The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(63)

I really don’t want to have this conversation. I don’t want to have my air mixing with the likes of David Riverton. Apparently, however, God isn’t looking down deciding I need a freak tornado to swoop down and suck the * into another universe. So, I back away. If I have to talk to him, I’m at least doing it with clothes on.

“I remember every detail of our last meeting, daddy dear. I don’t need a refresher course,” I tell him, flippantly going to the bathroom. I jump when I hear the door slam behind me, but luckily, I’m in the bathroom and my reaction is hidden from him. I guess the “daddy” barb struck home. Good.

“I told you to never f*cking utter those words. Your slut of a mother trapped me, thinking she could use you as leverage for money.”

Oooh, he cursed! I guess I did score a direct hit.

“Well, I guess you showed her. Oh, wait. You did give her money. Tell me again, how much did you pay my mother to skip town with her mouth shut?”

“Apparently not enough to make sure she took you with her.”

“Yeah, you totally overestimated good old Margaret’s maternal instinct with that one,” I half-joke, coming back through the room with a t-shirt and shorts on. I’m running a towel through my hair, wondering how long it will take before Riverton grows tired and leaves. I really can’t handle him. Today started off so well, too.

“How sad it must be to know that no one really wants you. Even that broken down old biker mostly just put up with you. He felt sorry for you, I suppose.”

And just like that, his words strike like a dagger into the pit of my stomach. David Riverton is a king at knowing exactly how to wound an opponent. It’s how he got to where he is in life.

“I’m not discussing Banger with you. You don’t deserve to even mention his name. If you came here to remind me that I’m the scum beneath your gardener’s fingernails, I got it. I got that message a long time ago, Daddy. I don’t need it again. You’re just wasting your time.”

“I came to tell you that you need to tell Gray you’ve changed your mind and leave him alone and return to Kentucky.”

“What? Why in hell would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll destroy that damn garage you came and begged me to save years ago.”

“The garage is mine. I paid the last payment on it three years ago,” I tell him—damn proud of that fact. “There’s nothing you can do to it now.”

I’m trying to sound self-assured, but I’m not. The truth is, I’m scared. Riverton has money, and with money comes power. When Banger’s medical expenses were destroying us, we took out a second loan from a high rate lender. They paid off the first part of the medical bills while Banger was in remission. When the cancer came back with a vengeance and we had both loans and more medical bills piling up, I swallowed my pride and bargained with the only thing I had to keep it: the dirty truth. Riverton gave me the money in exchange for my signature on documents stating that I would never reveal the truth about my mother’s sperm donor. I paid off the second loan with the money and have been working like hell to pay off the original loan ever since. I got it done and the place is completely mine, now… I hope. Something in his eyes tells me it’s not going to be that easy.

“You know how I know there’s none of me in you, Claudia?”

“I haven’t grown horns and a pointy tail yet?”

“You didn’t even bother reading the contract that you signed.”

“I did,” I tell him, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

“The details are always in the fine print. Specifically in this case, the one that says, if at any time I find you are no longer abiding by our terms set forth in the contract that I will demand the entire two hundred and fifty thousand dollars back or you will hand over the deed to the garage.”

His words rob me of air. There’s no way I would have signed that, right? But then again, I think back to when I was a kid who felt like she was drowning. I hated coming to Riverton and I knew that I was going to lose Banger—no matter what I did. I just wanted to make sure he was comfortable. I wanted him… not to worry.

“I… don’t believe you,” I lie. Oh, God. What have I done?

“But I think you do.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve not violated the terms of our agreement.”

“But you have. You’re insinuating yourself into my life and interfering with my business. You’re causing problems for my daughter—my true daughter.”

“I haven’t! I haven’t done anything to Cammie!” I growl, and I hate that I can hear desperation in my voice.

That’s when Riverton plays his trump card and I should have known he had one. He brings out a manila envelope he had under his arm. He opens it up and takes out some photos he had inside, throwing them on the coffee table between us. I lean down and pick one up. It’s a grainy photo obviously taken from a security camera which shows me entering an employee-only entrance at the country club back home. The others show me in the room. There’s even one that shows me turning the sprinklers on. Several others are pictures of Gray and Cammie. I look at them and then back up at the monster who fertilized the egg I was unlucky enough to hitch a ride on.

“I think that picture would tell all the story I need. Don’t you?”