Could he even do that? I was desperate, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to do anything other than accept the offer at this point. “All right.”
“What do you say, Hazel?”
“Thank you, Ricky.” Well, that was me, hitting rock bottom.
33
Damien
My New York apartment welcomed me home with silence.
Thankfully, I fucking owned this place, and there was nothing Mortimer could do about it, short of buying the building out from under me. I doubted he’d do that—he had more important things to worry about, like fellating his own ego.
I dropped my bags by the front door, walked to the leather sofa with its view of the city through floor-to-ceiling windows, and sat down, loosening my tie, hankering for a bourbon.
Not that it would fix the fucking problem.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She’d torn whatever bullshit relationship we’d built in two, betrayed me, taken my father’s side, and slept with men while we’d been together, yet I couldn’t rid myself of the aching hollow spot in my chest.
“Get your shit together,” I muttered and pushed off the sofa.
Half an hour later, I was back in the same spot, equipped with a drink, my laptop, and the will to break out on my own. I’d always had the plans to start my own business, one that would rival my father’s in size, if not in purpose, but I’d held off.
I’d figured that I’d need more money, more time, and now I had all the time in the world, and some cash saved up. But my father, if he discovered my plans, would make it his life’s pursuit to ruin me.
So be it.
I was fucking ready to fight him. I was ready to expose him to the world.
Expose what he’d done to get ahead. Expose how he’d destroyed our family for financial gain.
And I was ready to do something that would uplift my mother’s memory. Not only to honor her, but to spite him so sorely he wouldn’t forget it until the day he died. And even then, when he was in the pit of hell, he’d writhe and seethe over the fact that I had done it for her, not for him.
I popped my laptop open and set to work, typing, planning, occasionally calling an old business contact who would remain loyal to me rather than my father, to work things out.
At 2:00 a.m., my phone rang, and I picked up without looking at the caller ID. “This is Damien Woods,” I said.
“You know it’s her sister, right?” My brother’s tone was sharp. “The one who’s doing the porn? It’s her sister. Kara.”
“And hello to you too,” I replied, setting down my drink. I’d had five already, and my vision had started swimming, but it was worth it. Helped dull the pain. “Nice of you to call. I assume Mortimer’s got you in meetings with directors.”
“That’s not what this call is about, Damien.”
“You want to talk about porn?”
“I want to talk about you being a fucking dickhead. Kara is the one doing porn,” Seth said. “I forced it out of Dad. He was oh so proud that he managed to find out you were lying to us all. So proud that he thought lying to you was a good idea.”
“Dude, I don’t care who did what. The porn wasn’t the problem.” Lie. It had been a part of the problem, but not the entire problem. Hazel had still sold out for money from my father.
“You’re lying to yourself,” Seth said. “Look, I don’t want to see you unhappy. Hazel’s a good woman.”
“Hazel told my father about the contract. She recorded us together as proof. She betrayed my trust completely.”
“And you didn’t betray hers?” Seth asked. “You didn’t take her virginity and walk out on her? Tell her you had feelings for her and then leave?”
“That’s ancient history. And there was a reason that happened.”
“Yeah, you’re a prick. You had no qualms about walking out on her when it suited you,” Seth said.
“I was eighteen fucking years old.”
“Yeah, sure. But you still did what you did, and you didn’t feel too bad about it.”
“You don’t know shit about shit if you think… you know what? Not discussing this with you.”
Seth exhaled into the receiver. “Look, there’s got to be more to this than meets the eye, man. I know that you want to believe she’s some evil chick who was tricking you out of your money, but that ain’t it. That ain’t it. And kicking her out? Cutting her off? That ain’t the play.”
“Why do you care, Seth? This has nothing to do with you. Or are you still hoping to get away from Mortimer? Hoping that I’ll miraculously get engaged so that you can escape your fate?”
“I’m always hoping,” Seth said. “But that’s not why I care. Damien, I’ve watched you live a half-life for years, and these past few weeks? It’s the first time I’ve seen you genuinely smile and laugh about something since we were kids. You love her.”
“Hanging up.”
“Brother, listen to me. You’re making a huge mistake if you shut her out of your life.”
I grunted. “It was just a deal. I hired her to help me get what I wanted out of Mortimer. That failed. It’s over. Everybody can move on.”
“If it’s just a deal, why won’t you talk to her? Why are you so pressed? Why did you assume that she was the one who did porn when she wasn’t?”
“I’m not pressed. I’m moving on.”
“Bullshit,” Seth said. “Bullshit, dude. You didn’t even do your research. You want to believe that she’s the one who’s done all this bad shit, because you’re afraid.”
“Believe what you want to believe. I don’t have time for this.” I hung up on my brother for the first time in my life. Seth had always been closest to me, maybe even closer than Caleb, who was off somewhere saving lives, but he’d overstepped this time.
Nothing anyone could say would change
