Page 114 of Riding the Pine

CHAPTER 49

Athena

APRIL 20TH

Apollo resigned from Papá’s company a couple weeks ago, and the aftershocks are still hitting the family circle quite hard. It turns out Papá didn’t think of the consequences of his many, many shitty actions.

Mamá wants him to move out, he refused.

Ares wants to meet our half-siblings, Mamá refused.

I’m past the point of being a heartbroken daughter, of being disappointed to breaking point by my father, the hero.

In this instance, I’m the lucky one. When I get married, my surname won’t be my father’s anymore, but the boys are kind of stuck with it. Mamá is already looking forward to going back to her maiden name, I can’t blame her.

Since my conversation with her, we’ve found two more mistresses and another half-sibling. The more we dig, the more we find.

I thought perhaps some time and more therapy would help me process the fact he’s a worthless piece of shit, but instead, I find myself at Papá’s in-home office while Mamá is out with Abuelita.

Scott is here with me. I have divorce papers in hand, and I’m about to rip my father a new asshole. If he puts up a fight or doesn’t sign the damn papers, we’ll find a way to destroy him.

Actually, based on how angry the boys are, I wouldn’t rule it out anyway.

“Athena. You look well.” Papá looks at me from over the wiry frames of his glasses. “And Mr. Raine. To what do I owe this unscheduled drop in?” The distaste for being interrupted during work hours seeps into the air as Scott and I approach his desk.

“Alonso.” Scott holds his hand out, not bothering to call Papá ‘Mr. de la Peña’ which he notices right away. He accepts Scott’s hand and shakes it. Papá has a great poker face for almost all things. As a businessman, he kind of has to. But when he feels disrespected—whether it’s outright or implied—he grinds his teeth, like he’s doing right now.

Scott pulls out the chair facing my father and gestures for me to sit, then he drags one from the far corner of the room and sits next to me.

He doesn’t hold my hand, he doesn’t even put his hand on my thigh, but his silent support a few inches from my elbow is all I need. I straighten my spine, sliding the manila envelope across the table.

“These are divorce papers, Papá.” I clear my throat. “You need to accept Mamá’s requests, sign the papers, and let her go.”

He stares at the envelope before picking it up. “She can’t do this herself?”

I snort. “We both know she’s more than capable. But she didn’t want to go to jail for ripping your head off. Orange really isn’t her color.”

That’s a lie. Every color is Mamá’s color. Plus, I’m pretty sure they wear grey in jail these days.

“And you’re on her side?” He still doesn’t look up from the envelope in his hand.

The only word to describe the sound that comes from my body is a guffaw. “If that’s in question, maybe I need to revisit our last encounter, remind you of my thoughts on the matter.” My blood’s starting to ripple, a lick of heat bringing it from neutral to a simmer.

“Sign the papers.”

“And what about my children?”

“I think Apollo made himself clear a few weeks ago. He’s done with you. I don’t know about Ares and Artemis but they’re pretty pissed at you, too, Papá.”

“And you, Athena? What of you?”

“You looked me in the eye and lied to me.” My voice is colder than I had expected it to be, not a waver in sight.

That makes him look me in the eye once more.

“We’ve found more. More mistresses, more children. Where does it end Papá?”

He opens his mouth as if to speak but I silence him by simply raising my hand.

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