Page 85 of All for Love

Well, that doesn’t happen often. My father is speechless.

Margaux, however, certainly wasn’t. Not anymore anyway. Words might have failed her a minute ago, but she went off on me now, clearly realizing she wasn’t going to get what she wanted from my father at this very minute.

“You’re wrong, Kody. It is disgusting. Absolutely vile and I refuse to believe that Mercedes has anything to do with this.”

“She—”

Margaux didn’t let me finish. “No. I’ve heard enough. How dare you do this before the holidays? Are you only saying this because you’ve been angry at your father?”

“No, it’s the truth.”

She stared up at me for another beat, her face turning even redder. “What are people going to think when they find out about this? What will they say? If you care about her at all, you will walk away. Today. Right now.”

“I can’t do that.” My heart was beating so fast, I was starting to feel faint, but I needed to stand my ground here. Nothing else mattered. “I told you, I love her. I can’t just walk away.”

“Oh, but you can and you will,” she said, her voice louder now. “My daughter has worked damn hard to get to where she is today. Do you not care about her reputation? If this gets out, her business would be compromised. Everything she’s spent her entire adult life building could go up in flames. And what’s more is that you also don’t care about your father. About his legitimate marriage.”

Her face was bright red, her voice becoming shrill and bordering on a shriek by the time she fell silent again. My dad turned to face her, slid his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into him. “Breathe, honey. Just breathe. It’s going to be alright. Everything is going to be just fine.”

She didn’t argue, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she started to cry. Dad rubbed her back and then slowly turned his head to mine. “You can leave now, Kody.”

He wrapped both of his arms around her, resting his head on top of hers and murmuring words I couldn’t hear into her hair. It was a private moment, and one I shouldn’t be witnessing. One he clearly didn’t want me to.

I didn’t know if this meant that we’d talk more later or what, but he’d made himself clear. Right now, he wanted me to go and that was what I did. My nerves were frayed as I spun on my heels and gripped my keys so hard it hurt.

Dad had taken that better than I’d expected, but he’d also still been stunned by the time he’d told me to leave. It was entirely possible that this was the calm before the storm from him. Margaux, on the other hand, had taken it worse than I’d expected.

I’d come to know her a little bit, and for some reason, I’d expected her to be the voice of reason while Dad freaked out. I knew she would be upset, but I hadn’t thought she’d be that upset. As I climbed into my car, my heart was still racing and my palms were sweating.

I’d done what I’d come here to do.

Everyone knew the truth now. It was out in the open, and whatever happened from here, I couldn’t stuff the genie back in the bottle.

Which was a good thing, but there was a doubt in the back of my mind. A worry I couldn’t shake. I’d been honest. I’d told the truth, but in doing so, had I just fucked everything up?