Page 35 of Riding the Pine

Why doIhurthim?

His eyes are hard, his jaw firm.

Wow.

Holy shit. Is my father a narcissist?

“I have proof, Papá, so don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about or that I’m out of line for my accusations.” I stand so I’m level, instead of letting him look down at me from a position of power.

He folds his arms. “Proof? What proof?”

I pull out the folded copy of the original document from his office. I made copies and put the original in a safety deposit box. “I was looking for my birth certificate and passport in your office, just like you told me. And while I was searching, I found this.”

He barely reacts, but if I stare hard enough, the muscle right under his eye is twitching.

“I have the original somewhere safe.”

He grunts. “Are you blackmailing me, Mija?” His voice is ice cold, devoid of any emotion.

“No, Papá, but I didn’t want any evidence of your missteps to suddenly vanish from existence.”

He snaps the page from my hand. “Is this it?” He flaps the paper in my face like it might intimidate me. “A bank statement to an account?”

I smirk. “No, Papá. I’ve met Mathias. I didn’t go to visit Gloria, but I have her address and cell number.”

He opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up my hand. “I know, she’s under an NDA and can’t talk to me.”

He starts huffing like he does when he’s getting agitated. “What’s the point of all of this, Athena?”

“The point,” I step toward him. “Is that if you’re still sleeping with this woman, it stops now, do you hear me?” I lean into his space, steeling my voice against the wavering undertone. “It ends now.”

He stares at me but doesn’t say anything.

“Are there any others?”

“Other what?” His nostrils flare.

“Indiscretions, Papá. Any other women or children out there that my brothers may bump into in the grocery store or on the ice? Any other women out there getting one hundred thousand dollars a month to stay quiet because you’re a cheating piece of shit, Papá?” I don’t care that I’m yelling now, I don’t care that his secretary may hear me. Fuck, she may be one of his fucking conquests for all I know.

My breath is loud through my nostrils as I stare down the man I’ve looked up to and adored my entire life.

Tears well in my eyes but I blink them back. I willnotlet him see me cry. I can raise my voice to him, I can call him names, but I will not let him break me. Not here, not now.

“She’s the only one, Mija.” His voice softens as though he’s remorseful. “Gloria is my only indiscretion against your mother.”

He rubs his hands up and down my biceps.

“Promise?” My voice wobbles on the single word.

“Sí, Mija. Lo prometo.”

I nod, but something in my stomach still isn’t settled. He pecks me on the forehead, slides out from between my body and his desk, and returns to his seat. When I don’t move for a beat, he looks up from his papers to me. “Was there something else?” That cool, calm tone has returned as well as the hardness in hiseyes. Something has changed between us in this room, and only time will tell what that is.

I smooth out my skirt. “No, Papá. Nothing else.”

My legs somehow carry me back to my car where I sit trembling and replaying the conversation with my father. My phone beeps, dragging me from the cycle in my brain.

Gizmo: Did you talk to your dad?

---