by Mj Fields
“What did he do to you?”
I know when he asks, I have to be straight up.
“You ever hear of waterboarding?” I joke.
His eyes show less anger and more concern.
“I’m not repeating this shit, but here it is. I caught him fucking that girl. I was so fucking young. He saw me and waited until he finished before sending her off. Then...then I got pushed around, hit, told that I was in trouble, and he told me that Mom would never stop crying if she ever found out. I believed him.”
I look down and continue. I tell him all about confronting him years later, and Dad pulling me out of bed and to the lake. “He told me that he was doing what he had to do for all of us. Then he told me I was easily replaceable, just like Mom. He said she’d die if she knew, and that would be my fault. I thought he meant he would kill her, but then was sure her heart would break. He held me under the water, then brought me up. I begged him to stop, but he just did it again and again, for longer and longer. Then he told me to keep my mouth shut.
“I never wanted you two to go through that. Never wanted Mom to die. So, I just decided to get stronger. And I did.”
“Jesus Christ,” he hisses, running his hand through his hair.
“When I found out about our sister, I stopped planning to murder him.” I look at him so he knows I’m being fucking serious. I am. “I think Mom was blackmailing him, and that’s why he handed over the company. He didn’t need it. He has the other. Found out he was broke, and he told me he’d be forced to take everything away if he didn’t have the funds to support his other family. That’s when Garrett took off, you got married, and I didn’t need the fucking money, so I gave it to him. Last time was when you divorced Juliana and found out Brand wasn’t yours. I just handed it over. Didn’t want a fight. Didn’t want to come to you. Didn’t want a fucking thing. Still wished he’d die. Honestly, still do.”
“Let his fucking ship sink,” Gage snarls.
“Falcon Construction has bonds. Probably friends of his. He’ll sink this one, too.”
“Let him. I don’t fucking care anymore.”
I let him process that his life has been a lie. I had years. He’s had minutes.
“And Mom?” he asks.
“Can you imagine what she’s been going through?” I huff.
“She lets him back in,” he snarls.
I sigh. “Gotta be a reason. I just don’t know what it is yet.”
“I do.” He stands, and I follow suite. “Same fucking reason you didn’t say shit. She’s trying to protect us. We don’t need protection. We need to fucking live.” He walks toward the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He ends up staying in there for a long time., and I get it. I totally get it.
I look up when I see two people walk through the door. I’m about ready to say something when I hear him say, “I’m Garrett Falcon. My mother was in an accident. Gail Falcon. Her attorney just contacted me. How is she and when can I see her?”
I stand, heart pounding in my chest, and look back when I hear Gage say, “Mom?”
Chapter Thirty
Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Mandee
Dad wakes up less than ten minutes after we walk in the room and groans.
I try to hold it all back, but tears fall.
“I wanna hug you, but don’t want to hurt you.”
“Bring it in, Doodlebug. I’m fucked up.” He sighs, and so I do.
“Don’t ever get in an accident again, not ever,” I cry.
He chuckles. I think he’s high. “That’s why they’re called accidents—can’t plan for them.”
I pull back and nod as I bat away tears.
“Why the fuck are my legs in the air?” he grumbles.
“Both broke, but you’re alive, Dad,” I answer.
“Gail?” he mumbles as he tries to swallow.
“Was that your date’s name?” I try to joke, and then I shake my head. “They won’t tell us anything because her family’s not here.”
“Those Falcon boys around?” he asks, looking at Phoenix then me.
I nod. “Sorry, Dad, but I like him.”
“Knew that. But, where are they?”
“I really like him, and I—”
“Gail Falcon. The driver was—”
“What?” I gasp.
“Called me. Wanted to meet,” he says.
“Daddy?” I want to go to him. I want to, but I can’t.
“I’ll explain later. Go. Come back when you can. Gonna be fine.”
Phoenix and I both hurry toward the door.
“Girls, stay away from the father. Bad news. Stay away. Not fucking around.”
“I know, Dad,” I say, running back and kissing his cheek.
“Hey,” he says when I’m at the door again. “He the one?”
I nod, and he groans.
“You sure he’s worth the trouble?”
“Yeah, Daddy, I’m sure.”
“Tell him, when all is well, he and I are gonna chat. And by that, I mean he’s gonna listen. Now go.”
Phoenix and I all but run back to the waiting room. When we get through the door, I see Gray sitting with his head in his hands.
I run up and squat down in front of him. “Gray,” I start.
He looks up, and I swear I see tears filling his eyes. He knows.
I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him. I feel his chin on my head, and then I feel him take a deep breath.
“Dad told us. How is she?”
“She’s critical,” he whispers. “Waiting on her surgeon, or a nurse, or something—someone to tell us. Juliana and Garrett are talking to the nurse. Think she’s going over her chart.”
“So, you’ll know soon,” I tell him, leaning back and taking his hands. “Dad woke up, and he told us. We came—”
“You should go back with him,” he says.
“He told us to come be with you.” I kiss his hands.
“You told him—”
“No, I guess your mom did. She wanted to meet him?”
“Probably gonna try to pay him off to keep you away, like she did Phoenix.”
“No, Gray, she told him something about your dad being a bad man.”
He takes my hands and pulls me up as he stands. “I wanna talk to him.”
“You sure?”
He nods. “I just want to know, Mandee. I wanna know what she knows.” He looks over, and I follow his eyes. He’s looking at Gage.
Gage nods. “Me, too.”
§
When Gray and I walk in, Dad’s still awake.
“How’s your mom?” Dad immediately asks.
“Waiting to find out.” Gray walks up to his side. “Got a lot of questions. I know you got some, too. I’ll put your mind at ease. I love her. I was gonna take off, got to New York, and couldn’t do it. I’m gonna read that book about love, the one your wife and Mandee put together, and I promise you, whatever it takes, she’ll be happy.”
Dad nods. “Probably not the right time to say it, but gonna, anyway. I will kill you with my bare hands if you hurt her.”
Gray nods back. “Wouldn’t expect anything different.”
“Your mom called me, said she knew something was brewing between our kids. Told me that, when her boys find the one, they don’t let go. Told me she may not have been the best role model. Asked if I could meet her, and I, of course, agreed.” Dad stops and squints his eyes. I know he’s in pain.
“You need to stop, that’s cool. Need to rest, I get it.”
“I’m fine.” He opens his eyes. “Your dad wants back. Says he’ll ruin you boys if she doesn’t allow it. Apparently, he’s looking for money, and she refuses to give it to him.”
“He has his own company in Portugal. Evidently, he doesn’t know how to manage it.”
“Your mom probably was better at it than him. She knows she’s messed up a lot, but seems to have done it for the right reasons. As a father, I get it. We don’t always know what t
he hell our actions and choices are gonna cause. We just want to make sure you’re okay.” He looks at me, and I smile sadly at him.
“She said you are the one she thinks he targets. Said she walked in on an argument. So, she wanted me to be aware of it. She wanted me to know you were a better man than him. And your heart”—he rolls his eyes—“it’s a big one.”
He looks beyond us and nods. “Come on in.”
I look back as Gage, Phoenix, Garrett, and Juliana walk in.
“Go on,” Gray says.
I look up at him. “You told them?”
He nods. “Told you I was gonna.”
I lean into him.
Dad looks at me, then Gray, and back at me, before looking away and continuing. “He has two children with someone whose dad died, and she confronted him. He told her he was doing what he had to, to protect his boys. He told her it was for all of you. Then he tried to get money out of your mom. So did the woman. Your mom sent her money. When I asked why, she told me that no child should go hungry. The bitch told her it wasn’t enough. Not sure of the figure, but I’m telling you, it’s more than I’ve ever touched.”
“Two kids?” Gray asks.
Dad nods. “Don’t know all the details. Older one, you named a guitar after?”
Gray shrugs. “She’s family.”
“You’ve met her?” Garrett asks from behind.
“No. But it doesn’t matter. I know what I’d do for you two, what you’d do for me, what you’ve done for each other,” Gray states.
“Your mom said Mags was a better woman than she was. She credits her for who you boys are. I told her to give herself some credit.”
“Why?” Gage asks.
“Because she did what she did, wanting you boys to have a good life. She protected you from all that, and I know damn well she was telling the truth when she said she had no idea the hell Garrett went through. She said her intuition was right and was glad you didn’t have a constant reminder of a half-sister who is family to that monster.” He points at Gage. “She didn’t know about you and the rock, either.”
“She told you that?” Gage’s eyes widen.
“She told me a lot. I’m not saying a word outside of here. Your secrets are mine now, too. Apparently, my daughter’s going to be part of this fucked-up mess.” Grayson stiffens at his words. Dad notices. “I’m not sorry about that. I’m happy she’ll have men who will do whatever necessary to protect their family. Which brings me full-circle. Your father is running scared. Scared men do stupid shit.”
“Brand,” Juliana gasps.
“Fuck,” Garrett snarls.
Dad looks at me. “Call Janice and have her get them before she heads here.”
“Janice the bartender, Mom’s friend?” I ask as I scroll through my phone.
“Janice, the woman I’m gonna start dating as soon as I get back, if she’ll have me.”
I nod. “Is she the one you went on a date that night I was, you know.”
“Yeah,” he says.
“You do know you’re fucked up, Will, and you seriously should try it more often. You act half-human,” Phoenix tells him.
He closes his eyes. “You’re fired.”
“Again?”
Chapter Thirty-One
Craving
Grayson
It’s been four days. We now have some answers, and Dad, he’s back in Portugal, clearly pulling strings because all of Falcon Construction Bonds have been called in, keeping Gage busy as hell trying to salvage a business he doesn’t want, because his employees depend on him.
I offered to give him what I have, but he refused, saying, “It is what it is. Either it works out or it doesn’t.”
I did hire a crew to build a ramp, knowing when Will gets released, he will be in a wheelchair for a while. Would have built it myself, but I can’t fucking leave her, and she won’t leave me or her dad.
Today, Mom is off the ventilator and breathing on her own. They have taken her off the drip with drugs keeping her in the medically induced coma, allowing her brain to rest in hopes all that swelling goes down, so when she wakes up, they can see what limitations we are working with.
They were hit on the driver’s side, so most of the bones in her arm are broken, her hip was shattered, and her head, well, it’s better now, but she looked so fucked up.
Monday, if she’s still stable, we are having her moved closer to home. The hospital where Juliana is going to work part-time is ready for her.
I sit, holding her hand and wondering when she got so fucking frail? How the hell did she live the way she did for all those years? Other shit I shouldn’t be thinking runs through my head, like a million ways to kill my father slowly without getting caught.
I feel hands on my shoulders and look up.
“You need anything?”
I take Mandee’s hand and guide her up in front of me. “You.”
“That’s good. I need you, too.” She sits on my lap.
“What a mess.” I sigh. “Tell me something good.”
“You’re good,” she says, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Something else.”
“Dad’s getting released today.”
“Well, that is good.”
I look down at her when she shrugs.
“Why just...?” I shrug. “He’s gonna be happy as hell to get out of here.”
“Well, he’s gonna need help.”
“So, you need to go.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” She slides her hand up my neck and tangles them in my hair.
“I’ll go. Need a break, anyway.”
“But who will be here with her?” The concern in her voice just makes me love her that much more.
“I can get someone,” I assure her.
“Garrett and Jules are expecting. Gage is working his ass off trying to keep the company from falling apart.”
“I wish he’d just let it flop.”
“Me, too,” comes out in a husk, and Mandee jumps up.
“Mom?” I get up, too.
“Get me out of this place,” she grumbles.
“I’ll get a nurse!” The excitement in Mandee’s voice is beautiful. I feel like a dick that I didn’t jump up like that when she told me Will was being released.
When the door shuts behind her, Mom whispers, “Get me Nicholas DeAngelo.”
“The cop?” I ask.
“Yes. That bastard is going to pay for what he has done.”
“Dad?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“He’s back overseas,” I inform her.
“Good. Now let’s make sure he never comes back.”
§
Two Weeks Later
Sitting on a stool in the corner, looking at the bar packed to capacity with what must be the whole town, I can’t help smiling. This feels good. Being here feels like home. Been here every day with her. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
She looks amazing in her Carlin’s tee, her ass framed in those black shorts.
Fucking blessed, and Garrett was right; she can make the worst situation feel like it will be all right. She makes shit glitter, for sure.
Last Monday, I was here while she was cleaning, helping her as much as she would allow and getting things set for the week. She must have been real appreciative, because she went to the kitchen when I was fucking around out in the dining room, trying to figure out how to add that bathroom and coat check area she talked about.
Until I smelled bacon.
I walked into the kitchen, and she was making me some of that chocolate covered bacon. Yeah, I got hard. When she spilled the chocolate on her finger, I licked it off. It had been a week since we had done much more than holding each other through the hell and kissing, which was more in comfort than sexual need. Crazy that a look filled with love, a pat on the back, a shoulder rub, simply holding hands, or having her on my lap, wrapped around me, makes everything better. Felt almost as good as fucking, too.
&n
bsp; Almost.
I couldn’t help myself. I laid her out on the stainless-steel island and made a meal out of her. Then...then she fed me chocolate covered bacon and sucked me off so good I saw stars. Then we fucked in her old man’s office.
Almost felt bad about that, too.
Almost.
He makes me leave at night. I sneak right back in when his pain meds kick in.
Disrespectful? Maybe. But, her and I, we need each other. She would be staying with me if he was walking; she told me so.
God, she’s fucking beautiful, inside and out.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” I say over the microphone, trying to focus on Mandee, because I hate this shit. “Tonight is our first fondle Friday.”
Mandee covers her mouth.
“Oh, my bad, I meant frontal Friday.”
She palms her face.
“Sorry, hot lips, I keep messing this up. Told you not to put me up here in front of everyone. We both know I’m better behind closed doors.”
Now she covers her face with both hands while everyone hoots and howls.
“In all seriousness, it’s Carlin’s first of many Fondue Fridays. It’s no secret to my family, close friends, and Mandee”—I wink—“that I love chocolate. In fact, I think the reason I fell in love with her is because she lost a bet and had to pay up in chocolate bacon.
“As you can see, we have desserts set up everywhere in the bar, and back in the dining room, we’re five minutes from dinner. All fondue, all night. And for the next two hours, you get me and my guitar, Glory.” I avoid looking at my brothers, knowing it probably stings that I held back that secret for so long, but they don’t seem to be as upset or affected as I imagined.
“Eat, drink, dance, and most importantly, enjoy.” I grab my guitar, set it on my lap, and start playing “Craving You,” by Thomas Rhett.
“Every time we have to say goodbye, I’m counting down until we say hello...”
Everyone here is having a good time, even Blue. When he walked in, I was singing, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by Eli Young Band. He had a girl with him. I watched Mandee, my Mandee, give him a thumbs-up. He looked down and gave her one back.
