I needed my birth certificate. The thought had come to me while I was running from Tico. I could go into the military. If I went into the military, I would be safe from Tico’s gang and if I made it through my tour of duty, they would pay for my college.
And I could finally get off dope for good.
Tossing things out of the box, I came to an old manila envelope. Sliding the document out, I found just what I was looking for.
Ayden Neil Donovan
Mother’s Name: Debra Elaine Warren
Father’s Name: Ashler Lin Blackthorne
Birthplace: Chicago, IL.
My heart leapt into my throat. I’d always believed Jimmy had been my dad. James Donovan was the man who’d married my mother when I was little. Mom had always said he wasn’t, but I thought she was lying.
Now some guy named Ashler was my dad? What the hell kind of name was that? I’d heard of a very wealthy Blackthorne family in New York, but that couldn’t be him could it?
Now I had my birth certificate though. I could do whatever I wanted. Maybe I should go find my father first.
Suddenly, I heard the door rattle downstairs. I thought about confronting Mom, but decided against it. I took my birth certificate and ran out the back door.
Over the next few weeks, I did some research on Ashler Blackthorne.
And I found out just how wealthy and powerful he was.
He already had a son though. My brother, Ashton, who was attending Harvard.
Studying their pictures in the tabloids, I began to learn what type of man my father would expect me to be.
And an ex-junkie just wouldn’t cut it. The track marks were still very visible on my arms. I fought the urge to use every day.
So I enlisted in the Navy.
“Wait a minute, you were in the Navy, too?” Ash was stunned.
“Yep, I sure was.”
“Where were you stationed?”
“Virginia.”
“So was I.”
“Told you we had some things in common besides our parents.” I winked as I finished telling him my tale.
So after I finished my tour of duty in the Navy, I came back to attend the University of Chicago. My track marks had faded substantially and I’d managed to stay clean for over four years.
After receiving my degree in business, I felt ready to move to New York. I’d gotten a job in a small investment bank, so when I met my father I could be more up to his standard.
But little did I know just how high his standards were.
Ash picked the lint off his black dress pants.
“So, tell about the first time you met Dad. You must’ve had quite an impression of him.” He smirked.
“Oh yes. He was definitely a man of distinction.” I mused aloud thinking of my first face to face encounter with my own father.
I had specifically purchased an overpriced Italian suit, one I knew my father would like. I was glad that the sleeves covered my track mark scars and tattoos. I styled my hair conservatively and made sure I was clean shaven. With my leather briefcase, I looked the part of the successful businessman.
I pulled my car up to the valet in front of his Manhattan office building. As I tossed the keys to my ‘95 Corolla to the valet, he did a double take. All of the cars parked around here were Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches, Audis, and BMWs. I was a bit of place and I knew it.
Still, I walked inside the building. Seeing the plaquard that read ‘Blackthorne Enterprises’ I swelled with a bit of pride. No longer was I going to be Ayden Donovan, the son of a drunk and a drug addict, but Ayden Blackthorne, son of the real estate mogul, Ashler Blackthorne.
Taking the elevator to the 11th floor, the doors opened to reveal a very plush office. I knew it would be, but seeing it in person was so incredible I nearly whistled aloud.
A gorgeous receptionist greeted me.
“Hello, Sir. How may I help you?”
I tried not to stare at her sizeable cleavage. She was absolutely stunning. She was giving me the eye as well. I wondered if she noticed the resemblance between myself and my father.
“I’m here to see Mr. Blackthorne.”
She winked at me and flipped through his appointment book.
“Are you Mr. Helms? I have you down for 9:30. Was that my mistake?”
Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was 10:15. Perfect. Apparently, this guy wasn’t going to show up.
“Yes, I am! Sorry, the traffic was awful this morning. And my secretary told me she would contact you to let you know I was running late.”
She shook her head.
“So, you didn’t get a call from Keri? Dammit.”
“It’s okay,” she smiled. “I’ll just let Mr. Blackthorne know you’re here.”
I bit my lip. Shit, my father probably knew this guy already. One look at me and he’d know I wasn’t this Helms guy.
“You can go in.” She winked at me again as I passed her by. God, she had a great ass.
My father was bent over his desk looking at documents when I walked in. I was so nervous I could barely hold my briefcase.
“Helms, come on in. You’re late. I should add that to your bill.” He laughed before glancing up at me.
Our eyes met and his laughter stopped. He stared at me his mouth fell open.
“You’re not….” The words froze on his lips.
I tried to smile at him. I wanted to smile at him, but I was too stunned to speak. He looked just like an older version of me. I couldn’t believe how much we resembled each other.
“Who are you?” He finally asked when he regained his composure. A man like him wasn’t used to be caught off guard like that. He straightened up in his chair.
“I’m Ayden.” I sat my briefcase down on the floor.
“And how can I help you, Ayden?” His voice was smooth like a radio announcer’s.
“I’m…here about a job.” I stammered trying to ease my way into a conversation.
“Have a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from his desk. His office was lavish complete with several marble statues and a huge mahogany desk. The enormous picture window featured a view of Central Park.
“Nice office.” I commented as I sat down. He smoothed his hair back as he studied me.
“So, usually the way this works is my HR department schedules the interviews. I seldom see people personally unless they are outstanding candidates. I assume that you are or else you wouldn’t be here.”
I nodded trying to still my shaking hands.
“You said your name is Ayden. So, Ayden, can you tell me about yourself?”
“I’m from Chicago. I grew up on the South Side with my mother.”
He chuckled.
“I meant professionally. What’s your degree in?”
“Oh, yes, I have a degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. I have a graduate certificate in Finance. I was also in the Navy.”
He nodded smiling.
“Very impressive. My son, Ashton was in the Navy as well. What year did you graduate?”
“College?”
“No, high school.”
I hadn’t graduated high school. I had a GED that I received before going into the Navy, but I didn’t tell him that.
“2001.”
“You’re quite a bit younger than my son. He graduated in 1993.”
Didn’t he see our resemblances? Wasn’t he thinking what I was thinking?
“So, what type of work have you done? Do you have a resume?”
Actually, I did. I’d kept one in my briefcase, but I hadn’t planned on bringing it out.
“I’m working right now at an investment bank in Manhattan.”
He looked puzzled.
“That’s great. Why would you want to work for me?”
It was now or never.
“I don’t. I came here because…because you’re my father.” There I’d blurted it out.
He stared at me long and hard. His eyes blinked several times.
“I’m what?”
“My father.”
He sighed deeply. He tapped his hand on his desk.
“Who told you such a thing?”
I opened my briefcase and removed the copy of my birth certificate. I passed it to him. He slipped his reading glasses on to scan it.
“Debra Donovan? I don’t know any woman named Debra Donovan.”
I felt fury began to build within me.
“I was once married to a Debra though.”
“Yes, that was my mother.”
“It says here you were born in February 1983. Debra and I were divorced in 1982. You couldn’t possibly by my son.”
I slammed my hands down on his desk.
“Look at me! I look just like you!”
His face went pale. He pushed the paper back to me.
“Coincidence. And we don’t look that much alike. Ayden, I’m sorry, but your mother, this Debra obviously just put my name on there.”
I ran my hands through my hair.
“No. Debra, my mother is your ex-wife!”
He swallowed hard and looked down.
“Yes, she was my wife. But she ran off with another man in 1982. If she was pregnant, then it was his baby not mine. Did Debra put you up to this?”
“No! She doesn’t even know I’m here! I left home years ago. I was fed up with her drug use.” I rubbed my face with my hands.
He nodded.
“That’s it. Debra always was into some kind of trouble. She had a penchant for drugs, booze, and apparently, affairs. She needs money, so she sends you to extort from me.”
“No! She didn’t have any part in this! She never told me who you were. I found the birth certificate myself. I wanted to meet you.”
I could detect a yearning in his eyes. He wanted to believe me.
But he wouldn’t, not yet.
“Ayden, I’m sorry, but until a blood test confirms it I won’t claim you as my son.”
“Then do a fucking blood test!” I commanded.
His eyes darted around the room. He stood up.
“I’m sorry, but I have another appointment. Perhaps we can do this later.”
I bolted up from the chair.
“I’m your son! I’ve waited my whole life to meet you! Don’t you care? Don’t you want to know about me?” I was enraged. This was the moment I’d been waiting for my entire life and it was going horribly wrong.
“I only have one son. His name is Ashton. Ayden, I’m sorry you had a difficult life, but there’s nothing I can do for you.”
“Yes, there is. Take the fucking test.”
His cheeks flushed bright red.
“Please don’t make me call security, Ayden. You seem like a good kid. Here, I’ll give you money for a cab ride.” He pulled several twenties out of his pocket.
I slapped his hand. The money fluttered to the floor.
“I don’t want your fucking money!” I turned to run from his office. My heart felt like it had been torn from my body. I had built my father up to be this amazing man and he was nothing but a stuck up prick.
“Ayden! Wait!”
I ran past the pretty receptionist all the way down to the valet. Jumping into my old Corolla, I sped off cursing myself and him all the while. My heart physically ached. I hadn’t felt this bad since Trish had died.
Part of me had died with her.
Ash looked away. He couldn’t meet my eyes.
“I can’t believe he did that.”
I nodded slowly.
“I was crushed by his rejection. I don’t suppose I should’ve blamed him for his reaction. Given I was a stranger who showed up on his doorstep claiming to be his son, I probably wouldn’t have accepted me either.”
Ash stood up and walked to the window. He gazed out at the roaring ocean.
“So, what did you do?”
I took a long drag off my e cig which wasn’t nearly as good as the real thing.
“Had a fucking relapse. I laid around my apartment for a few weeks just smoking. I didn’t hit the vein again, but I was sorely tempted. I started lingering around outside your office. I contemplated introducing myself to you thinking you may accept me even if he didn’t.”
He spun around to face me.
“Well, obviously you didn’t do that. What happened?”
I tapped the e cig against the table. I knew he was going to hate me when I told him.
“I was sitting in that café across from your old office when I saw the most gorgeous blonde I’d ever seen walking into your office. I had to meet her. Little did I know she was your secretary.”
“Amber!” His fists clenched.
“That’s how you met her?”
I nodded.
“Yes. I didn’t know at first she worked for you. I began to follow her working up the courage to approach her.”
“She intimidated you? Why? You’re a good looking guy. You’ve got the Blackthorne swagger.”
I cocked my eyebrow at him. As mad as he was at me, I knew then that he recognized the blood ties between us.
“What can I say? I had issues. I was a bit paranoid due to the coke. Anyway, I met Amber and I fell for her. The fact that she was your secretary only made it sweeter.”
“Did you ever even love her? Or did you just fuck her to get closer to me?” The anger rose in his voice.
“Of course, I loved her. Amber was, is an amazing woman. Who wouldn’t love her? But what happened between us was awful. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was feeling rejected by our father and yes, I was using again.”
Ash sat back down on the chair.
“That’s no excuse for the shit you put her through, Ayden. I didn’t know who you were then, but I saw the agony that poor woman went through. I can’t forgive you for that. Let alone all the shit you pulled recently.”
“Hey, Ash, I’m not here to make excuses. A lot of terrible things happened because of me. I take responsibility for that. I had a shitty childhood, but I know that’s no excuse for the things I did. I’ve told you both how sorry I am. I know I behaved sadistically. But please believe me, Ash, that wasn’t who I really am.”
He sat staring at me. I listened to roar of the ocean outside. It sounded like another Nor’easter was heading our way.
“Ayden, you’ve said your peace. Now let me say mine.”
I nodded at him.
“I’ve found some things out about our father. That’s why I agreed to meet with you. Apparently, he had a whole side to himself he never told me. Growing up, we were very close. I liked to think of him as my best friend as I got older, but I guess he didn’t feel the same about me.”
“Ash, I envy you. I really do.”
“Hear me out, Ayden. I admit I’m privileged that I got to know him, but there were dark secrets he kept from me.”
Narrowing my eyes, I dug a real pack of cigarettes out of my pocket.
“Mind if I smoke, Ash?”
“I normally don’t allow it, but hell, give me one too.”
Lighting two cigarettes, I handed him one. He coughed as he exhaled.
“Been a while?”
“Yes.” He choked.
“What did you find out?”
Ash went over to the desk and pulled out a black box.
“This.”
I pulled the lid off and looked to see what was in it. Stacks of old photos, a .45, and newspaper clippings filled the box.
“Alice’s Attic?” I asked looking at the .45.
Ash nodded flicking the butt into a marble ashtray.
“Dad’s band. He was the lead singer and a guitarist.”
“His band?”
Ash nodded.
“Do you have a record player? I’d love to hear it.”
Ash led me over to the corner where a huge oak cabinet stood. Pulling back the sliding doors, he revealed the aging record player.
Taking the .45 from me, he dropped it onto the turntable.
Soon, the driving sounds of ‘Witchy
Girl’ filled the room.
“Wow, he’s really good.” I stood back in amazement. Hearing my father’s voice warmed my heart.
“Yes, he is. I was floored when I first heard it. The man singing that song is not the father I knew.” Ash’s eyes misted a bit with tears.
“What little I knew of him doesn’t match with that either.” I shook my head looking at the album cover.
Glancing through the newspaper clippings, I was astounded to see the colorful life my father apparently had led.
“So, what does this mean, Ash? Does it really matter today if he was some hippie musician in the 70s?”
Ash shrugged. He finished the cigarette and tossed the butt out the window.
“I suppose nothing in and of itself. It’s more of the fact he hid so much from me. He never told me about you or any of this stuff.”
“That makes two of us, Ash. What about this girl, Amelia?”
“She’s the daughter of Rita, Dad’s old lover. She was actually going to be my stepmother after Debra left, but they broke up. Clayton said that Rita was using again, so Dad kicked her out. Amelia was her daughter. The journal Dad kept said Rita claimed Amelia was his, but it was never confirmed.”
“So we have a sister?”
Shaking his head, Ash reached for another cigarette.
“I’m not sure. No one knows whatever happened to her. Rita died years ago in a fire according to Clayton.”
I lit another cigarette and took a long drag.
“So, Ash, I guess the question is what do we do?”
He gazed at me with an empty, lost expression.
“I don’t know.”
“So, you knew Amelia? What was she like? Do you really think she could be our sister?”
He shook his head.
“I’m not really sure. She had long jet black hair. She was beautiful, but a very strange little girl. I don’t recall her having many friends. I’d try and get her to play with me and my friends, but she brushed me off. She’d only hang out with me when we were alone.”
I cocked my head to the side. I wondered how many other missing pieces there were to this puzzle. No wonder Ash was so upset.
“I just don’t know what to think anymore. At first, after I found out about you I was furious. Then, I found out about Amelia and all of Dad’s wild past. I don’t feel angry with him anymore, just sad and confused. I thought we were so close and yet, he chose to keep so many secrets from me.”
Wicked Redemption (Dark Book 2) Page 17
