilted my head back and forth.
“Not at first. But the more I got to know her, the more it made sense. It’s not about the fucking money.”
If Naina was paid to sell the financial statements, she wouldn’t have needed my money to renovate the Windfield.
Grayson checked her bank records, and there were never any funds transferred into her account.
Hell, that’s why I took her to that gallery in New York, knowing Lex would be there. I wanted to know if she recognized him, if they had ever spoken before.
When she didn’t recognize him, I thought I had it wrong.
“You married a woman who stabbed your family in the back and you’re proud of it?” My father thundered.
“I’m your son, unfortunately for me, that means I’m bound to be a little psychotic. You might want to get rid of him for what I’m about to say next.”
My father waved at Samson to get rid of Victor Blake. I would deal with that man later. Whatever animosity he had towards my wife wouldn’t live to see another day.
“You have always been a disappointment, Kassius. I’m ashamed to call you my son,” my father spat. “Everything I’ve done to make you the man you are and you throw it all way for some two-bit whore.”
“Be very careful what you say about my wife,” I said quietly. “You’re still going to walk out of this room after I’m done, but if you utter a single word against her, I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do. I’ve barely been hanging onto my anger knowing you tried to have her killed.”
Shock shook my father, and he straightened to his full height.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.
“What, you didn’t think I would review the street footage from the accident? Or having Samson wear a mask would somehow make him unrecognizable? You always have Samson do your dirty work, don’t you? Except with David Connolly. I can’t quite figure out if you killed him, or had him killed. I wonder what Aunt Augusta thinks about it?”
I watched with some satisfaction as my father’s face paled.
David Connolly was an investigative journalist my aunt was engaged to, despite our family’s protests and wishes.
Connolly dug too deep into the family and SFV, and he paid for it with his life.
“What do you know about Connolly?”
“Enough that if I gave the information to the FBI, they’re going to have a field day. Oh, and this is going to be with proof of your investment fraud and embezzlement. Embezzlement, really? Did you just do it because you could? Although, I have to admit, you covered your tracks spectacularly. If I hadn’t known where to look, I wouldn’t have found this information.”
My father watched me blankly, and I saw it dawn on him that he had no way of escaping this. The son he considered just good enough had out maneuvered him.
“What do you want? To be married to your little whore?”
I ground my jaw. See, he just didn’t learn.
“What I want is for you to fucking disappear. I don’t care where you go, but you’re not going to be running SFV any longer.”
My father laughed at that.
“Oh, that’s rich. And who’s going to run this company and be the head of this family. You?”
I shrugged.
“You can stay and watch it all crumble around you. Because you’ve left your fingerprints all over your crimes and once the FBI gets it, they’re going to tear it all apart. They might even find things I haven’t found. Your precious family reputation is going to wither and float away. The same people who respect and fear you are going to laugh at you. No one is going to open their doors for you. Even if you manage to win the law suit, you’re going to have a black mark against you that won’t ever go away.”
My father ground his jaw, and for a second, I thought I saw something like pride in his eyes, mixed with the fear.
Both emotions twisted my gut. I wasn’t doing this to make him proud.
I wanted to get rid of him and be free of the monster that haunted me.
“Our investors are never going to support this coup. The company’s stocks will tank and you won’t know the first thing to do.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Was he deliberately being this obtuse?
“Wasn’t this what you literally raised me to do? And don’t worry about the investors, Lex has already taken care of that. We’ve always had the same old investors for all our hotels and it’s time we got some new blood. It’s why we delayed the opening by a week. You’re backed into a corner.”
There was a knock at the door behind me, and Grayson entered.
He handed me a set of documents and walked out the door. I pulled out my pen, and dropped it and documents on the desk.
“You’re going to sign everything over to me, and I do mean everything. You and Diana will get a monthly stipend to live a comfortable life somewhere far away from everyone I love.”
I pushed the pen and documents towards him.
“And I’m going to have you watched, just in case you think you can get away with anything. This is the end of the road.”
My father looked down at the documents on the table.
“This was never what you wanted,” he said, almost wistfully.
Fuck, that.
Did he think that was going to make me change my mind? He could pretend to care all he wanted, this was going to happen.
He was right, though. This was never what I wanted, and it had been one of the things that angered him.
He wanted me to want this, the legacy he was giving me.
This was the legacy he was giving me. Fucking death and destruction. I would have to carry the stains of it because I couldn’t walk away without risking the people I loved.
“You threatened to destroy my mother’s career and reputation, you threatened to sell my cousin, you tried to have my wife killed. You didn’t leave me a fucking choice. I don’t want to be you. I am nothing like you. But I will do anything to protect the people I love, even if that means taking over your position.”
In a way, this was the end of the road for both of us. He was right, this was never the life I wanted and the one he had beaten into me. It wasn’t Naina who had manipulated the situations to her benefit. It was me all along.
The room was dark when I walked in. Naina was probably already in bed. Grayson confirmed that she hadn’t left.
He had posted guards outside Sami, Kat, and Vera’s rooms.
Aunt Augusta and Mom would arrive early in the morning. Both of them had been surprised when I sent the plane for them because neither was welcome around the Sutherlands.
My father wasn’t the one giving the orders now.
Four glowing eyes watched me in the dark, and I turned on a lamp to see Lucy and Jo. I sat down on the sofa, picking up Lucy and cuddling her.
Jo walked over and butted her head against my thigh. I scratched her head with two fingers, and she purred loudly.
Light spilled into the room, and Naina walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing other than my shirt. Her face was cleared of all make-up, hair tied up; she looked soft and fuckable.
Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. My heart twisted painfully.
“That’s right, I didn’t leave. And I’m not going to leave until I explain myself so you can’t break up with me until then.”
She crossed her arms across her chest, her chin tilting up.
“What happened?” I asked, more so because she needed me to. I didn’t really care what happened.
Maybe a few months ago it would have mattered who did it, and why.
Now, it all paled in comparison to everything my father had done.
Naina nodded, pushing back a stray piece of hair.
“I was exhausted, over worked. I was supposed to be on the team for SFV’s lawsuit but Victor chose all his boys, the same guys who had interned with me. He told me the SFV lawsuit wasn’t big enough, and I stupidly believed him because I was so lost. I was still doing most of the grunt work, anyway, reviewing the files and financial statements. I was going to tell Victor what I found.”
Naina paused, and swallowed. I stayed still, Lucy curled over my chest.
“And then Sami called and said Dad died. He had been working too hard, neglecting his health. In my mind, all I could think was that it was because of that stupid resort, and I blamed SFV. But I also blamed Victor for using me to get his boys ahead. He’d manipulated me with grand promises, and he was so sweet at first.”
I was going to kill Victor Blake. I wasn’t sure how to kill someone, but I would figure out because he needed to die.
“You copied the financial statements and gave them to Lex’s lawyers hoping to kill two birds.”
“I completely blacked out. I’d already quit my job, I was moving back home to a place I didn’t want to be, I was lost in grief over dad and angry over Victor because I stayed for this career that he took from me. I thought if I made something of myself, then leaving home would have been worth it. I could get Dad to sell the Inn, and he and Sami could come live with me. In my anger, it all made sense.”
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I breathed.
She had a reason to hate my family, and if she had done it for revenge I would have never held it against her.
She damn sure had a reason to hate Victor Blake, and now so did I. I shouldn’t be surprised she was strong.
I saw Naina’s strength every day.
Naina sniffled.
“It wasn’t about SFV’s fault, though. The Windfield had already been struggling. It was struggling most of my life, that was another reason I wanted my dad to sell it. It wasn’t until you walked into the restaurant that I realized I’d completely fucked up, and even if you remembered meeting me, it wasn’t going to matter against what I did.”
Tears leaked out of her eyes, and she brushed them away. I walked over to her, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her soft lips.
“I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you, Goldie. You have my heart, my soul, my body, and every earthly possession I own. Nothing is going to make me hate you, and I can’t destroy you without destroying myself.”
Naina wrapped her arm around me and tucked her head onto my chest. I tightened my arms around her, kissing the top of her head.
“This is us? Two broken people, and their fur children?”
“I wouldn’t have us any other way,” I said.