Almost Forgotten (Contemporary Erotic Romance) (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 2)

by Carey Decevito

  “Like?”

  “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” I nodded and kissed her forehead. “Fine.” She sighed. “Aside from having a god’s body, a tongue for sinners, and arms of an angel, you’re downright sexy and quite possibly the best lover I’ll ever be able to imagine.”

  “I suspected as much.” I shrugged my shoulders. The grin she sported after her admission fell, making the one I was trying to fight off grow, thus giving my attempt at teasing her away.

  She smacked my chest. “Self-assured, much?”

  “One can never be too sure,” I said.

  “Now how about that run?” she asked.

  “Let’s go. I have some additional ideas to diffuse the tension in that body of yours before Jordan gets home if you haven’t run it all off beforehand.”

  “And you say I’m incorrigible.” She pulled me through the front door on a laugh. “Come on counsellor.”

  Chapter 39

  I was busy enjoying my view from behind when Danica stopped dead in her tracks. In an effort not to plow into her and send us toppling to the ground, I grabbed her waist. We stumbled a few steps but recovered. I looked past what had made her freeze up. Her father sat on her front steps, waiting for us. He was holding something in his hands.

  Spying us, the man got to his feet and approached. “Here.” He handed the item to me. I looked down at the wrinkled thing and realized that the envelope had already been opened and a long time ago at that, judging by the creases, the stiffness of the paper and its discoloration.

  “What’s this?” I asked, looking from him to Danica. Withers didn’t answer and Danica shrugged her shoulder with a shake of her head. She looked as curious and confused as I was.

  I peeked into the envelope and pulled the pages from it.

  I read the document.

  Paused.

  Reread it in its entirety, taking in the date of the document, and paused once more.

  My heart drummed out of my chest at what I saw. “What is this?” I lifted my gaze from the papers to the man who handed them to me. Rage built up and I felt my blood simmer. “Is this a joke?” I held the papers in one hand and shook them in his face. The man had known the truth — for ten fucking years! “You sick son of a bitch! You’re as low as they come, you know that? You knew!”

  “Jacob?” Danica asked, rubbing my arm in what she must have figured was a soothing fashion.

  I was seething so much that I couldn’t answer her, let alone calm down. Instead, I pushed the papers into his chest, turned and walked toward my car.

  “So you’re going to walk away and prove me right?” he asked.

  “Jacob, what’s going on,” Danica asked, “where are you going?”

  “I have to get out of here,” before I kill the fucker, I finished in my head.

  “I told you he wasn’t the type to stick around,” Withers said to his daughter.

  I spun around, my anger bringing forth one hell of a headache. I marched the ten or so steps to stand in the man’s face. “I’m not leaving because of what’s on those papers, or is that how low your opinion of me has been? I’m the filth from the wrong side of the tracks, amounting to nothing, resolving to being a deadbeat, is that right?”

  “Well, it does sum it up quite well don’t you think? You don’t measure up, son, you never have.”

  “Don’t call me son!” I spat as if his endearment left a foul taste in my mouth. “I have a father and I can damn well guarantee you that he would have never done this!” I pointed to the crumpled pages he held against his chest. “Danica, I’m sorry but I need to get out of here before I do something we’ll both regret.”

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I think you better ask him.” I bent down and kissed her cheek. “I love you. I’ll be back, I just need to cool off. Just so we’re clear, Withers, I’m not a man without...” I said as I opened the driver’s side door, gave Danica a quick look before looking her father in the eye with intent, “but you’re about to be. Good day, sir.”

  As I was about to step foot inside my car, I noticed that Danica’s old man had blocked me in with his SUV. Slamming the door, hitting the key-fob, I pocketed them and took off running without a backward glance.

  My blood was pumping, the adrenaline was flowing and I hoped that by the time I reached my house that my fury would manage to dissipate.

  With each thump of a foot against the pavement, thoughts reeled about in my head.

  A decade, the man had known the truth and he hadn’t told a soul. All of that time had passed when I could have known that I was a father. All that time spent being miserable and that man was responsible for it in so many ways.

  He had almost ruined three lives, and for what? So he could keep his daughter for himself? I snorted as I rounded the final turn to the street my house was on. Highly unlikely. Withers had pawned Danica off to Spalding, a sleazy schmuck the minute he saw a great business venture.

  The reality of my life felt strange. I was elated to have an answer after this entire week, albeit, not from the source it was intended to come from. I was a father. Fucking hell!

  Thrilled and terrified at once, I battled with figuring how Danica and I were going to break the news to Jordan. Who knew how the kid would take it but there was one way to find out and there wouldn’t be any holding back when the time came.

  It wasn’t until I reached my driveway that it hit me. If I was livid at the news, I could only imagine Danica’s reaction when she found out that she’d been betrayed by her father.

  My worry about Danica’s reaction and my urge to be there for her surpassed my anger. I turned around and sprinted back toward her house. There was no way that she would be dealing with all of this alone. Not when the man she idolized and vetted for all these years had betrayed her in the worst way.

  Chapter 40

  When I arrived at Danica’s, the pair was no longer outside. A loud crash proved it further and I made a dash for the front door.

  “How could you?” Danica’s voice shook with fury and was followed by yet another crash of what sounded like glass. I shut the front door behind me and moved toward the sound of their voices.

  “Sweetheart,” her father said.

  “Don’t call me that!” The woman was stark raving mad and her words held a trembling quality that told me that she was crying.

  “For the tenth time, Dani, would you let me explain?”

  “I think those papers explain more than enough, don’t you?” I heard doors slamming. “Ten years! Ten years, Daddy! Ten fucking years! You knew and you never said a thing!”

  I entered the room. “Nica!”

  I found a cowering Withers in the corner, surrounded with broken shards of crystal, glass and porcelain dishes all around. Danica was at the opposite end, by the cabinets. I suppose I should be glad she hadn’t moved to the knife drawer.

  Her tearful eyes met mine and I hurried to her. She collapsed in my arms. “Why?” She sobbed into my chest and I gave a vehement look at her father as I grabbed the glass she held in her hand and set it on the counter before wrapping my arms around her.

  “Because he wasn’t good enough for you,” he said. “Bruce...”

  “You’re going to throw that vermin into this conversation,” I interrupted him, “after what he’s put you and your kids through? Have you lost your ever loving mind?”

  “Now you listen here!” His face turned a deep crimson. “You two were too young to be having kids,” he began. “I didn’t agree with her choosing someone of your kind.”

  “Excuse me? My kind? What’s that supposed to mean? My family might have lacked for funds but we worked hard for what we have and we’re damn proud of it.” I took a deep breath and kept going. “I doubt it would be seen as horrible that someone went out of his way to study, make ends meet so he could see himself into a scholarship and through years of college and law school, in order to make something of himself that was worth being proud of and r
espected. That’s what I’ve done!”

  The man stood there, not one word so I went on. “Don’t you think for one minute that I would have left your daughter to fend for herself had I known all these years. I would have been glad to work multiple jobs and lose sleep to make sure that she got through college. I would have made sure that my son had everything he could ever wanted for, and I sure as hell would be standing right here, on this day, kissing my wife’s smiling lips instead of consoling her for her father’s betrayal. Yes, that’s right, sir, I would like to think that we would have been married a long time ago if it weren’t for you and that bastard rapist.” Danica’s body went solid and I tightened my grip on her.

  “I see now that no matter what I do, that you’ll never approve.” Danica’s arms clutched at my waist with everything she had. “Now, I suggest that you get the hell out of here before I throw you out myself. You’ve done enough damage to last us a lifetime.”

  “Just you wait one minute!” he said. “This is...”

  “No! I’ve heard enough! I won’t let you attack and tear Jacob down, Daddy,” Danica said. “I want you to leave.”

  I kissed her forehead. “You heard her,” I murmured against her hair.

  “But…” he started.

  “Don’t! Leave now and don’t come back. And for the record,” she paused for effect, “I quit! I quit you, I quit your precious company… I-I quit it all! You can take my shares and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine, because I don’t want a part of any of it. You’ve controlled enough of my life but it stops now.”

  The man didn’t try to protest despite his evident rage at the situation. I sure hoped that he was mad at himself more than anyone else because he had himself to blame.

  He walked past us and out of the kitchen.

  Seconds later, still standing in the kitchen, we heard a crash from the hallway. Danica looked up at me, her eyes wide with worry.

  “Shit!” I cursed. “Stay here.” I went to see what was going on, thinking that the man had chucked a piece of art or some vase in a fit but it wasn’t so. I found the man sprawled on the floor, clutching at his chest his crimson color turning to a purple shade. “Danica, call 911!” I rushed to the man’s side and knelt down. “Are you okay?” The man’s breathing was shallow and wheezy. He was reaching out for me. I could see his lips, begging me to help him but the words never materialized. “We’re getting you some help. Just lay still and try to keep calm.”

  When the man passed out and his breathing ceased, fear overwhelmed me. I was thankful for my knowledge of First Aid and CPR but I’d never imagined that I’d have to use it someday, least of all on the one man that I loathed about as much as he disapproved of me. Despite those facts, my moral compass dictated my actions.

  I tilted his head back, thus opening his airways. Without thinking, I pressed my mouth to his and breathed air into him. Next, I began chest compressions.

  “Come on, man, stay with me!” I urged him to come to but he never did.

  For what felt like an eternity, I continued with the breathing and compressions. Danica was kneeling on his other side, holding his hand. The look of guilt on her face was what kept me going. I would do anything for her — including saving a man I despised with all my might so my woman would have a chance at unshouldering her guilt.

  The paramedics arrived about twenty minutes after his collapse and carted Withers off. Danica was beside herself with an overwhelming load of emotions and I was out of breath, exhausted, sweaty and… numb. Too much had transpired in so little time that it was as if I’d shut down due to emotional overload.

  “Let’s get to the hospital,” I said.

  “I have to call Mike.”

  “I can do that.” I pushed a stray strand behind her ear. “Why don’t you go change and I’ll take care of it. The number’s on your cell?” She nodded and handed the device over. “Go, baby.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” I said and watched as she walked toward the stairwell.

  One ring… two… on the third, Michael Withers picked up. “I was wondering when you’d call, stranger.” I could hear the smile in the man’s voice.

  I cleared my throat. “Mike, it’s…”

  “Jake?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Is everything okay with my sister?”

  “She’s fine. It’s your dad.”

  The man cursed. “I knew this trip was going to be too much for him.”

  “He’s in the hospital, Mike, and it doesn’t look good.”

  “I’m on my way on the next flight out,” he said, “and Jake?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We need to talk.”

  I groaned and ran a hand through my tousled hair. “Why am I not surprised? But yeah, we do need to talk.”

  “We’ll deal with all that when I get in.” The man disconnected and I leaned forward, my ass against the wall and elbows to my knees to wait for Danica.

  An hour later, we were sitting in the family waiting area when the doctor came to inform us that Danica’s father had suffered a moderate angina which required him to remain in the hospital over the course of a few days in order to regain his strength.

  The physician stated that the man was comfortable and asleep, and when he offered to take her to his room, she declined. It was clear to me that she might be worried about her father’s health, but she wasn’t ready to face him just yet.

  “Let’s just go home,” she said. “Jordan will be home from school soon and who knows when Mike will show up.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “Visiting hours last until later and I can’t go in there right now and hold it together.”

  On our drive home, Mike called to let us know that he’d be arriving in a couple of hours.

  Danica and I rushed to get the mess in the kitchen cleaned up in time to hear the front door open and close as the last dustpan filled with debris hit the garbage can.

  “Mom? Jake?”

  “We’re in the kitchen, sweetie,” Danica said and let out a loud tension-filled breath.

  It all hit me like a tonne of bricks when my eyes settled on him and his beaming smile.

  My son!

  Chapter 41

  I watched as Jordan and his mother bantered back and forth while she made dinner for all of us and Mike who was late but had promised to be there to eat. I found myself smirking like a fool despite my worries.

  Would it all be okay when Jordan found out?

  He was a teenager, not a young child that could be convinced with simple explanations. The story was a long one and it needed to be told from the very beginning. There was bound to be a slew of questions, explosive and angry moments, but I hoped that the kid would take it all in his stride. Jordan accepted me as Jake the hot shot lawyer and his mother’s boyfriend, but would he accept me as his birth father?

  For me, it was easy, it was simple. I knew the truth. I was able to digest the news of what had happened in increments. It wouldn’t be that way for my son.

  My son...

  So many years I could have spent but missed watching my child grow up — nearly sixteen years of a life lost because of his grandfather. It pissed me off to no end. I felt cheated and I could only imagine how Danica felt, let alone fathom how Jordan would feel when he was in the know.

  I didn’t want for his relationship with his mother’s father to be strained but I had no control over that. The man had ensured a bitterness to hang in the air between all of us when he made the decision to play God and keep the truth to himself.

  Knocking me out of my jumbled thoughts, Jordan called my name. “Jake?” I smiled at the teen sitting across from me at the table. “Are you all right?”

  I cleared my throat. “I-I’m fine.”

  “You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind,” he said and I looked at Danica who gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Is it because of what happened to Grand
dad?”

  I nodded. “Some.”

  “Why do I get the feeling that you’re both hiding something?” he asked.

  I looked at his mother who wore a sad expression. Because we are.

  “Hello?” came from the front door, putting an end to Jordan’s question and filling me with a sense of relief that Danica and I had gained some reprieve.

  “Uncle Mike!” Jordan got up and rushed to the man.

  “What’s up, dude?” Mike hugged him. “Jake.” He shook my hand, then walked over to his sister and took her in his arms for a bear hug. “Sis.” He backed away and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “You look great. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s fine from what they’ve told me. I couldn’t go in.” She sighed. “Can we talk?”

  I watched as Mike eyed his sister with an assessing gaze. He knew something was up. “Jordan, do you mind giving your mom, Jake and I a minute?”

  “I’ll be in the living room.” He grumbled something about him not being a little kid anymore as he left the room. Little did he know, he was about to grow up in a hurry when we broke our news.

  With the coast clear, Danica reached for the top of the fridge, pulled the envelope and pushed it over the counter toward Mike. I closed in on her and wrapped my arm around her waist.

  He eyed the envelope and then looked up, his gaze moving between me and his sister. “What is this?”

  “Did you know?” she said with a shaky voice.

  Mike took the envelope and pulled out the papers. He read them and then looked at her, his brows drawing together. He looked down to read them again and then looked at me. “Y-you’re… but…” His color paled and he cleared his throat. “Who’s is this?” He turned the envelope to find his father’s name and address on its discolored front as an answer. His eyes widened. “He’s known all this time?” Danica and I nodded. He looked down at the papers once more, his hand rubbed down from his forehead to pinch the bridge of his nose. He sighed and said, “Mom must be rolling in her grave right now. She’d be furious if she knew that he’s known all along and never said anything.”