by Joya Ryan
Okay, that’s it. “What goes on between Preston and I is none of your business. And what John decides to do is up to him. I don’t care what you think you know about Preston, because he’s not yours to think about.”
“Oh, look at you. Defending him like you mean it.”
I understood right then Emma’s obsession with bitch-slapping. Because in that moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to smack Darlene. Fine, she had a hunch that something was up and that was technically true. But she had played her hand with Preston a long time ago and lost. Despite how our relationship started, I cared about Preston, and whatever Darlene was aiming to do wasn’t good.
“He must not have caught you up on all the family gossip if you’re still this hung up on him.” She ran her fingertip along the rim of her glass and the evil glare in her eye made me feel really, really uncomfortable—like at any moment she was going to poison me with her mere words.
“I think I’m pretty well caught up,” I went to stand but her words stilled me.
“So he told you about his mom?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know that his father stepped out of the marriage and Preston and Charlie have different moms.”
She pursed her lips and eyed me. “No, I don’t mean about the fact that John cheated. I’m talking about what happened to Preston’s mom.”
“She passed away.”
The grin on Darlene’s face could only be classified as pure evil. She leaned in and licked her lips like she was ready to devour a helpless baby deer.
“I’m not surprised he didn’t give you details. Preston doesn’t open up to many people. But…”
Rage started to boil and I reminded myself that this was a sad, scorned woman who passed on a great guy like Preston for Junior Mc-Stink-Eye and was obviously upset about it now. Especially now the coveted three percent was being dangled in front of her.
“I think you should know what went on since you’ll have to live with Preston’s…fits.” She took a drink of her mimosa.
I sat back down. “Fits?”
She nodded. “Every year on the anniversary of his mother’s death, Preston goes into rages. Drinks excessively. Acts crazy. It was amazing I got out of there untouched.”
Wait, what? Was she insinuating what I think she was?
“Are you claiming something about Preston? Because if you are, I’d think long and hard before you say things that aren’t true.” A super pissed-off pitch coated my words. I was done with her and this maliciousness. That she would even hint that Preston would ever hurt her, or any other woman, was absurd.
“Calm down, I didn’t say anything. No, Preston never hit me. I’m just saying he gets crazy.”
Oh, I think I was currently staring down the barrel of crazy. I had grown up with Kate and been around her bipolar mother a few times to unfortunately see what rage looks like in a person. The look in someone’s eyes before they struck was something you could never forget. Preston wasn’t that person. He was private, but not hateful.
“I’m sure Preston would tell me if there was an issue.”
Darlene scoffed. “He didn’t even tell you how she died.”
I frowned. Darlene clearly had more information than I did and couldn’t wait to spill. So she didn’t.
“The woman killed herself. Slit her wrists in the bathtub. Preston was thirteen when he walked in and found her.” Darlene leaned back and waved her hand in the air. “He pulled her out, tried to save her but she had been dead for hours. Blood everywhere. Total scandal.”
My mouth hung open and Darlene looked almost excited and happy to be talking about this. “Why in the hell would you say something like that?” My voice was somewhere between a growl and a whisper.
“Because it’s true.” She shrugged and forked her salad.
“No.” I snapped my finger at her and she had the grace to look me in the eye. “I mean, why would you say it that way, like it’s a piece of gossip?”
“I’m doing you a favor, Megan. I just thought you should know what you’re getting into. Whatever Preston promised you, it isn’t worth his dark moments.”
“Oh, I’m very clear on what I’m getting into.” I set my napkin on the table and stood. “If you have a soul at all, you’d be wise to not talk about Preston, or his mother’s memory, like that again.”
She stared at me and I didn’t bother letting her speak. I just walked away. Rushing to the elevator, I prayed Preston would be at the penthouse or the office. I needed to talk to him. Now.
Chapter Fourteen
Things were making more and more sense. Preston’s reaction to the bathtub and his method of vague truth. I searched the penthouse. He wasn’t there so I walked across the hall to the office and rushed in. There were two men in suits sitting on the other side of his desk and all three sets of eyes landed on me.
“Megan.” Preston stood and so did both the men. “Everything okay?”
I swallowed hard. He looked legitimately concerned and to be honest, no, everything was not okay. I wasn’t one for the dramatics but I didn’t think I could wait to talk to him.
“Gentlemen,” he looked at my face then at the men, “can you give me and my fiancé a few moments please.”
The men mumbled, “Of course” and showed themselves out.
Preston apologized and shut the door behind them. He was on me in two long-legged strides cupping my shoulders.
“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Darlene…”
Preston’s hands dropped and he looked at the ceiling. “Christ, what did she do?”
I frowned at the ground. I had no idea how to proceed. How to tell him what she had said. He should know, right? That she was saying these things? And because it was so awful I wanted to comfort him or tell him it was okay. I wanted to do something. Anything! My mind just wouldn’t spit anything out.
“Megan. We went over this last night and again this morning. I told you she would try to mess with your mind and use our past to hurt you. But she’s nothing. I don’t—”
“I know. She didn’t tell me about you two. She told me that your father was going to sign over the three percent to you as a wedding present. Then she questioned our relationship. Said she was going to find out what was really going on. Did you know about this?”
“I spoke with my father this morning. It’s good news but was bound to upset Charlie and Darlene. She’s grasping for anything to help her case.”
“Preston, I…she hit me with so much.”
He glanced at his watch, completely unaffected. “Everything is fine, Megan.”
“Everything is not fine, Preston. She told me about your mother.”
He took a step back and I looked up at him. His face was hard as marble. “You barged in here, interrupted a meeting with foreign executives, because of that?”
“Preston, it’s a big deal. Darlene was so…harsh about it. She said you found your mother and—”
“Enough!” I snapped my mouth shut. “If this was something I wanted to discuss, don’t you think I would have?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. I have no idea what you would or wouldn’t tell me.”
He flexed his jaw. “Really? I did a background check on you and I know what I need to know. But I never pressed you for details. You want to tell me about Tim?” His sinister tone could have cut me half. “Do you want to tell me how much of your parents’ current situation is really your fault? You want to tell me just how close you got to your ex-boss and exactly what you did for him?”
Breath left my lungs at the low blow. Anger and sadness washed over me. If he was trying to hurt me on purpose, he just did a hell of a job.
“I didn’t do nearly as much for him as I’m doing for my current boss,” I snarled the last word.
In that one sentence, I had let Preston paint me my worst nightmare. I felt cheap and stupid. Tim had kissed me and I tried to stop it. Regret didn’t begin to explain how terrible I felt about it. And even
worse, I talked my parents into dealing with him. It was the same reason Preston used to his advantage over me right now. I was in a lose-lose situation. He and I both knew it.
“I came here because I was worried about you,” I said, forcing back tears, which popped up out of nowhere. “You didn’t prep me on how to handle information about your past.”
“I didn’t think Darlene knew the fucking details,” he growled and stood behind his desk.
I tried to dodge all the negativity flying around the room and focus on what my goal was. I came here out of instinct. Preston was my concern.
“I just wanted to make sure—”
“Make sure what, Megan?”
“She said a lot of things, Preston. And I just wanted to see you, is all.”
“Oh yeah?” He walked around his desk, slowly drawing in on me with each step. Intentionally prolonging the torture like a lion circling its prey. “I don’t give a shit what she says about the past or the present. I don’t want to hear it, nor is it your place to come in here and think you have any right to my business, personal or otherwise.”
I shook my head. “She said things about you Preston. Said that you have fits of rage.”
He stepped closer.
“And you believe her.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. One I rejected quickly.
I shot my chin in the air and looked him dead in the eye. He was not my favorite person at the moment, but even now, one thing remained true.
“I’m not afraid of you, Preston.”
Step.
“No?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t and don’t believe her. I was shocked and wanted to come see you. That’s it. I’m not forcing you to talk or even acknowledge anything, but I’m here if you want to.”
I turned to leave. He grabbed my arm and I stopped, turning to look at him over my shoulder. Fiery anger shot through his eyes, but behind that mask was a hint of vulnerability. There was so much hidden deep within Preston Strauss and I had a feeling I had only scratched the surface of a long-standing nightmare. This was more than I was prepared for and in that moment, I had no idea what to do or why I had signed up for this mess in the first place.
“Why are you doing this, Megan?”
“I was just asking myself the same thing.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Megan, honey, are you okay? You sound upset.” My mother’s voice on the line was the kindest thing I’d heard in a long time.
I sat on my bed in my apartment. It was cold and still, but I was happy I had somewhere to go. Emma wasn’t home and from the looks of it, hadn’t been for a night or two.
“I’m fine mom, just tired. How are you? How’s Daddy?”
She sighed. “I’m fine. Daddy is…well he’s doing alright.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew that tone. It had been several days since I had talked with her last. Since our conversation with the doctor several weeks ago, our conversations had been brief—one of which was telling her more cash would be wired weekly. I had gotten off the phone before she could argue.
“Are you getting the money?”
“About that Megan, I don’t want you putting yourself out. I am looking for some part-time work and I’m sure everything will be fine. You need to take care of you.”
“No, Mom. You’re retired. And there’s enough coming that it will take care of the house payments and hire someone full time to come take care of Daddy. Please Mom, just accept it. Take care of you and Daddy with it. It’s not hurting me at all to send it.”
I heard my poor mother sob and I couldn’t help but choke back tears myself. I knew right then why I had agreed to this whole contract in the first place. The reasons were on the other end of the phone. It was just a messy accident that the contract came with a difficult man who I was falling for.
“Now, enough about the money,” I said wiping my eyes. “I want to hear more about you and Daddy. Are the exercises the doctor recommended helping? Are you getting out into the garden at all?”
My mother muffled what sounded like a tissue and let me have my way in changing the subject.
“The petunias are blooming nicely. And we do the exercises. Some days they seem to help, but others…not so much. He’s trying though. It’s hard, honey. One moment he’s making sense, the next he’s confused or talking about past events like it’s present time. The doctor said that it’s just how this progresses.”
“Any luck finding a nurse?”
“We’ve interviewed a few. Still nothing permanent yet.”
I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. Dementia was degenerative. Sooner or later my father would lose the bulk of his mind. Every day it got worse, our only hope was to slow the process.
“Can I talk to him?”
“Of course! He’d love to hear your voice. I’ll put it on speaker, okay?”
I waited a minute then heard my dad’s voice. “Hello?”
“Hi, Daddy! How are you?”
“Judy dear, I’m—” he trailed off and I heard my mother murmur.
“No, I’m Judy. Megan is on the phone.”
“Megan?”
“Yes, Leo. Megan. Your daughter.”
Hearing my parents’ discussion tore my heart out. My mother was trying to be quiet so I couldn’t hear. I palmed my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut to keep from sobbing.
“D-Daddy?” I tried again. “Daddy, it’s Megan.”
“Meg-Pie!” A sigh of relief burst through my chest. “I miss you, kiddo. How’s school going?”
“Megan graduated college a while ago. She’s in New York now,” my mom clarified.
“New York?”
“It’s okay, Mom,” I said. “I’m doing great, Daddy. How are you?”
“Oh well, you know, doing alright. Damn knee hurts. I talked to Herb yesterday about getting this doctor bill put on workman’s comp since I hurt it on the job last week.”
My mother didn’t try to correct him this time and I didn’t either. My father hadn’t worked in almost eight years and his old boss Herb died before he left the company.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I hope you feel better.”
“Enough about this old man, how are you Meg-Pie? Getting good grades?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s my girl.”
I laughed and tears rolled down my cheeks.
“I’ve got to get his dinner going,” my mom said. “But you call us and keep us posted and I really don’t want—”
“Mom, please, just take it. I’m going to keep sending it. Every week. Please.”
She took a deep breath. “Thank you, honey.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“Oh, I love you too.”
We hung up and the only thing I could do was drop my cell on the bed next to me, throw my face into my palms and cry.
***
Something warm and smooth skated across my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw Preston staring down at me, the back of his finger tracing along my cheekbone. I must have fallen asleep after hanging up with my mom.
I sat up and my old bed creaked a little.
“I locked the door…” I murmured, still sleepy and dazed.
“Yeah, I had a key made,” he said, and sat next to me.
“What’s mine is yours,” I mumbled.
Too exhausted to fight. My stomach kind of hurt and my eyes felt puffy and my body ached as though I had been sleeping in a cave. Cold and alone. Because I had been.
Heat radiated from Preston and he smelled so good. I wanted to curl up in his arms but there was still a dark cloud between us. After the last several weeks I felt like we had made progress, and now this setback felt like it put an eternity between us.
“How did you find me?”
His thumb trailed along my cheekbone. “You’ve been crying.”
I ran the back of my hand over my eye.
“When you weren’t anywhere at the hotel,” he murmured, “I figured this would b
e the next place you’d go.”
I guess I wasn’t that hard to track down.
“I’m tired, Preston.” He nodded. “But I’m not sorry about arrangement. I’m confused and you drive me kind of crazy, but I’m not sorry. I haven’t lied to you. I can’t handle being treated the way you treated me.”
He sat on the bed next to me and faced me. “I know.” His jaw clenched like he was going to say more. So I stayed quiet, hoping he would. Finally he looked me in the eye. “I wasn’t prepared for what Darlene did. But it’s no excuse for what I said to you.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He cupped my face. “I’ve been honest with you too.”
“I know you have, you’ve just been vague.”
He nodded and looked away. His green eyes were haunted and I wanted to reach out and hug him. There was so much behind every expression.
I loved my parents dearly. Losing one of them would crush my world. I was losing my father in a sense and it was slowly wrecking me. But to go through what Preston did, see his mother the way he had…I don’t know how he coped. He probably didn’t even have a chance to process the loss before he was thrown into a situation where he was the “bastard son.” It must have been terrible.
“I won’t force you to share details if you don’t want to.” I grabbed his free hand and squeezed.
“I grew up a certain way,” he said, and glanced down at our woven hands. “I know better than to trust someone completely, especially with something important, something that could weaken you. It’s just unwise.”
I forced back the tears because I saw it on his face right then and it made sense.
A child trusted their parent to take care of them. To support them. To never leave them. It was an unspoken, understood rule. To have that broken did damage, which was why Preston liked his contracts and play-by-play deals.
It also made a remark of Darlene’s stand out: “Preston will never have family.” His feelings about children obviously went beyond the contract and the pregnancy void clause.
“I grew up hated in my father’s home. Every move I made was like shifting a game piece. I don’t like people having information on me and the upper hand. I don’t like the unexpected happening.”