Step Brother: Off Limits

by King, Jayna

  She started to cry for real. “I don’t know, Reed. I think I really fucked up.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “What am I going to do?”

  “Well, for starters, you probably need to sit down and talk to Donald.”

  “I told you, he won’t answer my calls.”

  “Mom, you’ve just dropped a bombshell on him. Give him a little time to calm down, and I’m sure he’ll agree to have a civil conversation with you.”

  “But what if he won’t?” she wailed.

  She was clearly beyond reasoning with.

  “Why don’t you stay here tonight, Mom? Things will look better in the morning.”

  “No, they won’t. I’ve fucked it all up. Donald’s going to kick me out, and he’s going to lose the election. It’s all my fault.” She took the hand I offered her. “Do you think there’s any way I can talk him into giving me another chance?”

  I started walking her down the hall to the extra bedroom. “I don’t know, Mom, but you can deal with all of it in the morning. Right now, you need some sleep.”

  She let me steer her to the bedroom, and after she flopped onto the bed, I slipped her shoes off and closed the door. Based on my extensive experience with hangovers, I had a feeling she was headed for a world class one. I set a bottle of aspirin on the bathroom counter, and went into the kitchen to pour myself a drink.

  What a day.

  I thought about calling Tatum, but decided against it. When I’d walked out earlier in the evening, I’d told her I would find a way to prove she could trust me, and before I’d turned on the television, nothing had occurred to me yet. I stared off into space and racked my brain, trying to think of something that might change her mind. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t hold my mother’s embarrassing, awful behavior against me, but as hard as Tatum had tried to reconcile with her father, I knew she’d be sorely disappointed if he lost the election just because my mother fucked everything up.

  I laughed as I realized that Mom’s behavior might be the only exception to the saying about there being no such thing as bad publicity. She had certainly put on a show that people wouldn’t forget anytime soon. What Donald needed was something that was bigger news than his slutty wife.

  I jumped up as the idea occurred to me, and I grabbed my phone. I didn’t even think to look at the time, and when my father answered, I could tell I’d woken him up.

  “Shit, man, I’m sorry to wake you.”

  I heard mumbling and a couple of groans before my father managed to string some words together.

  “Reed. Jesus. You left without even saying anything, and now you call me in the middle of the night? What the hell?”

  I did the calculations. “Sorry about running off on you like that, but FYI, it’s not the middle of the night. It’s ten in the morning there.”

  “That’s the middle of the night when you go to bed when the sun’s coming up. Anyway, are you okay? Rob just told me you were bailing. He didn’t say why.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I’m not really fine. There’s something I need your help with.”

  “Anything.”

  “I need you to come to Vegas, and I need you to do a political benefit show.”

  “What?”

  “I need you to come here and do a show for Mom’s soon-to-be-ex-husband.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about, Reed?”

  “Mom completely fucked up and was caught on tape checking into a hotel with some guy. Her husband is running for mayor of Las Vegas, and he’s going to need some positive publicity. Oh—and I also need you to tell the woman I love that I didn’t sleep with any of the women on tour.”

  “Have you completely lost your mind? I have no idea what on earth you’re talking about.”

  I forced myself to slow down and explain everything that had happened since I got off the plane in Vegas.

  “So you want me to come talk to your stepsister, tell her you were a good boy, and bail her father out with a free show? All because your mother’s a whore?”

  “Well, yes. I guess that’s what I want.”

  “Reed, I don’t do political shit. I didn’t give a fuck about politics when I lived in the US. I care even less now.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “What the hell is the point? I can’t just drop everything on a whim.”

  “A whim? This is my life, here. I have met the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and she refuses to believe or trust me. You know I didn’t sleep with those women on tour. I need you to tell her I kept my promise to her.”

  “Man, can I just have Rob send her an email or something?”

  “Seriously, when have I ever asked you for anything?”

  Silence.

  “How about if I call her?”

  “But you can do it in person if you’re here for a benefit concert.”

  “Reed, I can’t just drop everything, fly halfway around the world, and throw together some show for some guy I’ve never met.”

  “Why not?”

  He stuttered. “These things … they’re set up like way the fuck in advance. You just don’t understand how it works.”

  “I hear what you’re saying. But is it impossible?”

  “How the fuck would I know?” He was starting to sound irritated, but I didn’t really care.

  “Look, Gordon. I need your help. You’re the only person on the planet who can make this stuff happen for me, and you happen to be my father. I’ve never, ever asked you for anything, and I’m asking now. Tatum’s dad needs some good publicity to counter all the shit Mom just slung around, and you can give him that. I don’t care if you do a stripped-down solo acoustic set in a hole-in-the-wall or you bring the whole band and fill up one of the big casino theaters. I need this from you.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll help with getting everything set up. My store manager is a planning genius. We can find a venue, sell the tickets, and collect the money for Donald’s campaign.”

  “You’re really asking a lot, Reed. I’m gonna need to think it over.”

  I was about at the end of my rope. “Fuck you, man. Just give me a yes or no. I’m not going to dick around with you on this. I’m your son, and I need your help. You’re either going to help me or you’re not.”

  “You can’t dump this shit on me and expect an answer right away, Reed. This is a lot to think about, a lot to set up.”

  “Yes or no, Gordon.”

  He sighed. “Well, then I guess it’s a no. If you’ll give me some time, I’ll see if I can do something, maybe see if Rob knows some guys in the States who can put together a show for Donald … I don’t know. I can see what I can do, but if you’re gonna push me for an answer right this second, my answer is no. I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. I thought I finally had a father, and now I know I was wrong.”

  I hung up the phone, pissed and disappointed. I should have known better than to think I could rely on a man who’d never lifted a finger to find me or be involved in my life. I was a fool, and I really was all alone. My mother was a fuck-up. My father was a selfish piece of shit, and the woman I loved didn’t trust me.

  I realized I was standing at the edge of a massive hole of self-destruction, and I’d lived that life before. I wasn’t going to numb my pain and frustration with booze. I was going to go to bed and wake up in the morning ready to solve—rather than create—problems. I was going to find a way to get Tatum back. Failure was not an option for me, not now.

  12 -- Tatum

  When I woke up, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was for a moment. I felt a flush of warmth as I remembered the last time I’d woken up disoriented in a strange place—the night I first slept with Reed. After I’d left my dad in his study, Stanford and I had agreed to talk in the morning. I’d crashed in one of the spare bedrooms and had a terrible time getting to sleep, flooded by doubt about how I’d handled things with Reed.

  I wanted him
. No question there. But I felt like starting a relationship on a shaky foundation—plagued by doubts about his honesty—was foolish. Reed had said he loved me, but people lie every day. Who knows? Maybe he even believed it himself, but what I had to look at was history. He’d kept information from me, and he’d been photographed with so many different women. I didn’t want to be petty and jealous, but I didn’t know how any man could have spent so much time with half-dressed women and kept it in his pants.

  And now it was morning, and I still hadn’t solved a single problem.

  I planned to change that.

  I headed downstairs in search of coffee, but first I stepped outside to call Stanford.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” he answered, sounding surprisingly cheerful.

  “Back atcha. So what’s our plan?”

  “Well, we certainly don’t need to find a way to trick Tina into anything now.”

  I laughed. “No shit.”

  “The way I see it, first, we have to decide if we’re going to tell Donald about the money Tina took.”

  “Agreed. I think we have to.”

  “Me too. Next, I have to get some polls out and assess the damage to his campaign. I have a meeting with a PR firm later today to see if they have suggestions for minimizing the fallout.”

  “Dad’s lucky to have you, Stanford.”

  “There’s some self-preservation at work here, too. If Donald pulls out of the race, I’m going to be unemployed.”

  “Do you really think he’d pull out?”

  “Don’t know. He seemed pretty low last night, and there’s no sense fighting a battle you can’t win, right?”

  “Maybe the numbers won’t be as bad as you think.”

  “We can only hope. Is he with his attorney?”

  “I think so. I’m going to hang here until he’s finished, and then I’ve got to get into work.”

  “Dinner tonight? Strategy session?”

  “I’m in. Let me talk to Dad, and I’ll see if he wants to join us. You mind? I figure he may be a little lonely since Tina’s gone.”

  “Good thinking.”

  I walked back inside and found Dad’s study door open. “Knock, knock,” I said, peeking inside the room.

  “Come on in. The attorney just left, and I have some things I’d like to go over with you.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “He’s going to put the paperwork together and file in the next day or so.”

  “So you’re sure you’re done?” I’d been a little concerned that Dad might reconsider divorcing Tina in the light of day.

  “Beyond done. She abused my trust, and she’s a lying whore. I don’t ever want to see her again.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “So here’s the thing. I made an appointment with my financial advisor to get a snapshot of what I’m looking at in terms of assets I need to protect, and it turns out there’s some money missing from one of the accounts.”

  I didn’t say a word. I wasn’t sure if Dad would be pissed that I knew and hadn’t told him.

  “I suspect that Tina took the money, but I don’t know what she did with it.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yes. I’m prepared to offer her money if she’ll sign off on the divorce without dragging me into court. If she’s already taken money, though, I’m not about to give her more. I need to figure out where the money’s gone, and I’ll be able to decide how to proceed.”

  I took a deep breath. I was about to tell him I knew she’d taken it, when I second guessed myself. I had a little time before he filed, so I decided to talk to Stanford. I didn’t want to lie to my dad, but I also didn’t want him to be pissed at me for having withheld information from him. I was going to keep my mouth shut for the moment and hope I wasn’t making a huge mistake.

  “I need to run, Dad, unless there’s something else you need. I have to get into the office and get some motions filed with the court before the weekend.”

  Dad stood up and hugged me to him. “Thank you for being here, Tatum. The only good thing to come of all this mess is that I have my daughter back.”

  “Anything you need, just let me know. If you need me to go to events with you, I’m happy to.”

  “Thanks, honey. I’ll let you know. For all I know, there’s not even going to be a campaign anymore. Stanford’s looking at some numbers, and we’re going to have to make a decision about whether to stay in or drop out.”

  “Maybe there’s some way we can salvage the campaign. After all, it’s not like you did anything wrong. Plenty of people have spouses who cheat. Maybe it’ll get you some sympathy votes.”

  “We’ll see. You go to work, and I’ll talk to you later.”

  I kissed my dad on the cheek and headed out to call a cab. Sitting in the backseat on the ride home, I wondered what Reed was doing. I assumed he knew about Tina and her stunt, and I wondered how he’d handled it. Had he called her? Did he know where she was? I stared at my phone, trying to decide if I should text him. I decided to text Stanford instead.

  Dad knows about the money she took. He doesn’t know where it is.

  You didn’t tell him you knew?

  NO!!! I’m afraid he’ll be pissed that I knew and didn’t tell him.

  Wait … kinda like you’re pissed at Reed because he didn’t tell you about his father?

  I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I went back and reread Stanford’s message. Who did he think he was bringing up my relationship with Reed? And how could he even begin to think the situations were the same?

  I paid the cab driver, headed inside, and threw my purse onto the couch, so pissed I wanted to punch someone. I got ready for work, muttering to myself about how my personal life was absolutely none of Stanford Boyle’s goddamn business.

  Was that out of line?

  I wasn’t even going to respond to his text. He could cool his heels until I was ready to deal with him.

  At the office, I worked like a crazy person, keeping busy and focused so I wouldn’t have to think about the truth in what Stanford had said. Finally, a little after five o’clock, I’d completely exhausted all the work I could possibly scrape up to occupy myself. I looked around the mostly empty office and realized it was time for me to get out of there and face the music.

  I texted Stanford back, finally.

  You weren’t out of line. Dinner?

  At Donald’s. Join us here?

  K.

  Stanford was completely right, of course, and I just didn’t want to admit it. I gathered up the files I was working on, locked them in my file cabinet, turned off my desk light, and headed out, sliding the folder with Tina’s secret account information into my purse. I had decided I had to tell my father about what I’d learned. I could hear a group of people in one of the meeting rooms, so I knew I wasn’t the last one out of the building and wouldn’t have to make sure the doors were locked.

  Fumbling with my keys, I looked up and saw Reed leaning against my Jetta.

  “You ever going to replace this POS?”

  Why did he have to look so good? The perfect combination of bad boy, alpha male, and sweet, sexy lover. He was irresistible, and I was tired of making myself push him away.

  “I’ll have you know that POS has been absolutely reliable. She ain’t pretty, but she’s been a good car. I’m going to miss her if I ever get around to trading her in.”

  “Who knew you’d be sentimental about an automobile?”

  I laughed. “Is there something I can help you with, or did you just stop by to harass me about my car?” I kept my tone light, making it clear I wasn’t genuinely irritated.

  Reed’s gaze made my stomach flutter.

  “Oh, there are lots of things you can help me with.” The overtly sexual tone was clear. “But I just need to talk to you about Mom and Donald.”

  “Have you talked to Tina?”

  “Have I ever. She showed up late last night drunk off her ass. She’s been nursing a hangover t
oday, and she’s just a mess. She’s pissed because Donald won’t return her calls, and she’s being too big a pussy to go over to the house and confront him. She’s still wearing the clothes she had on last night.”

  I thought about the thousands of dollars in her secret account, and I refused to feel too bad for Tina. “What’s she going to do?”

  “Well, she got an email from Donald’s attorney this afternoon, asking her to come to a meeting tomorrow.”

  “On a Saturday? Dad’s gonna pay through the nose for that.”

  “Apparently, he’ll have papers for her to sign to get the divorce done as quickly as possible.”

  “Does Tina have an attorney?” The question was practically a reflex, not the result of my tender feelings for the woman.

  “No. I told her she probably needs to get one.”

  “I’d like to tell you I feel sorry for her, but I don’t. Dad’s not just pissed and embarrassed. He’s hurt, too. I think he really loved her.”

  Reed shook his head. “She has no one to blame for this mess but herself. I’m letting her stay with me, but she asked if maybe I could go pick up some clothes and things from Donald’s.”

  “I’m actually on my way there now to see Dad and Stanford.”

  “Mind if I tag along?”

  “No. I guess that’s fine. I’ll shoot Stanford a text so he can let Dad know you’re coming too. I think he’s had enough surprises to last him a while.”

  “I’m sure he has.” Reed looked down at the parking lot before meeting my eyes again. “Think we can get together and talk sometime soon?”

  I just didn’t have it in me to keep pushing him away forever. “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

  His slow, sexy smile made me melt. He held out a hand, and though I was afraid the kiss I anticipated would end up with us naked in the parking lot, when he finally kissed me, it was sweet and soft. I was starting to think Reed really had been telling the truth about being in love with me, and even though the prospect scared me a little, I was excited too.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said, finally pulling away. “Everyone at the firm already thinks I’m a slut. I don’t want to give them any more of a show than they’ve already seen.”