Chapter Sixteen

Penny

I sat there in the living room, wrapped in a blanket, staring out the window. After I left the Lovehouse the day before, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to go back to the apartment and face my father, I was too taken back by what he had done. I also knew that if I was in the Avalon there was a good chance that I would run into Gabriel, and I had nothing to say to him at that point. I didn’t want to see either one of them. So, I went to Gabby’s and told her what my father had done. She got me a glass of whiskey, let me cry, and put me to bed, telling me it would be better if I talked about everything after a good night’s sleep.

So, there I was on Saturday morning just sitting there staring at the trees outside Gabby’s window. I wanted to be okay, to take it all in stride and process it, but my brain just wasn’t having it. I was extremely upset and didn’t even know where to start. It wasn’t just the fact that my father had done all these things, or that he had lied to me, it was the fact that Gabriel had lied to me as well. Though we hadn’t been dating long, I had been starting to feel like Gabriel and I had something real. He should have told me the truth.

“It’s crazy,” I said, sipping my coffee and staring out the window. “I was falling in love with Gabriel. In the blink of an eye, it was all destroyed. He lied to me from the very beginning. This is all my stupid father’s fault. He made terrible choices in his career. I don’t know what he was thinking. He could have completely destroyed—both my mother and I had he been caught by the FBI and SEC. Money was the only thing he thought about. It doesn’t even matter that he has been so sweet to me over the years, he just felt guilty for making choices that were less than admirable and knew I’d find out someday.”

“I know you’re upset,” Gabby said. “But maybe it’s time that you went and sat down in front of your father, get all the facts from his perspective, and give him the chance to explain himself. Maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems here in this moment. You love your father, and you will continue to do so even if he messed up, but you can at least give him the opportunity to tell his side of the story. I’ve known your dad awhile, and he loves you more than anyone else in this world. Maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

“Yeah, they are,” I said, shaking my head. “In fact, I won’t be surprised to find out that they are even worse. My father is an investor in my software company. He has invested in everything through our entire lives. His choices are now going to affect everyone and everything around him. I would say that this is way worse than what it sounds like.”

I got up from the couch and walked into the spare bedroom, taking off my pajamas and getting dressed. In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and stared up at my reflection. My eyes were puffy from crying, and the bags made me look ten years older than I was. Grabbing the brush, I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, smoothing the flyaway hair with some gel. There was no way in hell that I was going to look good, but that didn’t matter in the least. I didn’t want to go to my father, I didn’t want to hear any more of his lies, but Gabby was right, I needed to sit down and let him share his side of the story with me. I owed him that, he was my father and had taken care of my mother and me our entire lives. I took a deep breath, grabbed my keys, kissed Gabby on the cheek and headed out of the apartment. I grabbed a cab about three blocks down and took it to the Avalon.

When I arrived, I walked quickly through the lobby, not wanting to run into Gabriel. It was really early, and I hoped that he was still in bed. I let out a deep breath when I climbed into the elevator. I rode up to the sixty-first floor, trying to figure out what I wanted to say to my father. I didn’t even know where to start, or if I could believe anything he told me. Everything was so damn confusing and my heart was completely broken. I was pissed that he’d gotten Gabriel involved in all of this as well, though I understood that he was a grown man capable of making his own choices.

I let myself into the apartment and tossed my stuff on the table inside the door. I walked through to the living room and stood in the doorway, staring at my father. He was sitting in the chair by the window and looked completely distraught. His eyes were heavy, and his shoulders were slumped, so I could only assume he hadn’t slept at all the night before. He looked up and saw me standing there. His eyes widened, and he leaned forward as I walked over and sat down in front of him.

“Penny,” he said, with relief. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

He had reached out for my hand, but I pulled it away, not allowing myself to feel bad for doing so. I crossed my legs and leaned back in the chair, looking out the window and taking a deep breath. My eyes shifted over to his.

“Why?” I shook my head. “Why would you do something like that?”

“It’s not that simple of an answer,” he said.

“Make it simple,” I snapped.

“I was getting to the point where I was running out of money,” he said, sweat collecting on his forehead. “I had no way out and I owed a lot of people a lot of money. My only choice was to start scamming people.”

“That’s bullshit,” I scoffed, standing up and pacing. “There is never only one way out. You were just too absorbed in your job to realize that there were other options. You didn’t care about morality or that you were destroying other people’s lives. And for what? This? All this stuff, this place in the Avalon, and these disgusting assholes around you all the time.”

“I did it for you, and for your mother too,” he said.

“No,” I gritted my teeth. “What you did was put me and my mother in a position where our entire lives could be ruined by your choices. I am going to make this very clear to you. If you don’t stop, if you scam one more company or one more person, I will contact the chief of police myself. You will go to prison for the rest of your life.”

“Penny,” he said, panicked.

“Until you have gotten that under control, I won’t be living with you,” I said, walking toward the door. “And you can sure as hell believe that I will not entertain your false narrative, so don’t bother telling me how much you love me. You fix this, or I will.”

I walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind me and going straight to the elevator. When the doors opened I ran inside, turning to make sure my father wasn’t following behind me. I was done with all of it, everything that had anything to do with the Avalon or my father’s dirty business. As the elevator doors opened to the lobby, I pushed through the crowds of people, making my way toward the street.

“Penny,” Gabriel's voice echoed behind me.

I glanced to the side and saw Gabriel near the café, waving his hands in the air. I turned back toward the doors and ignored him, not wanting to see him or my father. I was completely beside myself with anger and grief, and I didn’t know what to do. I jumped in a cab out front and headed back to Gabby’s house. At least there she would listen to me, calm my nerves, and not offer me up any bullshit excuses or lies. There was nothing anyone could have said at that moment to make me go back into the Avalon.