So. Long(174)

Fuck. “About?”

“I ask one simple thing of you and you can’t even do that. Why Mona Lisa? With all the other girls you have, why did you go after her?”

My blood heats, in a bad way. “I’m tired of playing by your rules. You can shove them up your sanctimonious ass.”

“My rules are set to protect this family and the ministry. It’s bad enough the entire world knows how morally corrupt my son is, but to sleep with someone under my protection? You’ve gone too far, Danny.”

“What if we didn’t screw?”

“There’s no question of that, and you know it. I saw—” His hand flies up to cover his mouth. He pushes his fingers over his face and through his hair.

“Fuck you, Dad, and whatever you saw. I’ll move out if you want. Go ahead, take my trust. You’ve always wanted it anyway, you greedy bastard. But touch Rachel’s—or Mo’s, and you’re the one who’s morally corrupt.”

I yank out of his grasp and jog upstairs, chest heaving with fury. I’d like to knock the shit out of that man.

Sometimes I fantasize that Rach and I were adopted. But we have his fucking nose. Thank God that’s all I got. I’d much rather look like my mom’s dad. He was a good man. I can’t believe he didn’t stop Mom from marrying that jackass who ended up being my father.

I pull a duffel bag from the top of my closet and fill it with essentials. How the hell can he know we fucked? I mean, what if I was just hanging out and fell asleep on her couch? I didn’t, but he can’t know that for sure. Can he? He saw?

What did he see?

How did he see?

As I tromp down the stairs the little motion detector poised overhead, in the upper corner, catches my eye. Shit. Security. But, does the guest house have cameras inside? I’ve never noticed any. Then again, we don’t even have cameras inside our house. Just the ones at the gate as far as I know.

Damn.


* * *

I sneak out the back door and keep to the sides of the yard, making my way toward Mo’s. She left a few minutes ago, so I let myself into the bungalow. I check the place for alarm equipment.

Nothing in the living room or kitchen. No sign of anything in the bedroom.

How the fuck did he see something?

Maybe he’s just guessing. I drop onto the bed, throwing myself backward, propping my head on my hands.

The AC kicks on and cool air washes over my face. Something behind the vent draws my attention. It shines.

Pulling out Mo’s desk chair, I stand on it and peer into the vent. My hair blows into my eyes, making it hard to see.

With a hot coal sinking into my stomach, I retrieve a butter knife from the kitchen. I pull the vent cover off. The scalding nugget burns through to my gut, sparking a fire there. I grab the small electronic device and yank it from the bracket securing it to the air duct.

A hidden camera?

What the fuck?


* * *

I storm into the house. The backdoor bangs the wall as I go. With two handfuls of cameras, wires, and a bizarre Mexican doll held out in front of me, I burst through the dickhead’s office doors. I throw one handful of the shit at him.

He yanks his hands up to protect his face.

Standing, he lets the wires, lenses, and other pieces fall to his desk and onto the floor. “What are you doing?”

Using my empty arm, I swipe it across his fucking desk. A pile of his shit clatters onto the carpet. My chest heaves with my anger.

I drop the second half of the camera equipment into the empty space. “I’m returning your shit to you. I’ll be staying with Mo from now on; she won’t need your protection.”

He holds his hands out as though to calm me. “Danny, just wait a minute.”

My rage funnels into my fists as I scramble over the desk, knocking his laptop and the rest of his papers to the floor.

I grab his throat and slam him into the wall. “No. You wait a minute, you fucking perv. You want to protect this family? Your ministry? I suggest you back the fuck off me and stay away from Mo. You don’t even fucking look at her, or speak to her. And whatever video you have, give it to me—now. Or I’ll take this to the press. They’ll have a feeding frenzy with this shit.”

Dad claws at my wrists, his voice raspy. “Let me explain.”

“Hidden cameras pretty much tell it all. I always knew you were fucked in the head. Now I have proof. If it weren’t for Mom being so fragile, I’d expose your perverted, old ass right now.”

He drops his hands, his expression falling. “Yes. Your mom would be devastated.”

I pull him to me, yelling into his face. “You bet your ass she would. As would Rachel, and I can’t even imagine what this would do to Mo.”