After the Ex Games

“Did you send us the letter?” Brandon’s voice was angry, and I could see that his fists were clenched.

“What letter?” She frowned and looked at both of us strangely.

“Nothing.” I gave Brandon a look. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Patsy?” I took a deep breath, not wanting her to see how much she was annoying me.

“All children should be loved,” she mumbled under her breath, her eyes hard.

“Sorry, what?” I stepped towards her and she backed away from me.

“Nothing.” She looked at me with empty eyes and I felt my heart racing. What was she talking about? “You love Meg?”

“Yes.” I nodded, knowing I was hurting her, but I had to tell the truth.

“I see.” She looked from me to Brandon and walked to the door. She paused and looked back at us, and there was a glow in her eyes. “Life is funny, isn’t it? Murderers seem to get away with everything.” She stopped for a second and looked at the ground and then looked up at us and smiled. “But life doesn’t always go the way that we intend it to, does it?” And with that, she walked out the door, leaving Brandon and me staring after her, wondering what she was going to do.

Chapter 5

Unknown

I watched them as they sat at the table waiting for me to show up. The power I felt as I observed them both had been expected. The sorrow I felt about the potential devastation I was going to inflict hadn’t. It felt odd staring at them, these men who were so handsome and collected, so calm and cool. I was about to shake things up a bit. I was about to bring a hurricane into their lives. And I didn’t care if there were any tragedies. Brandon and Greyson didn’t deserve happily ever afters, and I was going to ensure that neither of them got one, no matter what the little voice in me tried to tell me. I was out for bloodshed, and I was going to enjoy watching each one crumble with every move I made.

My heart broke as I stared at him. He was so tall and so confident. It was weird looking at him, not really knowing him, but knowing everything about him. He was my father. My father. It felt weird even thinking it. It didn’t make sense to me. First, I discovered the truth about my mother, and then I found out about my father.

When I’d received the email from Greyson, I’d been scared. I hadn’t expected the letter to work or to scare them. How could a letter scare men as powerful as they were? I stood in the shadows, waiting, watching. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Greyson. He looked so handsome, so dignified. I understood why someone could love him so much. I understood why someone could lose her head over him. He was that kind of man, had that kind of charisma and character.

I was about to step out of the alleyway and go and join them when my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Don’t meet them,” she hissed into the phone at me. “You need to leave.”

“What? Why?”

“Just leave. Now is not the time to reveal yourself.”

“But I thought this is what we want.”

“It’s not enough.” Her voice was angry. “They need to pay.”

“I thought my coming out and telling the world I was his daughter was enough? It would destroy his relationship and the backlash to everything that went on would ruin their lives? I thought that’s what you wanted?” I spoke quietly, my eyes never leaving the table. I wanted to go over and speak to him. I wanted to say hello.

“That’s not enough.” She shook her head. “He didn’t care then and he won’t care now. There needs to be a greater retribution.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They did more than take our kids from us. They are murderers. They made people murderers.”

“What?” My heart dropped at her words. I didn’t understand what she was saying.

“When everything is taken from you, you are left with nothing.”

“You have me now,” I whispered, scared and unsure. None of this was feeling right anymore.

“They have to pay,” she spoke into the phone, but I could tell her mind wasn’t with it. “They will pay.” She hung up then and I stood there for a few minutes with tears streaming down my face.

I had to listen to her. She was the one who had told me the truth. I watched as the two men waited for me, both of them looking stressed. I ran my hands across my temple and then walked back down the alleyway, my stomach feeling empty. Today was not going to be the day I revealed myself to my father. I felt incredibly sad and relieved at the same time.

Part III

Two Weeks Later

Chapter 6

Greyson

“Do you have all your stuff packed up?” I pulled Meg towards me and she laughed. “Do you find my kisses funny now?”

“No.” She leaned up and kissed me. “I just think your question is funny. I don’t have much here, so there’s not much to pack up.”

“I didn’t even think about that.” My hands found their way to her butt cheeks and squeezed. “I forgot you only came with a small bag.”

“You mean you haven’t noticed I’ve been wearing the same three outfits?” She laughed at me and made a face.

“To be honest, I don’t really care about the clothes you’re wearing.”

“Greyson.” She pushed herself against me. “I swear all you think about is sex.”

“Well, of course that’s not true.” My hand made its way up to her breast. “I think about other things as well.”

“Uh huh,” she moaned against my lips as I pinched her nipple. I kissed down her neck and made my way to her breast, biting down and sucking on her flesh. “Greyson,” she murmured as I kissed her.

“Yes?” I muttered, my mind focused on taking her nipple in my mouth.

“Why are we going to Brandon’s house?” She ran her hands through my hair and I continued kissing her, even though warning bells were going off in my brain.

“I told you why.” I looked up at her. “I want us to get a place together.” That wasn’t a lie. I did want us to get a place together.

“Why can’t we just stay at my apartment? Why do we have to go to Brandon’s?”

“I just thought it would be fun. I know Katie has been missing you.” I looked away from her then. That wasn’t the complete truth.

We were going to stay at Brandon’s because he lived in a safe environment and had hired security. I didn’t want to tell Meg that though since I hadn’t told her about the death threat Brandon and I had received. I flinched as I remembered the note and the single bullet I’d found on my desk the day before. The note had been simple and brief:

To the founders of the private club,

A life for a life? Who do you love?

“What are you thinking about?” Meg’s voice was soft as she reached up and tilted my face to look at her.

“Nothing.” I shook my head and forced a smile on my face. “I’m just hoping the four of us don’t kill each other.”

Meg laughed and kissed me on the lips. “I’ve lived with Katie before, so I know we’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about you and Brandon though. You guys still seem pretty tense.”

“That’s why I want us to stay with him instead of at a hotel. I’m hoping we can mend our relationship.” I kissed her back hard and closed my eyes, not wanting her to see the fear that was brewing inside of me.

The bullet and the note had hit me to the core. I’d been waiting for something to happen, so the last two weeks had been torture. Brandon and I had waited at the diner for three hours for someone to show up. A part of me had held on to the hope that whoever was behind everything was calling our bluff. Maybe they weren’t really serious. Maybe whoever it was hadn’t meant anything, but I’d known that was just wishful thinking. As soon as she’d shown up at the club, I’d known my life was going to change. I knew everything was going to come out into the open. All of my secrets would be brought to light. It was as it should be. It was something I’d been waiting to happen for the last ten years. Some part of me had always known that true love wasn’t in the cards for me. A wife and a family hadn’t even been a part of my psyche. How could they be? Men like me didn’t have happy families. Men like me didn’t deserve them.

“I hope so too. You guys were best friends. I know it’s horrible that Maria killed herself, but you can’t blame yourselves for the rest of your life.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I just want us to get our friendship back.” And our lives.

“I want that as well. That’s why I agreed to go.” She hugged me tight. “You’d tell me if there was anything else going on, right?”

“Of course.” I nodded. “There’s nothing else.”

“Why do I think you’re not telling me everything?” She took a step back and sighed. “I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, Greyson, but I can tell something is off.”

“Meg—” I started, but she cut me off.

“Don’t Meg me.” She shook her head. “Nuh uh. Tell me, Greyson. Since yesterday, you’ve been acting funny and you haven’t taken your eyes off me.”

“That’s because I—”

“Nuh uh, don’t go there.” Her eyes narrowed. “Tell me the truth.”

I took a deep breath and pulled her towards me. I knew I was going to have to tell her part of the truth. Meg was too smart for her own good. “We got a death threat at the club yesterday. We don’t know who they are targeting or why, but I think it’s best for us to move out while we figure it out.”

“Do you think it’s the same person who took Nancy?” Meg’s voice fell to a whisper and her face paled.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I just don’t know.”

“What did the private detective say?”

“He said that right now we’re the ones in danger and we need to leave until we figure it all out.”

“And find Nancy, right?”

“Yeah.” My voice felt stilted as I lied. I was scared to find Nancy. I was scared that she was another casualty in the club. She was another piece in the puzzle that was threatening to ruin everything for me. “Or if you want, we can just fly away from here. Move to Hawaii or Rome and just live our lives in a different sort of paradise.”

“Why would we do that? We can’t let some idle death threats scare us.”

“I don’t know what David is capable of.” I could hear the panic in my voice. “He’s crazy.”

“I can’t believe he just disappeared. I bet he took Nancy.” Meg looked annoyed with herself. “I always knew something was off with him. I should have confronted him. I just didn’t think he could have done anything. He looked so innocent.”

“He probably took her as some sick sort of fantasy. If he can’t be with her sister, he wants to be with her instead.” My words felt wooden coming out of my mouth, and I felt a fire burning up inside of me.

“He’s a sicko.” She nodded. “I didn’t get the sense he wanted her though, but what do I know? I thought he was hooking up with Patsy.”

“That doesn’t mean much.” I shrugged.

“Don’t remind me please.” Her eyes filled with jealousy.

“Remind you of what?”

“That you had sex with Patsy.”

“It meant nothing.” I ran my hands through my hair. “It was a mistake.”

“She loves you, you know.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“I can see it in her eyes. I bet she’s the one who sent the death threat and I bet it was addressed to me, wasn’t it?” She frowned. “That bitch wants to kill me for sharing your bed.”

“Meg.” I reached out to touch her, and she looked at me angrily.

“Let’s just go. I don’t even want to think about her anymore. This is probably her plan. She wants me out of the way so she can seduce you.”

“Meg, I’m not interested in Patsy. You’re the only one I want in my bed.”

“Uh huh.”

“You don’t believe me?” I stared into her eyes, concerned that I was already losing her trust.

“I just don’t know if you’re really the sort of guy who can be faithful. You’ve never been in a relationship before.”

“Oh, Meg.” I pulled her to me and chuckled softly. “Is that what you’re worried about?” I stroked the back of her hair and kissed her passionately. “That is something you never have to worry about. I could never cheat on you. Would never cheat on you. I can barely believe that I’m so lucky that I got you.”

“Greyson, you could have any woman you want.”

“But there’s only one woman for me. You’re the only one I want with all my heart and soul. You’re the one who lights me on fire.”

“Not literally, I hope.” She giggled. “‘Cause that sounds like an STD problem.”

“What?” I frowned and then laughed. “No, I’m not burning up down there.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that.”

I held her close to me. “Are you ready to go now?”

She looked around the room and nodded, and we walked out of the room. I felt like this was the beginning of the end. A part of me felt like everything was about to come crashing down and neither Brandon nor I knew what to do about it.

***