My phone kept ringing but I couldn’t answer it. I turned my phone off. If it was my mother I wouldn’t be able to speak. She’d be worried. All I could do was drive. Run away from it all. Until my chest didn’t feel as if it were crushed.
The words he had said to Kelsey and the image of them together replayed over and over. Nausea clawed at my throat. Disbelief that I had actually trusted him. Thought what we had was real. But he . . . he was darker than I knew. When the tears finally began to fall, I pulled off at an exit and parked in a hotel parking lot. I cried for all I had dreamed of. All the happiness I thought I had found. And all that would forever mark me. I would never be the same. My fantasy had been just that. Nothing had been real. There would be no fond memories. Only one nightmare.
I’m sorry. But I’m okay. I just needed some space. I sent that one text to my mother to keep her from being worried. There were twenty-eight missed texts and fifty missed calls when I turned my phone back on. I ignored them all, turned the phone off again and went to pay for a room for the night.
Cruz Kerrington
IT HAD BEEN sex. That was it. How had I known my affair with Kelsey would lead to this? I kept my head buried in my hands as my father paced in front of me. The room was silent now. His ranting and yelling had ended.
“She’s okay. That was Harlow on the phone. Lila Kate sent her a simple text saying she was fine but needed space.” My mother announced as she entered the living room.
I looked up for the first time in a while. Relief that Lila Kate was safe helped ease my fears. The pain still tore through my chest. I’d called her and texted her numerous times begging for her to listen to me. She hadn’t replied to any of them.
“Did she say where she was?” I asked already knowing the chance of the Carters telling me was slim to none.
Mom shook her head. “No. I think Grant is trying to track her cell phone though.”
He was busy worrying about Lila Kate’s safety. I knew once she was back here safely he’d come for me. Right now, I hoped he did. I should have dealt with Kelsey. Thinking it would just go away was stupid.
“She is threatening a lawsuit,” Dad said. “I’ve confiscated all the items in her office. The videos were found. There are some when you were underage. Those will protect the club. She will be the one facing charges if she pushes this.”
Mom sank to sit on the edge of the chair in front of me. “You were just a baby. She was my age. I just don’t understand how she could do that?”
“He was a willing partner, Della,” Dad reminded her. “And if she is pregnant then we have that to deal with.”
I shook my head. “That baby won’t be mine. If there is one.”
“But if it is, you aren’t a teenage boy anymore being taken advantage of. You’re a grown ass man who knew better than to screw around with a married woman.”
Mom paled at his words. I’d hurt so many people. How did I think I deserved someone like Lila Kate? After all the shit I’d done.
“I know that,” I told him lifting my eyes to meet his. “I should have stopped it. Hell, I shouldn’t have started it. But I am paying for it. I love Lila and now I’ve lost her. She’s hurting and it’s all my fault. That’s killing me.”
Dad scowled. “Yes, it is. In life, you’re gonna make mistakes but this one is beyond a mistake. It’s selfish, irresponsible, and straight up dishonest. That woman is married. I get you were a teenage boy with raging hormones, but she is a married woman. That,” he said pointing at me. “That right there was where you messed up. No, Lila Kate won’t forgive you. How could she?”
I stood up unable to sit here and listen to my mistakes anymore. I knew I had fucked up. I didn’t need my dad reminding me over and over. What I needed to do was find a way to fix this. Which seemed impossible.
“Where are you going?” Dad’s anger hadn’t dissipated any during the hour he’d been yelling at me.
“Are we not done here?” I shot back.
He closed the space between us and glared at me. “You slept with a married employee of a business that will be yours one day. You made sex videos with her. She’s claiming to be pregnant with your child. No, we’re not fucking done here. I’ve spoken with the lawyers. I’ve spoken with Kelsey’s husband. We are meeting in one hour in the club’s boardroom. You’re not going anywhere.”
Lila Kate was out there and I had no idea where or how to find her or where to even look. I’d called Nate but he swore she hadn’t come to Sea Breeze. She needed to hear my side of this story. I had to explain it to her. Maybe she’d understand after I had a chance to explain how it all got started and how until I ran after her when she left town I had seen no issue with what I’d done. I did now. If I could just be the man she wanted me to be and erase all the past shit I’d done. I was a fuckup. Now I would pay for it.
“She needs her space. You can’t find her anyway. You don’t know where she went,” my mother’s voice was calm and understanding.
“I did this. I hurt her.” My voice cracked with emotion as I said it.
My mom nodded. “Yes. And you’ll be the only one who can fix it. But for now, you have something else to fix.”
“Goddamn right he does,” Dad’s tone was angry and annoyed.
“Woods, calm down. I know you’re angry. But this started when he was a kid. She took advantage of him. Remember that.”
Dad threw up his hands in frustration. “She is married, Della. Married. I’d like to think my son has more morals than that.”
Mom nodded. “Me too. But what is done is done. We thought his wild streak was just that and he’d outgrow it. We should have been paying closer attention.”
Dad pointed at me. “He should have used his damn brain and not his dick!”
Mom winced. “Seriously, honey. Are those words necessary?”
He shook his head. “This is just. Fuck it. I wasn’t perfect at his age but I didn’t do this. I didn’t put the club into legal question. And I didn’t screw around with married employees.”
But I had.
“When do we leave for the club?” I asked.
“We should leave now. I need to make sure the room is ready. And our lawyers need to go over some things with you. What you can and can’t say.”
Mom stood up. “I’m going.”
“No,” Dad and I said at the same time.
Mom frowned. “Why not?”
I looked at Dad, and he sighed. “Because Della, I’m afraid we will be dealing with more legal issues when you see Kelsey. The videos will be discussed and I don’t trust you not to attack the woman.”
He had a better reason than I did. I’d just been worried it would upset her.
“She’s pregnant. It may not be Cruz’s child but I’d never hurt a pregnant woman,” Mom argued.
Dad raised his eyebrow. “You haven’t seen the videos.”
Mom let out a deep sigh then nodded. “Perhaps you’re right.”
Dad walked over to my mom, pulled her into his arms then kissed her head. “I’ll keep you posted.”