Owen

 

I can’t even fucking believe this is happening. I can’t even wrap my head around how Brooke fucked me over right now, because I need to handle Pete.

Getting in my car, rage tearing through me, I peel out of the garage. Weaving in and out of traffic, I grip the steering wheel so tight I feel like it’s going to snap in my hands. My mind is racing in so many directions right now. I’m consumed with anger. It’s ripping me apart, burning in my chest, making my body shake. I thought I’ve felt rage before, I thought it’s been wrapped around me most of my life. That it’s kept me in this dark hole. But I was wrong, so fucking wrong. Tonight, right now, I truly know what it feels like.

I look up at the front of his building and throw the car in park. Going inside, I get on the elevator and ride it to the thirty-sixth floor. I hold my hands in fists as I get closer, but when I push my way into his office I shove them into my pockets. I’m more than certain that I will end up shoving my fist down his throat, so I need to keep them hidden. I only remove one to knock on his door and walk in.

“It’s about God damn time,” he hisses, turning to face me. “Son of a…”

“Surprise asshole. I know you were waiting on your spy, but I wanted to be the one to deliver the news,” I say as I stalk closer to him.

Keeping his cowardly back to the wall he moves closer to his desk. “Get the hell out of my office.”

Shaking my head, I let out an evil laugh. “Why don’t you get the fuck out of my office?” I look around the room. He’s got pictures of him with some of the most powerful people I know, pictures of his family, and behind his desk hanging is his worthless degree. I turn my attention back to him and grin. “My dad says hi.”

His eyes widen and he sits down, I’m sure it’s because his traitorous legs give out on him. “What?”

“What’s wrong Pete? Couldn’t get your spy to figure out who I was?” I ask, pulling my hands out of my pockets. I mash them onto his desk and he jumps. “Nervous?”

Masking his terrified face, he leans back in his chair. “Nope.”

“You should be. You should be shitting yourself seeing me stand in front of you. I know everything and when I say everything, I mean every single fucking thing.” Leaning a bit further across the desk, I watch him go to grab his phone. Being younger and faster, I get to it first and smash it against the wall. “Not getting your one phone call, Pete.”

“I don’t understand,” he says, playing dumb.

“Oh you don’t understand. Let me explain. You took everything from me, so now I’m taking everything from you. I was going to wait until tomorrow and give you the good news, but considering your spy said you were waiting for her, I thought I’d surprise you. Tomorrow at eight in the morning, I will own your company. My first action will be to fire you,” I say, trying to keep myself from reaching across the desk and ripping his beating heart out of his chest.

“I’ll fight it, have you tied up in so much litigation you’ll be begging me to keep it,” he says, crossing his arms.

Laughing, I knock everything off his desk in one stroke. “Don’t even try to act like you have the upper hand here. You didn’t even know who I was. You had to send in a spy and even she couldn’t figure it out. But looking at me you have to admit it’s like looking at my dad, or at least the last time you saw him. You remember that day, don’t you? You did that dirty business deal and let my father take the fall for it. You had no fucking problem hiding behind your business partner, letting him get arrested and ripped away from his family. Letting him sit in court alone to fight for his freedom. Watching his sick wife and teenage son break down when they found him guilty. Found him guilty for stealing all that money, for bad business deal after bad business deal, which he had no idea about. While you, you fucking coward, got rid of all the evidence that pointed to you. Sounding familiar?”

He’s sweating and I feel so much satisfaction knowing I’m getting to him. “Get out,” he whispers.

“Oh but I’m just getting started.” Walking over to the pictures on the wall, I pull them off one by one. “While you were living your life, guilt free of letting my father take the fall, shaking hands with the New York elites, making more of a name for yourself,” I say, letting the pictures crash to the ground, glass scattering across the floor. “My mom should have been fighting for her life, but she was too busy fighting to get her husband’s name cleared. She lost both fights. Do you know what happened next?”

He searches my face, but never says a word. Just sits there like the piece of worthless shit he is.

“Because of you, I was left with no one. Cancer took my mom while my innocent father sat in jail. I’ve been alone since I was eighteen years old. I didn’t have any money, the money we had was spent trying to take you down. So, I lost the house and lost my car. I spent a year sleeping on the streets, until I had enough money to rent a shitty, cockroach filled apartment. Have you ever had to sleep on the street, Pete? Ever have people beat the shit out of you for sport because they are hungry and know you have a job? Ever need to stay awake all night to make sure no one killed you for the little money you had? Ever cry behind a dumpster you just ate out of?” I say through gritted teeth.

He adjusts his position and clears his throat. “I’m sorry you went through that, but none of that was my fault. Now get out of my office.”

“Can’t do that Pete, because you see, this is where the story gets good.” I stalk back over and stand in front of his desk, crossing my arms. “I was a busboy, saving every penny I made to pay for my shit apartment. And one night when I was leaving work, there was this guy pacing outside. I heard him on his phone yelling because his assistant quit. Hanging up, he looked at me and grinned. He asked if I wanted to make some extra money. I didn’t care what it was I said yes. He gave me his card and I took a chance. Spent some of my rent money getting a haircut and the cheapest suit I could find. I was a glorified secretary, but that didn’t matter because I was working for Stan Watson.”

His eyes nearly bug out of his head when I say the name. He’s one of the most successful men in the country and he is the reason I’m where I am. He taught me everything I needed to know about business and gave me a loan when it was time to go out on my own. I repaid him within six months. And I knew at that point my one and only goal was to find the man that destroyed my life and destroy his. That’s exactly what I did. I busted my ass buying and selling real estate. The kid from the streets was no longer recognizable. I had money, a lot of money.

“After I made a name for myself, with my mother’s maiden name because I knew you’d know my real name, I spent my time trying to get my dad’s name cleared. Do you know what happened, Pete?” I ask, my body shaking with anger.

“I’m done with this,” he says, standing up. He tries to get around the desk, so I stand my much larger body in front of the door.

“You’re not leaving. You’re gonna listen to the rest of my story. Don’t you know the ending is always the best part?”

“You’re delusional,” he yells.

“And you’re going to want to sit down for this part,” I say. “I put out feelers to see if you had the original documentation anywhere and I was told you more than likely did. Which lead me to hiring a very expensive attorney. But while my top notch team was searching, dad died. He had a heart condition, but being in jail they never found it. You are to blame for the death of both my parents,” I hiss.

“Bullshit,” he yells.

I turn around and put my fist through the wall, because if I didn’t I was going to take him out. “Fuck yes and my anger only drove me harder. I spent years looking for what I needed from you and a few weeks again, I got it.” He shakes his head and I laugh. “You can shake your pathetic head all you want, but it’s true. I have all the original documentation from when you worked with my father. I have all the proof. So,” I say, smiling. “You aren’t just going to lose your business, you’re going to jail.”

“Fuck you,” he whispers.

I get my phone out of my pocket to call my lawyer and let him know what’s going on. I knew if I called before, he would have told me not to come here. But fuck that. I wanted to be here to see his face when I told him exactly what happened. I wanted him to know what he did and explain it in painful detail. Now though, Jerry can come with the cops and handle it. I’ve said my piece, almost.

After hanging up with Jerry, I nod to his chair. “Sit the fuck down.” On shaky legs he does as I tell him. “You’ve stolen everyone I love away from me, everyone. I don’t want an apology, I got what I want. But you’re going to apologize to Brooke. You won’t say anything else other than you’re sorry and her studio is safe.” Picking up the phone he has on his desk, I dial Brooke’s number and hand it to him. “You owe her this.”