by Chloe Walsh
"Say it again," I coaxed as I held her out in front me to get the right view. "Say da-da. Come on, sweetheart, talk for daddy…"
"Dada," she babbled. My heart melted.
I was ruined.
This girl would have me wrapped around her little finger for the rest of her life.
Her first word. I was her first word. Me...
"Dude, you look like that monkey from the lion king," Derek chuckled from where he was perched on the coffee table. "You wanna coconut? Maybe you can crack it open and spread some of that gunk on her forehead."
"You better start running," I said through clenched teeth as I grinned at my daughter. I couldn't take my eyes off my daughter.
Damn, she was going to be a genius.
****
Lee
This was a mistake. I should have stuck with my gut feeling. It had been screaming 'don't do this' all day.
'She'll let you down' it screamed. But I'd pushed it aside and gone with the part of me that wanted to make Kyle happy. There was also a small part of me that wanted to meet her.
It was now six-thirty and she wasn't here. I wasn't sure if I was annoyed with myself for agreeing to this when I knew it was a bad idea, or with the part of me that had wished she cared. Her absence only proved her intentions. Her interest in getting to know me was to get closer to Kyle. I sent a text to let Kyle know.
Two minutes later my phone started ringing and I answered it immediately. "She's not here," I told him. "I guess you were wrong about her wanting to talk."
"Who's not there, Delia?" The familiar angry voice bellowed through the line and my blood ran cold. A tremor ran through my body as I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table.
"Daddy," I whispered, breaking out in a cold sweat. "I'm sorry…I thought you were Kyle. I'm waiting on his call." I inhaled a shaky breath and tried to stay calm. I hadn't spoken to him in months–nor did I want to. Oh god… "I should probably hang up and wait for his call. He'll be worried if I don't pick up..."
"Don't you dare hang up on me, girl," daddy warned and even though there was hundreds of miles between us I nearly peed my pants. "I aint done talking with you. Not by a long shot."
My eyes searched around the bar as I tried to keep my breathing calm. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked quietly.
"I wanna know what the hell you aint been telling me," he snarled. "Goddammit, Delia. What did I tell you about that boy?"
"Are you drunk?" I whispered appalled.
"WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?" he roared down the phone. "You better answer me now, girl."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I cried as I pressed my hand to my forehead. "What boy? What are you talking about?"
"Perry," daddy spat. "People in town are talking 'bout some incident last year. Damn boy's on the television as we speak. What the hell did you tell that piece of shit you've shacked up with? What lies have you been spreading?"
"What has Perry been saying?" I asked, almost too terrified to know.
Last year when my father had his heart attack, Kyle and Derek had followed Cam and I to Montgomery. I wasn't sure of what had happened at the bar that night, but there had been some type of altercation. Kyle and Derek had been black and blue the following morning...
"Only that your pretty boy went and smashed his face in, avenging your worthless ass," daddy growled. "He's gone and sold his story to some gossip channel on TV. You've gone and shamed me with your whoring antics, girl. Whole town knows what kind of a tramp I raised. You're just like your momma. A dirty little slut. Like mother like daughter."
"I told you the truth about that night," I hissed. My knee was bouncing so hard the table started to shake. This couldn't be happening. Oh please god stop this from happening…"I wasn't lying about what he tried to do to me. Perry Franklin nearly raped me, daddy. He tried to rape me. He nearly did."
"Nearly never milked a cow," daddy said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "You tell that son of a bitch lies 'bout me, too, girl?" he demanded. I could hear banging noises in the background. I guessed he was rearranging the furniture. If I was at home it would be my face he would be rearranging.
"I haven't told lies to anyone." My voice was shaking. I could barely hold my phone in my hands. "And I am not a whore. You d-don't get to c-call me things like that anymore. I'm not afraid of you."
Daddy laughed. "You think that boy's gonna protect when I get my hands on you?" he snarled. "I'm gonna snap that mouthy little shit in two, and then I'm gonna teach you a lesson on behavior. You're gonna be sorry, you ungrateful little whore. You forget who raised you, girl?" He laughed and it was cruel. "I made you. I sure as hell can break you."
My phone was torn from my hand and I looked up in shock as Mike stood over me, red faced and fuming. "Listen to me, you piece of shit," he snarled. "Call this number again and you'll be ordering your own fucking execution." He hung up and handed me my phone. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I couldn't listen to that."
"You heard?" I asked mortified.
His eyes were full of sympathy as he nodded his head. "Yeah, me and half the bar." He gestured for me to look around. I swung my face and locked eyes on several curious looking customers. "You need to phone Kyle and tell him to take you home," he said in a worried tone. "There's a story running on channel scoop. You should go upstairs and wait there until he comes to get you. Trust me."
****
Kyle
My phone vibrated alerting me to an incoming text message.
*Princess: She didn't come.*
Three words.
Three fucking words and I was ready to tear this goddamn house apart. "She didn't fucking show. I gotta go, dude," I told Derek. I could barely keep my temper under control. Derek didn't say a word as he opened the door for me and followed me down to the car. He was good like that. Knew when to keep his mouth shut. One word and I was about the flip the fuck out.
Opening the car door, I slotted Hope into her car seat and buckled her up. My head snapped up when I heard another car door shut. "What are you doing?"
Derek, who was sitting in the driver's seat, turned his head to look at me. "I'm coming with you," he said simply.
I was too fucking agitated to argue.
In truth I was grateful. My hands were shaking.
We drove in silence until we reached the hotel and the anger vibrating inside of me needed an outlet. "Will you take her inside for me?" I asked as I climbed out and got Hope. "Tell Lee I'll be back in one hour."
"Yeah," Derek said as he plucked Hope out of my arms. "But you're running to the wrong woman, Kyle. Just saying..."
"I need to fix this," I snapped. Pressing a kiss to Hope's forehead I walked around to the driver's side. "I've been pressurizing her with months to meet her mom. She finally agrees and gets screwed over. Fuck that. I want answers."
****
Derek
There was no point trying to talk Kyle down. He wouldn't hear me and it was too cold to stand outside and argue with him. Snuggling Hope against my chest, I walked into the foyer.
"You looking for Lee?" some dude in a suit asked me as I stood at the door of the restaurant. "She's upstairs," he said before I had a chance to speak. "Top floor. Their old room." With that he strolled off and left me there confused as hell.
What the hell was she doing upstairs?
Christ, I hoped she wasn't crying.
I was not in the mood to deal with tears.
Taking the lift up to the eighth floor, I walked over to the double doors and knocked. "Who is it?" I heard Lee call out.
Aw damn, she sounded all choked up.
"Mommy, it's me," I said in a squeaky voice, hoping I could cheer her up before she soaked my shirt. "I puked on Uncle Derek." That part was also true. Babies and moving floors did not mix.
The door opened and Lee stood before me with a red nose and puffy eyes. Shit…"What's wrong, Ice?"
Taking Hope out of my arms, she sniffled loudly and pointed towards the television b
ehind her. I wasn't sure I wanted to see this, but I forced my feet into the suite. When I saw the man on the TV my head started spinning. What the hell?
"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight on channel scoop, we're talking to Perry Franklin from Montgomery, Louisiana," the presenter said as she flashed the screen with a fake smile. The camera zoomed in on the shithead Kyle had beat the hell out of last year. "Perry is a local of Montgomery, and last year he was the victim of a vicious attack. Our sources have discovered that the survivor of the thirteenth street shooting, Delia Bennett, isn't quite as sweet and innocent as has been previously reported. Perry, please tell us what happened to you."
"Well," he said in an injured tone of voice. "I'm sorry, ma'am, this is a little hard for me."
"Go on, Perry," the presenter crooned. "You're completely safe."
"I was the victim of slanderous accusations, ma'am. I'm here tonight to set the story straight," he said with fake hurt in his voice. "I took Delia to our high school prom. We had sex in my truck after prom. It was completely consensual. I'd tried to hold her off, but the girl was all over me. Afterwards she accused me of raping her." I looked at Lee. She was crying so hard and I didn't have a clue what to say. She ran out of the room with Hope in her arms but I couldn't move. My eyes were glued to the piece of shit on the TV screen
"Were the police involved?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am." he nodded his head solemnly. "Her lies were dismissed. Everyone here in Montgomery knows how flirtatious Delia is. She sets her eyes on a man and she doesn't stop until she gets him. Even her daddy knew she was lying about me."
The reporter nodded in sympathy. Fucking bitch. "So let's fast forward eight months to the night you and your friends were attacked at the bar."
"Yes ma'am," Perry said as he shifted in his seat. "I was having a few beers with a couple of buddies, minding our own business, when her boyfriend burst into the bar and attacked us without provocation."
"When you say boyfriend, you mean Delia's lover?" the reporter asked. "Hotel tycoon, Kyle Carter?"
Lover?
Who said that word nowadays?
Yuck. I wanted to puke.
"Yeah," the asswipe confirmed as he wiped his brow with his hand. "He went nuts. Broke up the bar. Picked a fight with all three of us. We were only defending ourselves when we fought back. But he had back up. Some bald guy and a friend of hers who used to live 'round here. Cammy Frey."
My heart stopped.
The camera zoomed back on the female presenter. "Camryn Frey is the twenty-two year old student from the University of Colorado, who was shot dead on June twenty-eighth this year. Her body, along with the unconscious body of Delia Bennett, was discovered in a house owned by hotel tycoon, Kyle Carter, in University Hill, Colorado. The women were found on the floor of Mr. Carter's kitchen. The paramedics who were called to the scene described what they saw as heartbreaking. The young women were found holding each other. Miss Frey was pronounced dead at the scene. Both women were taken to the St. Luke's hospital in Boulder…"
I grabbed the remote and switched the TV. Rubbing my hands over my face, I grabbed my phone.
This shit was too much.
****
Chapter 20
Kryptonite
Kyle
"Open the door, Tracy." I knocked harder. "I know you're in there. I can see your shadow."
The door creaked open and Lee's mother peeked her head out from behind the frame. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she gestured me inside. I stalked inside and watched as she closed and bolted the door.
"You better have a damn good reason for letting her down again." I paced the kitchen, unable to keep my feet in one place, before I bumped into something hard. "And why the hell are we in the dark?"
"He knows," she whispered. The light's came on and the anger I had inside multiplied. Rapidly. There were boxes all over the floor, nothing on the walls or the countertops. "Jimmy knows," she said in a louder tone. "He phoned me…my house phone. I have to leave."
"So that's it?" I demanded as anxiety filled my gut and my brain tried to make sense of this shit-bomb. "You're just going to run away again?" What the hell was it with this man…He was just a man. A drunken fucking bully.
Goddammit.
"I have to," she sobbed. "You know what he did to me."
"I know if you run he wins," I sighed heavily. "Don't do this, Tracy. Take control of your life. Of your future."
"What am I supposed to do, Kyle?" she snapped. "I'm just a woman."
"What the fuck?" I demanded in disgust. "Just a woman? That's the worst excuse for being weak I've ever heard."
"That's easy for you to say," she hissed. "You've never had to worry about someone being stronger than you. Being more powerful than you. Having control over you."
"Yeah, I have," I shot back. "I do. Your daughter is my fucking kryptonite and that scares the daylights out of me every single day. She is and does all those things to me. Do you think I like feeling overpowered like that?" I shook my head. "You're not the only person in the world who's afraid of something, Tracy. There are some things in life worth fighting for and some things in life are worth fighting. Period. For me it's the former. For you it's the latter."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"She'll never forgive you," I warned her. "You walk away now and that's it. There's no coming back, Tracy."
My stupid damn phone started ringing and I growled in frustration. Derek's name flashed across the screen and I answered immediately. "Is she okay?" I asked him.
"Turn on the channel 837 right now," he roared. "Get the best damn lawyer your grandfather's money can buy and take him out. Annihilate each and every one of them."
The line went dead and I stood, staring at my phone for a moment before my brain kicked into gear. "Where's your TV set?" I asked a confused looking Tracy. "Is it packed up?"
"N...no," she stuttered. "It's in the living room."
I barged through her small cottage until I reached the room and turned on the channel.
"So there you have it, folks, right from the horse's mouth," some blonde, with a set of teeth that resembled Gnasher's from the Dandy comics said. "It makes one wonder just how far Delia Bennett pushed Rachel Grayson in the months before the shooting. Tonight we heard from Perry Franklin about her compulsive lying and promiscuity.
Just what happened in the run up to the shooting to make Rachel Grayson snap? Is Delia Bennett more responsible than has previously been reported? Does she feel guilt for causing the death of her friend? From where we're sitting, it certainly seems that she should. She embarked on a love-affair with a man who she knew was involved with another woman. She snared him with a child and is now sitting pretty on her thrown at the top of a multinational hotel chain, having gotten exactly what she wanted. My question for all of you watching tonight is how far would you go to snare a multimillionaire?"
"Oh my Lord," Tracy cried from behind me. "Turn it off."
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
I was frozen to the spot.
What the hell had just happened…What the fuck had I just heard? I turned my head to look at Tracy. "Are they blaming Lee?" I shook my head and stared at the television again. "Did I hear that right?"
"They're liars," Tracy snarled through her tears. "How can they do this? Isn't there a law against this kind of thing?" she demanded.
"Why do you care?" I roared. I knew I was taking my anger out on the wrong person, but this was too fucking much. This had to stop. I had to make this go away. "I have to go," I muttered as I moved towards the door. "If you want to be the next person in a long fucking list of people who've let her down then be my guest. But if you run away this time, don't ever ask me to help you again."
****
Lee
I curled into the tightest ball and covered my ears with my hands. Derek was still in the lounge area of the hotel room. He came and took Hope away earlier. I was grateful. I couldn't function. I was a mess and
she didn't need to see me like this. I was numb and I was ruined. This was never going to be over.
Never.
"Cam," I whispered into the darkness. "Cam, please help me…" I shoved my fist in my mouth to stop myself from crying. I bit down hard. The physical pain was easier to deal with than the emotional pain. It was a distraction. I couldn't live like this anymore. "Cam, please come back…I'm so afraid." I squeezed my eyes so tight they started to ache. "I need you."
The door creaked open and a shadow loomed in the doorway for a brief moment before the door closed out. I heard the light pad of feet moving closer just before the mattress dipped and I was being pulled into a pair of strong arms. "Shh, baby. I got you."
"Make this end," I begged as I curled my body into his. "Please…take me away from this." I let the tears fall as his hand gripped the back of my head and pulled me closer. "I can't live my life like this anymore."
"I'm gonna fix this," he whispered as he kissed my face. "I'm gonna end all of this, baby."
"It's too much, Kyle," I whispered as I held onto the frail tether of my sanity. "I want it over."
"I know, princess," he choked out. "I'm so fucking sorry that you're going through this."
"He called me." I dug my nails into Kyle's shirt. I was probably tearing his skin, but he didn't complain and I needed the anchoring. I needed him.
"Who called, baby?" he whispered as he folded me into his arms. The heat of his body calmed me. The weight of his arms around me gave me comfort.
"Daddy," I managed to say, though my voice was shaky. "He threatened me…"
"When," Kyle demanded and his arms fell away from me. Jumping off the bed, he flicked on the light. "When, Lee?" he asked again as he grabbed my purse and tipped it inside out.
