Page 54 of Ruthless Roses
“It sounds like you.” She kisses me again, more passionately. “And I love you for it.”
14
ernest
“Ernest,you’re home! No use pretending you aren’t.”
I’m seated by the wall-to-wall window in the living room that overlooks Centennial Village and offers a skyline view of the greater city. I have a glass of brandy in one hand and a thick book on legal ethics in the other. The soothing, bluesy notes of Jazz legend John Coltrane play.
The makings of a perfect Saturday evening until Damon Thomas knocks on my door.
I turn to the next page and pretend I hear nothing. My doorman must’ve let him up—who would deny a CEO of a billion dollar tech company?
Damon refuses to give up. He knocks and speaks to me through the door, likely aware I can hear every word.
At the five-minute mark, I can no longer act unbothered. I snap shut the book I’m reading and rise up from my armchair. I answer the door with a deep scowl.
Damon is unfazed… and not alone.
He and his son saunter into my home as though they’re invited. Otherwise, their energy couldn’t be more different. Where Damon appears concerned and sympathetic, Chadwick gives off an air of hungry determination.
My scowl only deepens. “I suppose this is where I should offer you a drink.”
“If you don’t mind, Ernest, that would be great. I’ll have some of that brandy.”
I move to fix the drinks and tell them to spit out whatever it is they’re here for. They’ve taken their seats around my living room. Chadwick leans back into the long sectional sofa with an arm draped over the spine while Damon sits prim and business-like.
“You’ve been in hiding for weeks. That isn’t like you.”
I scoff, handing over their drinks. “With all due respect, Damon, you and I are not close enough for those kinds of estimations on your part. I’ve spent the last couple years in hiding—before anyone knew I was still alive.”
“An entirely different situation.”
“Not in fact,” I say, taking my seat among them. “I spent that time deciding how to move forward. No different than what I’m doing now.”
“And howwillyou move forward?” Chadwick asks with a pointed raise of his brows. “This isn’t the end, is it? I did as you asked. I told Delphine about your fake medical condition. Did it not work up enough sympathy?”
“Chadwick.” Damon shakes his head.
Chadwick continues anyway. “You’re not going to let… Mancino can’t… you’ve beat him before.”
“Really!” Damon exclaims. “This isn’t one of your gambling bets you make at the casinos.”
I sip my brandy and consider both the father’s and son’s viewpoints.
Truthfully, they both represent a half of myself. The stubborn side that urges me to keep fighting this battle against Mancino. This long war between us has gone on from the time my daughter was a teenager. Chadwick is correct that I have outplayed him several times in the past. I ruined the relationship he was trying to develop with my daughter.
Badly enough that it separated them for twelve long years. A brilliant victory that had me on cloud nine.
I see now my mistake. I coasted for too long when I should’ve pushed Delphine harder on settling down. Garrett, her college boyfriend Duane, or even Chadwick himself could’ve been pressured into marrying her.BeforeMancino returned and sunk his hooks back into her.
However, Damon’s sentiments also mirror my own—how much more time and energy can I possibly devote to this fight when my daughter is so hopelessly committed to him? She’s so completely blinded by Mancino and his manipulations that I’m afraid no amount of interference will ever work. She’s too far gone.
It hurts my heart to think I’ll lose her to him. That I’ve potentially already lost her for good. My little girl deserves the world and yet she can’t see that she’s wading around in a swamp. Mancino has her engrossed in his despicable criminal world to the point she’s routinely in danger. Routinely harmed.
…and now my grandson will be. Any other future children—my blood and legacy—will be too…
I polish off the last of my brandy at the disturbing thought. “Delphine has made her choice.”