by Ivy Wild
Vartan continued, his voice becoming icier with each word. “He had a second family. His ‘main’ family, he kept in Potomac. In that extensive mansion. Pampered. Privileged. Given everything they wanted. See, my mother and I lived in Brazil. I grew up mostly without a father. When you’re the embarrassing mistake of a drunken night, you apparently don’t qualify for a lot of quality time.”
I stood frozen to the spot, listening to this revelation. I couldn’t believe it and I knew that Silas didn’t know. At least, I was pretty sure he didn’t. I’d like to believe that if he knew, he would have told me.
“We were comfortable enough. But nothing like what was given to the number one family. Of course, it was a given that I had to join the local cartel. Did you know they even ran a big-brother type program in our ghetto? If you didn’t have a daddy, at least you had a gang mentor to watch your soccer game.” He laughed bitterly. “It wasn’t until his wife was finally beyond recovery that we were even able to move out of the ghetto we were living in and come to the States. He never wanted us to move. He just wanted us to stay in Brazil. He had a phony company set up there where my mother ‘worked.’ It’s how he wired us enough money to almost make ends meet.
“When mom heard his wife was dying, she threatened to expose him unless he moved us to the States and finally started taking care of us properly. I dunno, maybe she thought we could be a regular family. She was always a little light on the logic side, if you know what I mean,” he said with a laugh.
Vartan’s story was lining up and it sent a shiver down my spine. The way he’d moved to the States in the middle of the year. The way no one knew exactly where he’d come from or why he’d transferred.
“What’s this got to do with me?”
“You were an only child, Skyler. You never knew what it felt like to be loved less than your brother or sister. Everything your mother has, she gives to you. Well, that wasn’t my life. Dad cared enough to keep my mother quiet so she wouldn’t cause a publicity scandal for him and he cared even less about me. Silas got everything I was due. He got it all and he didn’t even appreciate it. He owes me a debt. And I’m here to collect.”
“I still don’t see what this has to do with me?” I was trembling now. I was such an idiot for not keeping my phone on me. If only I had it, I could at least try and dial 911 behind my back.
“But don’t you? You have to know that the only thing Silas Jenkins ever truly wanted in this world was you.”
I scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Vartan frowned and shook his head. “I’m not. I watched him, Skyler. His movements. His habits. His patterns. He loved you like a lovesick puppy. Still does. And I’m going to take that away from him.”
I swallowed hard. “How?”
Vartan’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. See, that would hurt Silas, sure. But I don’t just want to hurt him. I want him to watch me take the very thing he loves away from him.”
“And just how are you going to do that?” I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer, but the question needed to be asked.
“Congratulations, Skyler,” he said, pulling a box out of his back pocket. He threw it to me and I caught it on instinct. “On your engagement.”
I opened the box to find a huge engagement ring nestled in the little cushion. I snapped it shut and looked up at him in horror. “I’m never going to agree to this,” I said immediately.
“I thought you might say that,” he replied. “And I came prepared. See, I know how much you love Silas. How much you’d never want to see anything bad happen to him. I don’t understand it. He doesn’t deserve it, but maybe you’re just an ignorant bitch that way.”
My eyes burned daggers at him, but I was helpless to do anything but stand and listen.
“Did you know that Silas has been a part owner in all of Percy’s companies since the time he was in diapers? Rich fucks who have too much money set things up like that so that they can funnel money to their heirs and avoid paying estate taxes when they die. Problem is, if they’re being bad, it implicates everybody who’s an owner in that company.”
I grit my teeth. Silas never had anything to do with his father’s businesses until Percy died. I knew he stayed as far away from him as possible.
“So you see, when Percy got greedy and created a fake company in Brazil just so he could deduct the money he was spending to support his second family from his tax returns, not only was he committing fraud, but everybody who had an ownership stake in that company was too.” He laughed. “And you want to know who else had an ownership stake in that company?”
I twisted my lips, refusing to play his game.
“Oh, come on doll, it’s not fun if you don’t play along.”
“Fuck you, Vartan.”
His eyes went dark, and I backed up instinctively.
“You know, I didn’t plan on touching you. What, with the way you look and everything, you’re not very attractive. But, I bet your pussy is as nice and soft as the rest of them. Maybe it hasn’t even been touched, hm? I could put a bag over your head and lift that burden for you, if that’s what you’re really asking for.”
My mouth went dry and he laughed at the look of horror on my face.
“No? Well, probably for the better. I doubt I’d be able to come knowing it was you I was fucking.”
I tried to regain my composure. I didn’t want him to see me acting scared, but it was a difficult performance.
“The point is, your precious Silas could go away for a very long time if the right information was dropped on the right agent. Information that suggested one of his companies was avoiding taxes. Maybe even information that said one of his companies was helping fund a Brazilian gang.” He chuckled darkly. “I can certainly testify as to where some of his money ended up.”
“Silas hasn’t spoken to me since high school, Vartan. You’re an idiot if you think he loves me and that this is somehow going to get to him.”
“Think whatever you want, but we both know you always mess up when it comes to Silas.”
I could feel my palms sweating against the cold metal of the fridge behind me. I’d backed up as far as I could and I felt totally helpless to do anything.
“So what now?” I asked. “How does this all end?”
Vartan smiled, his features no longer friendly like they had been just hours before. “It begins with us getting married and Silas getting his heart ripped out. How it ends, I’m not quite sure yet.”
It’d been a year—an entire year since Vartan cornered me in my loft and forced me to agree to marry him. I’d been carrying the huge rock around on my finger and if it started out feeling heavy, the weight of it and everything it represented was almost crushing now.
He said he had some elaborate scheme for ripping Silas’ heart out and he guaranteed that what he knew could get him thrown in jail, so I’d agreed. I’d agreed because I’d rather see Silas’ heart ripped out than to have him go to federal prison for crimes he didn’t commit.
But the longer and longer I waited for Vartan to do something, to make an announcement, to move forward with his plan, the less and less I believed he actually had a plan at all.
I was seriously starting to doubt whether any of what he’d told me was true. I couldn’t understand why after all this time, he still hadn’t made our engagement official. We barely saw one another and he never touched me or even tried. The whole charade was getting old and each day the fear I felt about the situation grew smaller and smaller.
Until one day, I took the metro over to his Constitution Avenue office. He’d majored in accounting and had landed himself a cushy six figure office job in the center of the city off of Percy’s connections. He complained that Silas stole everything from him, but he looked like he was cashing in just fine. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, his hate for Silas was decreasing as things started to improve for him.
At least I hoped that was the case, because I really did
not want him going after Silas, especially not after what I was about to do.
I tossed the box with the ring in it across his desk and he caught it. He looked up at me with a question in his cold dark eyes.
“I’m out,” I said harshly.
“There’s no getting out of this, Skyler. You agreed and you’re very much in.”
“Well, I guess you’ll have to explain to the wedding officiant why I’m not at the wedding when I don’t show up. Because I am not going to marry you, Vartan. This entire charade that you’ve dragged me through this past year has been just that—a hoax. You don’t have info on Silas. If you did, you wouldn’t have involved me in the first place. I think if you could have seen him rot in jail, you would have pulled that trigger in a heartbeat. Your gun is full of blanks and you’re trying to bluff your way through a game of Russian Roulette. Well, I’m not buying it.” My words came out fast and panicked, but I knew I had to get them out there otherwise I wouldn’t have the courage to say them.
He sat with his hands folded over the little ring box, looking eerily calm.
“You seem rather sure of yourself.”
I straightened my back, trying to feign confidence. “I am. I’m done, Vartan. With this, with you, with all of it. Silas and I haven’t spoken in over four years. Whatever you think we had together is long buried under a pile of ash. I’m not going to be yours or anyone’s puppet.”
“If that’s your decision,” he said.
“It is,” I replied as I made my way to the door.
“Then you’ll live to regret it,” he muttered under his breath as I walked out, leaving him behind.
* * *
Present
Skyler seemed particularly nervous for this morning’s meeting, which was strange. A part of me wanted to believe it was because she cared about whether I was going to get my ass thrown in prison for tax evasion, but another part of me reminded me that she hated me and was probably more likely to be sad about not being able to collect a paycheck should that happen.
But as much as she claimed she hated me, I could see the remains of our ruined relationship under the pile of ash. Every time I walked by her, every time I looked at her, every time I touched her, I cleared a little more black soot off her heart. Unlike mine, hers was still there, beating, feeling, loving.
She couldn’t hide it from me.
She never was able to keep things from me.
Especially her heart.
Still, her anxiety as we stood outside the odd building was at an all-time high and I reached down and squeezed her hand to try and reassure her. I was acutely aware of the hole in my chest when she squeezed me back and didn’t pull away.
I loved the feeling of her fingers wrapped around mine and I didn’t let go of her the entire time we walked into the house. Even just that small touch calmed me, warmed me, comforted me. It had always been this way with her.
With her standing next to me, I didn’t even feel all that nervous about whatever the fuck this meeting was. I’ll admit, it was a little odd to be holding an interview in Anacostia. More so in a fucking row house, but whatever. I’d dealt with enough bullshit government enquiries in my day to know that there were shitty side offices all over the city.
We walked up the stairs and a voice called out to us from the front room. Skyler’s eyes widened frantically upon hearing it and I gave her another squeeze of my hand before pulling her towards the room. The faster we got this over with, the faster I could get her back to her place and see how far I could push her this time.
I could tell she was ready to crack and when she did, I wanted to be there to catch all of her fucking pieces.
We walked into the small makeshift office and I got a good look at the man sitting at the desk. My blood began to boil as I pieced everything together. He was the same as he’d always been, a smug bastard with too much righteous indignation all over his fucking face.
“Vartan Santos,” I spat, not letting go of Skyler. “What the fuck is this all about?”
A sly smile lifted his lips and if it weren’t for the fact that Skyler had a death grip on my hand, I would have gone over there and punched it off his stupid face.
“Silas Jenkins. It’s been a long time. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve waited for this moment for too long. And then, I hit the jackpot. Because, you bring my long lost fiancé with you.”
What the actual fuck?
I turned to look at Skyler and even under her layer of makeup, she was as pale as her normal complexion. She was almost shaking as she looked up at me. Her eyes delivered the blow that was more crushing than a kick to the nuts with steel-toed boots. My hand dropped hers and she looked at me with a mix of fear and sadness. It was the same look she’d given me that day we stood against the entire school and I sold out.
Except this time, she was the one that sold out.
The silence stretched between us and she finally broke eye contact and looked at Vartan with hate in her eyes. “Ex-fiancé,” she spat.
“Oh right, right. Ex-fiancé,” he said with a laugh. “It was so good while it lasted, my love, but I told you, you would regret it if you left.”
Hearing him call her his love, saying it was good, fuck, I couldn’t think straight.
The one person I hated as much, if not more, than my father in the world and Skyler had to, not only apparently fuck him, but agree to marry him? I started to question everything. Was this entire thing a set up by her and Vartan? It didn’t make sense for it to be, right? Because I was the one that asked her to come and work for me. But, what if she’d known I would do that? Placed herself somewhere she knew I would see her?
My mind reeled as it tried to make sense of the situation.
“What do you want from us, Vartan?” she asked, her voice uneven.
I took a step away from her. As far as I was concerned, there was no fucking us at the moment.
“I want everything you promised me I would get, Skyler. I want to stand here and watch Silas decide between everything he has and everything he loves. I want to watch you watch him decide whether you are worth it. I can’t wait to see how this entire show plays out.”
Skyler looked at me helplessly, but I wasn’t having any of it. I crossed my arms over my chest, my brain finally recovering from the shock of the situation.
“What’s your game, Vartan? Tell me why you dragged me here and let’s get this over with.”
“I wonder, did Percy ever tell you about me?” The smirk on his face was really starting to grate on me and now that my hands were free, I really was thinking about going over there and wiping it off his face.
“Why would my father even know you existed?” I drawled.
Vartan let out a bitter laugh and I gave him a disinterested look.
“Just like the Jenkins,” he said. “Only concerned with themselves. Can’t look past their own luxurious lifestyle to understand what’s really going on.”
“Do you have a point to all this nonsense?” I spat.
“I do, brother,” he replied and my eyes widened. “So you really didn’t know? Didn’t suspect that your old man was running around on dear old mom while her brain was melting in the hospital?” My fists clenched at my sides and he laughed. “Don’t feel bad. I doubt I’m the only one of his bastard children. Just one that was smart enough to leverage his position to a better life.
“Well, since my love Skyler never shared this with you, I’ll go ahead and do the honors. Your father fraudulently funneled money to my mother and I while we were living in Brazil under the guise of one of his companies, just so he could treat his second family as a tax write off. It’s a shame, because now you’re the one that has to carry that burden and all the implications that go along with it.
“Agree to my terms and you’ll walk out of here a free man. Don’t,” he chuckled darkly, “and I’ll make sure you go to prison for a long time.” He looked over at Skyler. “And considering that you’ve pulled the cream to our Oreo into this mess, I�
�m fairly certain I could get accessory charges brought against her, as well.”
I kept my mask firmly in place. I wasn’t going to play games with this guy and let him win. He had another thing coming if he thought he could corner me. I didn’t know what the fuck happened between him and Sky, but it looked like he got the one up on her pretty badly. He was an idiot if he thought I was going to be so naïve.
“Just spill your little plan and let’s get this over with. In case you hadn’t realized, I spent the entire weekend sorting through documents thinking I was preparing for a legitimate interview. This is sort of a letdown.”
Vartan tisked and the sound had me grinding my teeth. “Silas, Silas. Always so quick with the comebacks. Alright, here’s the deal: You agree to fork over half your inheritance—it’s what should have gone to me in the first place, and I’ll agree not to spill the beans on your company’s fraud and alleged support of Brazilian gangs. Don’t agree and I’ll see you both in prison or at the very least, drag your names through so much mud you’ll never be able to wash the stench off your bodies.” He paused and gave me a menacing smile. “And one more thing, you and Skyler never speak to one another again.”
“Alright,” I said, uncrossing my arms and looking entirely unfazed by the situation. “I’m not opposed to giving you a cut of the inheritance, or the whole thing if that’s what it takes to move past this situation. If it’s true that you were Percy’s son, then you deserve it as much as I do. And as for Skyler, well, I just hired her on a whim. We went the last decade not speaking to one another. Shouldn’t be too difficult to make it a permanent situation. Give me a week to give you an answer. I’ll need to get my affairs in order to see if it’s even possible to do what you’re asking.”
Vartan fixed me with a bit of a surprised look. I think he thought I was going to resist, struggle, cause a scene. He clearly didn’t know his prey and when you’re trying to be a hunter, that was a recipe for starvation.
“Friday,” he said back. “I’m not going to give you enough time to mount some sort of half-assed defense, if that’s what you think is going to happen.”
