Page 18 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
“I love her. I’ve known her for months—not that you’d know, considering you have no interest in me outside of my bank account.”
“That's not true, son. I love you.”
Ah, the wily old fuck suspected we were recording him. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy, but Hendrick wasn’t deterred. “Thank you, Father. I know you’ll be happy about my marriage then. I’ve even rewritten my will. She gets everything if I die.”
I had no idea when Hendrick had found the time to do that, but I felt Aviva stiffen on my lap.
“Oh? Who gets it if you both die?” Ted Kenley said it lightly, but you couldn’t miss the malice and underlying threat in the statement. I tightened my arms around Aviva’s waist, holding her protectively.
“Charity. And the Democratic Party.”
I almost laughed. Fucking Hendrick, he really knew the right buttons to press. While he looked pale, he seemed to have settled into the conversation, no longer prey. That was the thing about your personal monsters—the idea of their wrath was often a lot worse than the reality. I wasn’t saying Ted Kenley was a fucking pushover—the guy was a bonafide sociopath—but Hendrick had been dealing with his manipulations since he could walk.
“Your mother and I would like to meet our new daughter-in-law. You should come around for dinner.”
Drix made a rude noise. “When Hell freezes over. I’m not sure if you got the memo on this, Father, but if I never see you again, it’ll be too soon. Maybe we’ll meet again in Hell, but you’ll have Satan’s cock so far up your ass that you’ll be too busy for heartfelt reunions.”
His father made a disgusted grunt. “Your mother will be disappointed. Hurt, even.” There was the threat wrapped in a pleasantry again.
“So be it. She made her choice a long time ago. Around the first time she watched you break my arm, when I was four, because I shattered your favorite scotch glass.” Color was flooding back to his face. “Or when you hit me when I was nine because you lost a business contract, giving me a concussion. She just kept drinking her martini like it meant nothing.”
Aviva was shaking on top of me, her eyes wide and shiny. Hendrick held her gaze as he continued, “Or the time she heard the girl on the third floor calling out for help and ignored her too. Mother made her bed, and now she can lie in it. But I’d be careful, Father, because she holds the keys to your small kingdom now. Without her money, you’ll be just another average person on the street, scraping for pennies behind the couch.”
“Listen, you little fuck, this isn’t over at all. I will have your farce of a marriage annulled one way or another, and then I’m going to stick you in the worst fucking asylum I can find and let you rot forever. Do you understand me, Hendrick? Enjoy your little show of rebellion, because I’m coming for you both.”
Then he hung up, and I pressed stop on the recording. I sent a copy to Tobias, and one to Evan. Another to Hendrick and Otto too. There was no burying this. Welcome to the twenty-first century, you old fuck.
Aviva shuffled off my lap and over to Hendrick, wrapping her arms around his head and pulling him tightly to her chest. He let out a shuddering breath and circled his arms around her body. They breathed together for a moment, then Hendrick reached up, grabbed her breasts, pushed them on either side of his cheeks and made a motorboat sound, breaking the tension.
Aviva laughed, gripping his hair in her fist. “Really, Drix?”
“I’m an opportunist.” He pulled her down into his lap, and she rested her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck happily. When Hendrick looked down the table at me though, I saw real fear in his eyes. He’d caught the underlying threat in his father’s tone as much as I had, and he was scared for Aviva.
We needed to get her the hell out of the way before she became a casualty of war.
Chapter11
Otto
Everything that seemed so easy yesterday was more… complicated now. We were running off adrenaline, trying to find a way to save Hendrick from the absolute shitshow that was his life. Right now though, I had to explain to my parents that the love of my life had married a girl that I’d totally fallen for, and that I was 100% okay with it. Plus, she was also banging Sampson and Evan.
Yeah, that was going to be interesting.
We had to collect the lockbox we’d buried under my floorboards years ago, the one that held Drix’s medical files. When I’d told my mom we were coming over, she insisted that we all stay for dinner. So there was no time like the present to rip the polyamory bandaid off.
Everyone had made an effort tonight, and Aviva looked beautiful. She had all her golden curls piled on top of her head, and was wearing a long-sleeved dress with a skirt that twirled around her thighs. And her trusty Converse, of course. She almost looked like a teenager, and I was fairly sure my mother was going to kick our asses.
Evan was even dressed in a nice button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up his forearms. He’d gelled his hair a little, and shaved, which was good because it made him look five years younger. If Mom was going to chew us out about dating Aviva, she was definitely going to have words with Evan, who was sleeping with a girl twelve years his junior. Judging by the look on his face as he drove, he’d rather be storming a terrorist bunker than going to dinner at my house.
The only person who looked completely at ease was Hendrick. That was just his nature. The world made exceptions for Drix, and my parents were no different.
“Are you sure we have to tell them?” Aviva asked nervously for the hundredth time as we pulled into my driveway.
I nodded, reaching out and grabbing the hand that was tapping against her thigh. “Yes. They’re going to find out sooner or later, and I’d rather it be us than the tabloids. They’ll have questions, but it’s going to be fine.” I didn’t tell her that we were going to have to go home and call her own parents later as well. Otherwise, the first they were going to hear of their daughter’s nuptials would be the front page ofPeoplemagazine.
One thing at a time though.
As Evan parked behind my father’s SUV, he looked at us. “Maybe I should just stay out here and keep watch?”
