forty-two

Dante

I sit back in my chair and watch Kyndal’s face, waiting for her reaction as she reads over the form in front of her.

“What the fuck is this?” Kyndal glares at Tessa. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to sue me? On what grounds?”

“Fraud,” Tessa answers.

“You can’t do that!” Kyndal exclaims.

Tessa points at the guy pretending to be Michael. “Why don’t you ask your attorney?” Then, she slides a picture across the table. “Tell me, Brady, who did Kyndal screw first—you or your daddy? Or did she just have to blow you, so you’d fix the paternity results?”

“How do they know about that, babe? I did not sign up for this shit,” Brady says to Kyndal and pushes away from the table.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, Brady? Sit your ass back down!” Kyndal yells.

Brady still looks like he wants to dart for the door but thinks better of it and sits.

Kyndal lowers her voice. “Look, I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding, and we can make it go away.”

“We’ll see,” Tessa says and adds, “I have some questions.”

Kyndal folds her arms over her chest like a defiant child and sneers at Tessa. “Then, ask them.”

I’ve had about enough of Kyndal’s shit. I’m all about being respectful to women, but this bitch is testing my patience. “Kyndal, you’re going to want to watch your attitude. You’re a lady, so start fucking acting like it.”

She turns to Brady. “Are you going to let him talk to me like that?”

Brady eyes me. I raise a brow at him in challenge, and he remains silent.

“Kyndal?” Tessa waits for her to make eye contact, so she can get on with it. “Were you blackmailing Trevor?”

Even though the both of us have already figured it out, I have a feeling Tessa wants to hear her admit it.

Kyndal sits up and leans forward, placing her clasped hands on the table. “After he shot his load, he kept going on and on about how he’d made a mistake. I knew how much he regretted it before he even took the condom off.” She shrugs. “He showed his cards, and that was where he fucked up. An opportunity presented itself. One that netted me twenty grand a month for over a year.”

“Un-fucking-believable.” I glare at her. “You’re bragging about committing a crime.”

Davis chimes in, “I’m not your lawyer, but you really might want to refrain from openly admitting that you perpetrated blackmail. I’m sure you don’t want to add to the charges.”

“Thanks for the unsolicited advice,” Kyndal retorts.

“What was the point of making Trevor believe Brandon was his son?” I ask Kyndal through gritted teeth. If she planned to blackmail him regardless, why bring false paternity into the mix?

“Because I thought Trevor would leave her.” She points a finger at Tessa.

“Wait. What?” Tessa scrunches her face in confusion. “Oh my God! You were in love with him.” Tessa gasps and then looks at me, wide-eyed, before fixing a stare on Kyndal. “It was you.”

“What was me?”

“The day of Trevor’s funeral. You were at the cemetery.”

“What’s your point?”

I thought Tessa would’ve connected the dots before now. When we had seen Kyndal, I hadn’t known she was Trevor’s mistress; he never told me who it was. I’d had my suspicions when we saw her at the gravesite, but I hadn’t known until I saw her name on the paternity test.

“Trevor never would’ve left me for you,” Tessa declares.

She’s right. Trevor would’ve done everything in his power to save his marriage, and I’m not sure Tessa would’ve walked away.

“Well, he finally fucked me, so I figured I had a foot in the door. Then, when I got pregnant”—she quickly shifts her eyes to Brady—“I figured we’d be a family. If he decided not to leave you, at least he’d be a part of my life for the next eighteen years. In the meantime, I’d enjoy the money he was shelling out.”

“Are you fucking serious? Do you have any idea how crazy you sound? What you did was reprehensible.” Tessa’s voice climbs in volume, and I closely watch her, ready to haul her out of here if necessary. “Trevor isn’t blameless, but you two,” she continues, waving a finger back and forth at Kyndal and Brady, “and your whole fucking sham nearly destroyed me. Do you get that?” Tessa pounds a fist on the table, making Kyndal and Brady both jump. “You made me hate my husband. You deceitful fucking whore.”

Tessa’s ass comes off the chair, and before she rises to her full height, I’m already standing.

“Tess, that’s enough. Take a breath,” I demand low in her ear, seizing her forearm, not too tight but tight enough that she won’t easily break free. “We’re going to take five.”

I practically drag her out the door and into the restroom, which is situated across the hall from the conference room. I let her go and lock us inside, hoping it will slow her down if she tries to get out.

She paces the small space like a caged animal and starts rambling, “I had no idea how much I could hate a person until now. Not even Trevor. Kyndal…I swear, she’s psycho. How did she come up with this shit? Is she just fucked in the head?”

“Tessa, calm down. Get through this, and then you’ll be one step closer to putting it all behind you.” I fold my arms over my chest, lean against the door, and wait her out.

“I want to wrap my hands around her neck and choke the fucking life out of her.” She stops pacing and fixes her eyes on the door.

I pull Tessa to me, so her back is to my front, and I cross my arms over her, positioning us at the sink in front of the mirror. “Not today, killer.”

“Let me go.” She tries to struggle out of my grasp, but my grip tightens.

“Listen to me,” I growl low in her ear. “I know you’re pissed, but you need to pull your shit together, and you need to do it right the fuck now. You’re giving that bitch too much power.”

She squirms in my arms, and the fact that she can move within my hold is a testament to how strong she is.

I squeeze harder. “If you don’t calm down, Tessa, I’m going to have to try a different tactic.”

She scowls, but the tension in her body eases a fraction.

I maintain my hold on her with one arm while using the other to awkwardly grab a few paper towels. I turn the water on with my wrist, wet them, and wring them out before pressing them to the nape of her neck.

“Breathe. In and out.”

After a few minutes, she starts to relax. Her pulse is still quick, but her face isn’t quite as flushed.

“Better?”

She exhales hard and ragged. I ease my grip, and she takes the damp towel from my hand, pressing it to her face.

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

I give her another minute and ask, “I can tell Davis to finish it up. You don’t have to go back in there.”

“There is no fucking way I’m going to give that bitch the satisfaction. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not about to leave like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.”

“Fine, but you need to keep your cool. Can you do that?”

“I’m not making any promises.”

“Tessa,” I warn.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“I mean it, Tessa.”

“I won’t touch her, I swear.” She wipes her face one more time before we exit the restroom.

When we go back into the conference room, everyone is silent. We resume our seats, and I look over Tessa’s head to Davis.

He pulls out a packet of papers. “Read these over.” He leans across the table to place it in front of Kyndal. “There are tabs where you’ll need to sign and date the forms. You will have ninety days to comply, or my client will file suit against you on behalf of her late husband.”

She pivots to Brady, “Can she do that?”

“Sweetheart, you seem to have forgotten, I’m not a real lawyer.”

“You took the fucking bar exam.”

“Which I failed.” Brady looks across the table at us and rolls his eyes.

Kyndal reads over the contract, while the rest of us wait for her to finish. The room is silent, except for the ticking clock on the wall.

“You’re giving me ninety days to pay back over two hundred grand?” Her mouth gapes open.

“Ninety days is customary in most cases,” Davis says.

“Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”

“That’s your problem now, isn’t it?” Tessa points out.

Brady puts his arm around Kyndal. “Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

She pins him with a glare, and he drops his arm.

“Give me a pen.” Kyndal seethes.

“Hold on.” I stand and walk to the head of the table where the phone sits, and I press the intercom button.

“Yes, boss?” Katie’s voice filters into the room.

“Could you come in here, please, and bring your notary stamp with you?”

“I’ll be right there.”

A minute later, the door opens, and Katie walks in.

Davis takes a pen from his pocket and slides it to Kyndal. We watch her flip through the forms and sign her name in the appropriate places. Katie witnesses it and stamps the document before leaving the room.

“I believe we’re done here,” Davis says, reaching for the papers.

Tessa stands, sending her chair rolling back, and glares at Kyndal.

Immediately, I’m on my feet. “You two should leave.”

“Good idea. Let’s go, babe,” Brady says to Kyndal.

Kyndal sneers at Tessa. “Cun—”

“You’re going to want to stop right there.” I fume. “Leave. Now. Or I’ll get security up here to throw your asses out.”

Kyndal stands with fists clenched. She shrieks and stomps out the door like a toddler having a tantrum with Brady on her heels.

I walk over to the door and close it, and everyone exhales.

“Tessa, do you have any questions before I go?” Davis asks.

“Could we really have gotten her for fraud?”

“Paternity fraud is hard to prove, but I believe, in this case, it could’ve been done if Trevor were alive to file suit. I’m not certain the court would have granted a petition if you’d tried to file on his behalf.”

“Well, hopefully, we won’t have to find out,” Tessa says, giving him a hug. “Thanks for everything, Davis.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Dante, let’s meet up for a drink soon,” Davis says.

“Sure thing,” I reply.

He gives a two-fingered wave and walks out.

Tessa flops into a chair. Her elbows propped on the table, she braces her head in her hands. I start to rub away the tension knotted in her shoulders.

“Mmm. That feels good.”

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“What can I do?”

“What you’re doing definitely helps.” She melts under my touch.

“What are you feeling?”

“Well…Dr. Salinger.” She almost laughs.

“Smart-ass.” I squeeze her shoulders. “You can’t keep all that shit bottled inside, Tess.”

“God, Dante…I don’t know. I’m mentally exhausted, and I want to sleep for a week. I feel like I’ve been stuck in a rip current, and no matter how long I swim parallel to the shore, I’m never going to find my way out.”

“Tess, it’s going to take time.” I press the pads of my thumbs into the base of her neck and work my way upward.

“The things Kyndal said…I don’t understand how she can be such a cold, calculated bitch. It hurts that Trevor didn’t tell me about the affair or Brandon. He took away my choice because he just assumed I would leave him.”

“Would you have?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, but it doesn’t matter now anyway.” Tessa lifts her head and squints at the clock on the wall. “Don’t you need to get back to work?”

“I do, but I have a few minutes.”

“No, I’ve kept you long enough. How about we finish this talk tonight after you get off? Maybe we can go for a walk or something.”

“Okay. Do you want to meet me in the lower lobby at a quarter after five?” I drop my hands and take a step back, so she can stand.

“Sure.”

We both stride toward the door, and I kiss her forehead before going to my office.