“So the time was now. You decided out of the blue to do this? What the fuck do you want from me anyway? A good fuck, ‘cause that’s what it seems like. If you want to get laid there’re plenty of people in this world who you can pay. I’m not one of them.”

Her sarcastic laughter echoes throughout her home as she shakes her head. “No? Not anymore?”

“You bitch. You don’t know anything about my past.”

“Oh, but I do.” A voice I recognize from Jameson Industries, Paul’s porn company, bores a hole through my chest. “Hello Cove.”

My stomach is in my throat, literally. Vomit comes part way up and I swallow to keep it down, leaving a burning sensation from my mouth to my gut. Fuck me.

“Not going to turn around and say hello, my prized friend?”

My heart has now officially stopped beating. This is a set up. “This isn’t about Ivy at all, is it?” I whisper, keeping my back turned from the evil in the room. Kaitlyn smiles and sits on her sofa with her legs crossed and a look of victory plastered across her face.

“Did I happen to mention I met this nice man last year who paid me a fortune to keep your father’s release from prison out of the St. Louis Tribune?” she says. “Boy, that could have been our biggest local story of the year; an innocent man finally given his freedom,” she looks past me and smiles. “One of the prison guards told me about it, but then along comes David, and, well... you can’t turn down that kind of money.”

“David,” I whisper. Everything’s always about money. People do some fucking dumbass shit for cash. I’m gonna pass out and I don’t know if it’s from the alcohol or the fact that the man behind me is the devil.

“Cove, you’re as white as a ghost,” Kaitlyn says,

“Do you know anything about this man you’ve so carelessly let into your home? Do you know what you’ve done? He has you now. You took a bribe from him and there’s no turning back. You’re in.”

“Hey dickhead, you don’t sound very happy to see me, why don’t you turn around and play nice.” David’s voice sends a shiver through my bones, and I know if I don’t turn, he’ll have a gun pointed at my head in a second flat.

“Ahh, there’s the face I know and love. How you been, Star?”

David Rosen is the main reason my father’s out of jail. He’s a lawyer with a shitload of connections, and I’ve come to believe he’s involved with the mob. Or he is the mob; an all-powerful man who once tried to force himself on my wife, whose twin sons were Paul Jameson’s bodyguards, and who was the man who began Jameson Industries; using Paul as a front to cover his ass if anything went amok. He’s older, possibly in his sixties, with a tough as nails Harrison Ford personality, and unfortunately, I’m also related to the dumbfuck. He’s my mother’s uncle.

“What do you want, David?” The words barely escape my mouth as he steps forward with a gun in hand.

“Dear Lord, you never mentioned anything about guns.”

“Sit down, Kaitlyn,” he gestures his piece in her direction, signaling for everyone to keep cool. “You reek of alcohol, kid. You old enough to drink?” He pats my shoulder and laughs. “Take it easy, loosen up, you know I’m just having some fun with one of my old pals.”

“Tell me what you want,” the words whistle through my clenched teeth. I need to call Haverty. Shit, I should’ve had him drive me here, or listened to him in the first place when he said to give it all a rest.

“I think a discussion between the two of us is long overdue. Kaitlyn, go fix us a drink. Something hard for this lad. He likes a good whiskey, if I recall.”

“No, I’ve had enough.” I need to sober up as quickly as possible. My eyes are still blurry and there’s two of David before me.

“Go,” he barks. “And stay away from your phone,” he calls out to her. “Have a seat, Cove.”

“No, I’ll stand.”

He takes a slow intimidating walk around me. Without warning, my arm is behind my back and my face planted on Kaitlyn’s sofa. He’s fast, that motherfucker.

“So shithead. You’re not even going to ask how my sons are doing? Boy, they sure do miss you. They can’t wait to get out of prison and come knocking on your door.”

“They deserve to rot in their cells,” I mumble into the sofa cushion, only to scream in agony a moment later. “Fuck! Stop!” My ring finger’s snapped back, broken, and his hand is on the next in line.

“Shut the fuck up or I’ll break all of them.”

“I’m sorry,” I pant. “It must be the alcohol talking. Don’t... please.”

“So you think my boys deserve to be in prison just for being Paul’s bodyguards?”

I can’t help but laugh, even though I’m starting to sweat from the pain. I feel pressure on my next finger as he slowly pushes it back. “Don’t,” I yell into the cushion; trapped under the weight of his body.

“Laughter? Are my sons a fucking joke to you?”

“Your sons are dicks. One drugged my wife and both of them have beat the shit out of me at one time or another, not to mention the role they played in the dirty underground porn ring... Awh!”

Snapped. A second finger pushed back to my wrist. I pass out for a moment until he shakes me back to reality.

“Jesus, David. Let him up. Here, I have your drinks, come on, enough.”

The weight disappears, and I’m able to breathe. David downs his shot, while I sluggishly rise and hold the wrist of my injured hand. I take the drink from Kaitlyn, not for a need to stay drunk, but rather in an attempt to deal with the pain.

“Tell me Cove, how is it that someone like your father fucked this fine woman?” His gun runs down her cheek and between her tits, while she tightens the sash on her robe before it falls open; she gets it. She made a mistake. “I thought I could find some dirt on your father, digging through his past, but all I came across was the fact he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. No news there. No man can.”

“I can.”

“Oh, yes,” he sighs. “Your sweet Sophia has turned you all domestic and shit. Well, since we’re on the subject, I guess we should discuss why I’m here.”

He rubs the muzzle of his gun across his jaw as if he has an itch. A corner of his mouth turns upward as he peers at me with his beady rodent eyes.

“Kaitlyn, get me another shot and bring the bottle back with you.”

She’s quiet. Obedient. Probably scared shitless by the gun. Some people aren’t used to this kind of mad man shit, not like me.

“Your father didn’t get out of jail for free, pass go, and collect his two-hundred dollars. You knew I’d be coming around eventually, didn’t you? He as well, I presume.”

“Yeah,” I whisper. “We knew. It’s not like you to help someone out without looking for payback.”

“Ha, payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

“So what is it?” I continue holding my hand, in need of a bag of ice and a painkiller.

“Your father’s free for two reasons. First, I didn’t want anyone to dig into his case and have to go through all that shit again. It’s time to leave my company alone. I’ve got new guys in charge of things who are turning more profits than Paul ever did. It’s time to leave Paul and his mess behind and start over. And your father’s fuckin’ lucky I’m friends with the governor and the warden of that facility, or he’d be sitting in his cell for another year or two while things were getting sorted out. Second, I thought helping the fucker out might come in handy one day. Your family owes me, and that’s the position I like to be in with everyone.”

Kaitlyn reappears with a bottle and shot in hand. He throws back one more and slams his glass on the coffee table, then puts his hands on my knees and breathes into my face. I turn my head, but he grabs my chin and forces me to look into his dark eyes. “Pour him another,” he says.

I take the shot, hoping to pass out and put an end to this shit.

“Did your wife tell you I called her the other day? I guess not since you’re so surprised to see me.”