Torn(56)

She nods softly, her hand reaching back for mine. "I'm going to go home now. Will you call me later? Once you've talked?"

I want to ask her to stay. Fuck, I want to beg her to stay. My father and brothers don't drop in for Sunday night social calls. I know I have to face this alone but I don’t want to let her go.

"My driver, Charles, is downstairs, Falon." Gabriel scoops his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. "I'll call down. He'll drive you home."

"I can take a cab." She turns to look at him. "I don’t want him to go to any trouble."

"No trouble. He'll take you home."

She nods, before she leans up to kiss me quickly. Before she pulls back, she rests her head against mine. "I love you, Asher. I cherish you."

***

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" I sweep my hands in the air. "It's not often that all of us are in the same room. What's going on?"

Gabriel brushes past me towards a leather chair. He sits down, crossing his legs at the knee. "I don't have a clue. These two showed up at my door and pulled me away from my wife. It better be worth it."

I turn back towards Caleb. "He did the same to you? He showed up and ordered you to come here with him?"

"Not quite." Caleb adjusts the front of his dress pants. "I picked him up from the airport two hours ago."

I shouldn't be surprised that Caleb knew where he was the entire time. He's protective of dad. He's the one who still sends him a box of expensive cigars on his birthday.

"How long have you known that he's been on his way back here?"

"I came as soon as your mother called." My dad steps towards me. "She called the office of the Cruise Line. She said it was urgent. They patched the call through to the ship."

"So you raced back here?" I hear the sarcasm in my voice. It's dripping with anger and disappointment. "I've been trying to call you for weeks. You couldn't return one of those calls?"

His eyes drop to the floor. "I turned my phone off. I was on a retreat."

"A retreat?" I parrot back. "You were on a luxury cruise ignoring your family."

"Think what you will." He looks right into my eyes. "I was on a retreat, contemplating my life. That happens when you get to be my age."

"You couldn’t contemplate your life while returning an important phone call?"

"I've been a horrible father, Asher." His hands tremble as he folds them together in front of him. "I want to change that now."

I shake my head as I cast my eyes up to the ceiling. "You don't even know how ironic that is. You can't know how f*cking ironic that is."

"I do know." He drops his face into his hands. "I know that I've failed each of you."

I'm not going to argue him on that point. He's right. He has failed us all. He checked out when he and my mom divorced. He set course on a new adventure that involved shallow women and lonely holidays. It was by his hand though. I don't feel an ounce of pity for him.

"Why did you come here?" I look at Roman directly. "Why drag them along with you? You can't face me yourself?"

He raises his chin. "This is about our family."

I laugh. It's so hard that I roll my head back and grab my stomach. "Which family? The one you abandoned? Or the one you and mom pretended to have before you finally bit the bullet and walked out?"

Caleb rests his hand on my shoulder. "You need to take a breath, Junior. Let him talk."

I spin around. "It's easy for you to say that. You don't know the things I know."

"What the f*ck am I missing?" Gabriel interrupts before Caleb has a chance to respond. "I feel like an outsider."

I shake my head. "You feel like an outsider? That's almost laughable, isn't it dad?"

I hear my father break before I turn around to see it. He's on his knees, his face in his hands as he sobs, loudly.

Caleb moves around me, pulling him to his feet. He leads him to the dining room table, setting him into a chair. He kneels next to him, his hand stroking my father's neck, whispering something to him.

I walk past the table and into my bedroom. I yank the envelope from where I'd left it on my bed. I grab the flash drive and my laptop.

Gabriel watches me as he stands near the table. Caleb is still trying to console my father. I want them all out. Once I play the voicemail they'll get why I'm so f*cking pissed off. They'll leave and I can too. All I want is to find shelter in Falon's bed, in her arms.

I open the laptop. It takes f*cking forever for the screen to pop to life. Just as I'm sliding the flash drive in, Caleb's arm grabs my hand. "Don't put him through that, Asher. Don't."

I turn towards him, yanking my hand free. "You don't know what the f*ck this is. Once I play it, you'll understand."

He moves closer, his hands jumps to cup my neck. He holds me there, his gaze boring into me. He swallows hard. It's so hard I can see his throat move with the motion.

"I've heard it. Caterina tried to sell it to me months ago. She's just a money hungry bitch. Let it go."

"Let it go?" I rest my forehead on his. "You don't get it. You don't know what it's like. You belong with them. I don't anymore"