Page 54 of Texting the Possessive CEO
“Your father, Mr. Money Bags, was able to get the charge dropped. We even saw each other, briefly, but he didn’t recognize me when I reappeared in his life, didn’t think twice about it. I remember making friends with him, how he’d drink and drink, wink at me when he got behind the wheel. He hadn’t learned his lesson.”
“You’re a liar,” I whisper, voice breaking.
“If only that were the case,” Sebastian says. “Do you think I’ve wanted to carry around this heartache, thiscurse? I’ve tried to forget, tried to console myself with your father’s death. But it’s just not fair, as prosaic as that might sound. My son had his whole life ahead of him, fifteen years old and full of hope. He was in agony at the end. He begged me, my own boy.Begged.”
“My dad…”
You can’t trust anyone, he whispers in my mind.
“My own father…”
Not even me.
“Was a monster,” Sebastian spits. “The worst kind. Without remorse. And, if you don’t dance to our tune, the whole world will know. I’ve got the police reports. I’ve got the proof. He was able to wriggle off the hook, legally, but do you think the public will care?”
I jump to my feet, laying my fists on the desk and glaring at Sebastian. He doesn’t look like a politician hatching a scheme, he just looks like a grief-stricken old man.
“If this is true, people deserve to know who he really was,” I snarl. “You haven’t got any leverage here. I won’t sacrifice my business, my employees’ livelihoods, to save the image of a dead man.”
Even if I loved him more than anything.
“Then I’ll find another way to ruin you,” Sebastian grits out.
I slam my hand on the table. “I was sixteen when you came into our lives, twenty-one when you took my father’s business and ruined our lives, and twenty-eight when he died. All this time,you were holding that grudge. Nurturing it? And evennow, you can’t let it go?”
Sebastian snorts. “If you’re ever unfortunate enough to have a child die in your arms, you’ll know how insulting that question is.”
I search his face for any sign of a lie. He seems so genuine, tears clinging to his eyelashes.
“Send me the information,” I snarl. “If it’s true, I’ll release it myself. Otherwise, put the past where it belongs.”
“I tried to forget,” he calls after me when I storm from the office. “But I can’t. So, neither will you.”
CHAPTER 21
IZZY
“Idon’t understand,” I tell the doctor. “You want her to see another specialist?”
The doctor is acting shifty, glancing one way then the other. Grandma is half asleep.
“Your new insurance provider has requested an outside specialist, for reference,” the doctor tells us. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
So why do you look so worried?
Once I’m alone with Grandma again, I go to the window, checking if the car is still there. The only contact I’ve had with Dom since everything went to hell is when he texted to tell me he’d put security on Grandma and me.
Dominic: I don’t know how far your uncle is willing to take this. So, for the time being, this is the way things have to be.
They’ve been following me everywhere, even when I drive to the locations I know for a fact Uncle Aaron owns. I know becausehe often bragged to me, ranting about this piece of the city, that piece, until I was able to build a map in my mind.
I’ve taken photos on my phone, wearing a big hat and pretending I’m arguing with somebody. People are coming and going with packages, openly dealing drugs, and I even witnessed one person being shaken down for money. It’s not everything, but it’s a start, surely? And there’s the fact that he’s been threatening me with my grandmother’s life. Now that he’s no longer paying, I have the freedom to go public about that too.
I can ruin him. I can make this better.
Grandma makes a soft noise, drawing my attention. I go to her bedside and take her hand. A slow smile spreads across her face, her eyes lighting up a little. It’s always like the previous version of her is trying to claw through this new existence.
“Where’s that nice man? Dominic?”
