Dirty Daddy(61)

I can't tell from where I'm standing but it looks like Magnus gave them seats all the way at the front.

I mean, I guess that's one way to go about handling them. After the way they've been treating him and the things that they've been saying, if I were him I wouldn't have even allowed them here in the first place.

That's the thing. He thinks I don't know all the things that are being said about us. He thinks he's protecting me.

I figure, let him think that if it makes him feel better. At least he'll stay strong that way. And that's why I stayed away too, you know? That's why I didn't call him or text him even when I saw he wasn't texting me.

Because I figured that not seeing me would help him be stronger.

Even though just seeing him from a distance right now fills me with hope.

I wonder, did I make a mistake?

"I'll have a prepared statement and then I'll take your questions," Magnus says and looks at the audience. He's not using a TelePrompTer. Oh God. "The experience of the last ten days have been something that I wouldn't wish on my greatest enemy. But it's time that I set matters to rest."

Magnus looks out into the audience as if daring anyone to challenge him. All he gets back are some photographers who take some pictures of him.

"I want to clear the record here. I married Rhoda Wright several years ago. We were married for 263 days. That's less than a year. When I met her, she was a widow with a daughter from a prior marriage. Her name was Penny and she was eighteen years old," Magnus pauses and looks out into the audience again. My heart catches.

You think he's looking for me?

You think he knows that I'm here?

I wouldn't put it past him to be able to sense it.

"At the time, I was focused on trying to save the marriage I had to Rhoda but it became clear to us that we were incompatible and we parted in what I believed at the time were amicable circumstances," Magnus says and I roll my eyes. If the people of this city only knew what Mom had told me. How she used him for his connections.

But they won't be able to know, because I was an idiot and lost the only proof that I had. I let Mom play me.

I should have gone to the house. Not met her at her office.

"At the time I had no designs on Penny. But several years later, when I met her again, she had blossomed into a gorgeous young woman. When I met her I had no idea as to her employment with the New York City Daily Journal. This became apparent to me at the end. But whether I had known at the beginning or at all, it wouldn't have colored my impressions of her," Magnus says and my breath catches in my throat. "I love Penny Wright and I say it proudly."

That's it.

I can't sit here and let him stand alone.

For better or for worse, I need to be with him.

I start to move, making my way to the edge of the crowd slowly but I can hear him continue.

"I'll take your questions now," he says and I pause.

It's either going to be finished because he won them over or it's going to be a bloodbath.

For long minutes there's silence and I wonder if Magnus truly could have won everyone over. I mean, I wouldn't put it past him.

But then, the first question comes.

From a reporter I remember from the Daily Journal.

Someone new. Someone Mom hired.

"Mr. Davion, how do you respond to allegations that you coerced your daughter into having sexual relations with you?" he asks.

Magnus bristles. "She's my stepdaughter. And there was no coercion. End of story," he says.

I start walking to the podium. He may have brushed it off but the crudeness of the question is going to stay for a long time unless its squashed.

"Mr. Davion, what proof do you have to substantiate that you did not coerce Penny Wright into a sexual relationship?" another reporter asks. This one is from the Daily Journal as well,.

"I have my word," Magnus says tacitly. "That's going to have to do."

"Mr. Davion, do you believe that in light of these allegations you should still have a place as a builder for the City of New York?" another Daily Journal reporter asks. "Hasn't your image been tarnished enough?"

I can see Magnus stiffen. "I have done nothing wrong," he repeats. "Let me be clear. These are allegations only.

"Are you saying there's a plot out to destroy you?" another reporter asks.

"Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?" yet another Daily Journal reporter piles on. "That the media are trying to tear you down?"

But the ironic thing is, that it's true you know?

You've been here from the start. You know what Mom and Laurel Trask wanted to do. You know what I did for them. I'm close to the podium now. I can see Magnus.

And that's when I realize that this whole thing can be solved in a heartbeat.

I have the power.

I can't believe I forgot all about it.