Alvin walked in with Tara. “Sorry we’re late. It was hard to sneak from the table with Steve’s loyal guards around.” Alvin announced his entrance.
John turned to them both as he lit a cigarette. “Don’t forget we have $50 million on the line and the village is ours. The White House is ours. This plan must work flawlessly. Don’t fuck this up, Alvin. Don’t get high before we execute.”
“All right, all right! I hear you, man. Let’s run through the plan one more time.”
John put out his cigarette and looked around the room at his loyal team looking back at him.
“Gather around and listen up, everybody.”
“I’m so happy you’re here, son. It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face.”
“More like twenty-five years. Is that long enough for you?” Steve snapped back quickly.
“I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I will tell you everything when the time is right, but I need you here now. I know it may seem like I’m asking a lot for being out of your life. But . . .”
David paused as he gathered his next thoughts. “You have to trust me, son. You will like it here.
Let us just finish our breakfast and head to my chambers. Everything will come into light then and you will see. Trust me.”
Steve looked around at all the faces sitting at the dinner table. His eyes locked onto Jane. They sat there and stared at each other. Jane managed to crack a smile and waved at Steve. She looked beautiful and he wanted to hug her and say sorry for the mess he put her in.
Steve’s eyes rolled back to his plate. Then back at Jane.
I’m going to get out of here, even if it means killing my father, Steve thought to himself as he looked at his long-lost father.
17
The Truth
It was the most awkward breakfast Steve could remember in his adult life. His father continued to smile at him as if they were at some bizarre annual family get-together. He didn’t appear regretful that he hadn’t been there for Steve for most of his life, or even acknowledge the fact. Steve wanted answers but didn’t know how to feel that he had finally found his father.
This explained things, though. It explained why his father had abandoned him and his mother twenty-five years ago. He’d decided to lead an underground cult. A sex-crazed, male-dominant cult. Steve’s face warmed when he thought of all the tantalizing females just outside the door. Like father, like son, he supposed. His thoughts got the best of him when he realized his father chose the cult over him. The women and freedom over being a father to a son in need.
Steve gripped his fork tightly, shoveling eggs and biscuits into his mouth, but they had lost their appeal. Steve was hungry from not having a full meal the last three days but seeing his father all of a sudden made him lose his appetite.
And Jane . . . Steve wasn’t sure if Jane was keeping up appearances or if she really was enjoying breakfast with these crazy sick-os. Steve wanted to know Jane’s thoughts and wanted to escape with her.
David spoke and joked with many of the men he hosted at his breakfast table, talking about his favorite women in the village, sexual fantasies, and how they should invest in top-notch filming equipment for their internet business. The men and women treated David like a king and respected him like he was royalty. He was their leader and the man they admired. Steve hated that David was being idolized and all he wanted was a father to be in his life.
“Have you thought about being in front of a camera, Jane?” David asked with a sly grin.
Jane must have been faking her earlier smile. Now her lips were pressed tightly together, her face pale. She looked like she might vomit in her mouth. Steve could tell this really bothered Jane and it wasn’t her type of party.
“No, not my thing,” She finally replied after a small pause. Jane didn’t even look in David’s direction and kept her eyes on the breakfast plate.
Steve couldn’t hold his tongue any longer and decided to speak up for Jane. “You kidnap these women,” he said. “You kidnap them and bring them here and brainwash them so you can pleasure yourself whenever you want? You put our last name on it like it’s part of me too. How could you do this to them?” Steve slammed his fork down, waiting for a response. The table went quiet and everyone looked at Steve with appalled faces. David raised his grey eyebrows. “It’s not brainwashing, son,” he said. “We called it enlightenment. Everyone benefits for the colony around here and, most importantly, no government to tell us what to do or take money from us,” David said in an authoritative tone.
The table applauded and agreed with David. “Oh, God,” Jane groaned from the other end of the table. Every male eye turned to her in disgust. She focused on her plate, pushing food around. Not wanting to look up but felt the eyes on her.
David wiped at his mouth with a napkin and glanced at Steve’s plate. “You finished, son?”
Steve nodded mutely. He was finished with this nightmare. This unexpected reunion with his father. This was not the family reunion Steve thought he would have.
Questions plagued Steve’s mind. He wanted to scream at his father, shake him until his bones rattled. Not just for what he did to him and his mother . . . but for what he was doing to all these women. Steve wanted to save them, and he thought it was the right thing to do. Be the savior of Breitenbush.
Steve was no saint. He had screwed over plenty of women, but he hadn’t done anything like
