Chapter 36
Raphael
The bathroom door closes and Eva is safe inside. I throw on a T-shirt then comb my hair with my fingers. Sucking in a steeling breath, I pull the door open a crack, planting myself firmly in the doorframe.
“Laurie! Bob!” My mouth twists into a strained smile.
Laurie grins brightly. “Hey Birthday Boy! I was just starting to think that you were hiding from us!” She laughs as she takes a step forward, attempting to push her way into the room.
I swerve to the left, smoothly blocking her path. “What are you guys doing here?” I fake a yawn and rub the corner of my eye. “It’s early.”
“We couldn’t let you sit around here all by yourself and bemoan the fact that you’re inching toward the senior citizen’s club,” Bob jokes. He shoves a hand into his pocket and rocks forward causing his belly to strain against the buttons of his argyle-knit sweater vest.
Laurie glares across at him. “That’s your friend’s way of saying ‘happy birthday’,” she tells me.
“Happy birthday, chump!” Bob pulls me in for a manly hug. “On the bright side, you’re one year closer to that golden age discount they give at the movie theater. Not that you need it, rich bastard.”
Laughing tightly, I step back quickly. The idea of him smelling his daughter on me is all I can think of. I just want to get them out of here.
“Well, thanks for stopping by,” I say reaching a hand out for the cake. “How about I give you guys a call later and you can take me out for lunch?” I toss Bob a light-hearted wink. But Laurie’s onto me.
She peers around me, trying to get a glimpse into the room. “Why are you being so flighty?” she asks, refusing to let go of her grip on the cake. She spots something and her eyes light up. I glance back and – shit! – Eva’s pink blouse is hanging off of the bedhead. “You have a woman in here, don’t you?”
“Laurie –” I protest, holding out a hand to keep her back.
She hands off the cake to Bob and ducks under my arm, stepping right inside.
Unbelievable!
Laurie grins as if she’s in on a big secret. “I want to meet her,” she announces, going over to inspect the blouse on the bedframe. Her gaze flits over to the half bottle of champagne on top of the mini bar, the cluster of candles burnt out on the counter.
Her eyes go wide with shock when she sees the brown-stained sheets balled up on the floor. Oh boy! “It’s not what it looks like!” I say defensively and I can practically see the thoughts running her head.
She forces a rigid smile. “I want to meet the lovely lady that…” I glance at the filthy sheets…that Raph butt-fucked all night long? “…that has our Raph going all soft and romantic on us,” she says instead.
I peer nervously at the bathroom door, praying that Eva doesn’t get the bright idea of coming out here. We agreed that we were going to tell her parents but this isn’t the way.
Not with me in my boxers and the room smelling of sex. Not with the soiled sheets and condom wrappers on the floor. Not like this.
“She’s taking a shower,” I say, and almost immediately the sound of water hitting tiles erupts behind the bathroom door.
Laurie plops down on the bed and crosses her legs at the knees. “We’ll wait.” She gives me a tight smile that tells me she has no intention of budging. Bob sets down the cake and sits next to her.
Great!
I make up a quick excuse. “She tends to take long showers…”
“It’s Sunday. We have nothing else planned,” Laurie informs me.
“She’s shy.”
Laurie just waves me off. “We’re nice people. And we’re you’re best friends. She has nothing to be shy about.”
Okay now, I’m at the point where I don’t give a fuck about my friendship with these people. I just want them gone. My only priority is protecting Eva from this mess.
“Enough!” My roar fills the room, shaking the walls. “Get out! Right this minute!” I stab a finger in the direction of the motherfucking door.
Bob and his wife exchange a look.
He feels the need to defend her. “Hey, you don’t talk to my wife in that tone!” He jumps to his feet.
I steal in a deep breath and speak in a level voice. “Look, you weren’t invited here. I have company. I need you to leave.”
Laurie puts a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Honey, it’s okay.” She swallows and licks her lips. She speaks in a low, embarrassed tone. “We’ll leave. We’re sorry.” She stands and reaches for the cake on the table.
I straighten my spine, ignoring the guilt singeing my chest. The Brooks’ were completely out of line showing up here unannounced and barging their way in. But they’re my friends. And the parents of the woman I love. I guess I could have probably handled the situation more delicately.
But then, Laurie’s movements suddenly halt. Her eyes zero in on something laying on the table.
Eva’s jewelry. Her earrings. Her wristwatch. That leather bracelet with E-V-A carved into the red, yellow and green wooden beads.
Fuck!
Her mouth falls open and Bob’s eyes follow her line of vision. When he sees the jewelry, his heated glare immediately bounds to my face. He reaches over and picks it up, inspecting it closely. A force field of restrained anger vibrates around him, pulsing hotly.
He speaks in a tight voice deep in his throat as his eyes move to mine. "I'm going to ask you something, and if I'm wrong, I'm going to feel like the biggest asshole in the world for accusing you of doing something so vile. But if I'm right...I swear to god, Raphael, if I'm right...” He sucks in a deep breath. “Is Eva in this hotel room right now? Are you fucking my daughter?"
Everything in the room goes still as Bob and Laurie wait for my answer.
I don’t want to lie. Because I’m not fucking scared of Bob Brooks. I won’t cower. But I’ve got to think of Eva. I don’t want her in the middle of this mess. If this is going to turn ugly, I don’t need her in the thick of it.
I curse myself silently. I should have dealt with this a long time ago. But how does a man tell his best friend that he’s falling in love with his daughter?
“Look –" I hold out a hand defensively. “Let’s just talk about this like rational adul–"
Brooks explodes. Suddenly, he’s no longer an out-of-shape math professor who bumbles around with his head in the clouds. He’s a hot-tempered marine with his mind set on combat. “It’s true? It’s true? You’re fucking my little girl? Answer me, you piece of shit!”
And now, Laurie is crying, trembling violently. “You would do that, Raph? To our Eva?” she points to the pile of brown-streaked sheets on the floor and I know that she’s thinking about her daughter’s presumably-defiled butthole. Oh Jeez. “You would betray us like that?”
I puff out my chest and stand my ground. “You two are gonna need to calm down!”
Now, Laurie is shouting incomprehensible insults and Bob is puffing red, threatening to end my life. And I’m not going to stand here and take this abuse, so I’m all up in his face, too, defending myself and my girl.
“Stop it! All of you!”
Eva’s voice pierces through the air. I turn around to find her stepping out of the bathroom wearing her leggings and one of my dress shirts from the laundry hamper.
My guard slips when I see her looking so hurt and vulnerable. I was trying to protect her from this. My Kitten…
“Eva – this is between me and your parents,” I tell her. “Stay out of it. Please.”
That’s just the opportunity her father was waiting for because as I turn my attention back to him, a solid right hook lands against my temple. I stumble backward and the women’s screams fill the air. Brooks charges at me like a raging bull. ‘Raging’ being the keyword.
We fall to the ground, each landing blows where we can. I crack him good and hard in the mouth and I land a solid punch to his ribs. But his firm kick to my groin sends a shock through my system. I recover quickly, though, pounding his face with my fists. Tussling around on the carpet like a pair of drunken twenty-somethings, waking up the entire building on this goddamned Sunday morning.
Some birthday present this is!
A framed painting falls off of the wall and a chair somehow gets broken. Before long, there are hands on me. Not Bob’s hands. In my rage-tinged vision I see the hotel owner and a guy renting a room down the hall. They’re pulling me and Bob apart, separating the scuffle.
Laurie is still crying, cursing the day I was born, cursing the day she ever met me. “You’re sick, Raphael. Dirty. Eva is just a little girl. Why don’t you find someone your own age?”
Eva’s in the corner with tears pouring down her face. “I’m not a child,” she blubbers.
"This is my daughter! And you’re just a sick, lonely billionaire looking for a pet project to fill your time,” Bob spits out as he fights against his restraints. “I always knew she'd end up as some rich guy's whore. I just didn't know she'd be yours. My best friend. My best fucking friend." The men are hauling him to the door. “You’re dead to me!” he yells at the top of his lungs. “Both of you.”
Laurie grabs the cake, heading after him and muttering ugly words into the air. When she gets to the threshold, she spins on her heel, seeming to have changed her mind about leaving. She marches right up to me, lifts the dessert with a dignified huff and smashes it into my face. I stand there, stunned and defeated, icing falling off my cheeks in lumpy chunks.
Well, I guess she was going to make me eat that cake one way or another.
Frosting blurs my vision as she stomps away. And the only thing that registers in my mind is Eva’s pained wails filling my ears.