“I know.” She bit my nipple.
I laughed. “Easy there.”
She smiled up at me. “Sure you have to go?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be fast, though.”
She pouted. “Fine.”
I kissed her quick and then slipped out of bed before I had the chance to change my mind. I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and came back to get dressed.
“Clean?” she asked me.
“Clean enough.”
“Where are you going?”
I paused. No more secrets,
I thought.
“I’m going to talk to your dad.”
She looked at me for a second. “Oh.”
“I’ll be back soon. Promise. And I’ll skip one more day of PT.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Yeah.” I grabbed my laptop and the thumb drive and walked out into the hall.
As I walked toward the room Cliff spent his mornings in, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much had changed. Almost no time at all had passed, and yet everything was different.
The last time we spoke, I had nothing. He had all the cards and there was nothing that I could do.
I smiled to myself as I pushed the door open and looked in at his piece-of-shit smug face reading the newspaper.
“Morning, Lincoln,” he said, not bothering to look up.
“We need to talk,” I said.
He sighed. “Not this morning. I have a long day ahead of me.”
I walked in and set my laptop down on the table, flipping the lid open. He watched as I put the password in.
“I said, I’m not in the mood, Lincoln,” he said more forcefully.
I smiled at him. “Shut up, Cliff. I have something you need to see.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t talk to me that way.”
I plugged in the thumb drive, ignoring him, and pulled up the video file. I double clicked and it began to play.
He looked at it. “I’m not interested in your little bullshit movies.”
“You’re going to be interested in this one.”
I tilted the screen toward him and stood back, arms crossed, to enjoy the show. I watched his face, puzzled at first, slowly slip into recognition.
“What the fuck is this?” he asked.
“Keep watching.”
I could hardly contain the joy that tore through me as the color slowly drained from his face. I couldn’t see the screen, but I knew exactly what he was seeing.
“Recognize that?” I asked.
“Where did you get this?” he asked quietly.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“That isn’t what you think it is.”
“Actually, it’s exactly what I think it is.”
He looked up at me. I shut the laptop lid and smiled at him.
“Have you showed your mother yet?”
“No, not yet.”
He leaned back in his chair. “So, what is this? Blackmail?”
“Something like that.”
“What the fuck do you want, Lincoln?”
“I want a few things. First, divorce my mom.”
He said nothing, just shook his head.
“Second, back off this documentary thing. You can finish filming it, but no more fucking with me.”
He was silent for a second. “And?”
“This last one isn’t exactly a demand. I’m just letting you know up front: I’m in love with your daughter.”
He was silent for a second, and then he slowly stood up. I gripped my cane tightly and held it up.
“Don’t give me an excuse, Cliff. I’d love to break your fucking knees.”
He practically growled. I could see the rage running through him. I wanted him to attack me, wanted it so fucking badly. I didn’t care that he was about my size; I’d break him in two. And I’d have fun doing it. I couldn’t imagine anything better in the world than smashing my cane down on Cliff’s face.
Instead, slowly, he sat back down. He looked deflated, and for a second I was disappointed.
“What makes you think I’m going to do any of that?” he asked me.
“You know why.”
“Why don’t I send you back to jail, instead? That would keep you away from Aubrie.”
“Because if you do that, my mom gets this video. And when she divorces your ass, she’ll take everything you fucking have, and then some.” I paused. “Not to mention the press. I’m sure they’d be interested in this.”
That last part was a total bluff, but I figured his ego was large enough to believe he was worth something to the tabloids.
“Why haven’t you given it to her yet?”
“Because I’m not stupid. I’d rather make a bargain with you. Divorce her and at least keep half your assets. Otherwise, she gets this, and you get fucked.”
He was silent, stewing in his rage, and I watched him. It was such an incredibly perfect moment. For too long he’d had the upper hand in our relationship, always one half step ahead of me. Finally having something to hang over him felt pretty fucking good.