“But I know you. You’re cursing me in your head and staring hard to try and intimidate me.”
She hopped up from the chair, running toward him and plopping in his lap.
“Humph,” he grunted and sat up, hands going around her waist. “Damn, babe, have you gained weight?”
“Shut up.” She punched him in the stomach. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her on the cheek.
He reached underneath her and patted her butt. “It’s just more ass for me to tap.” She fought him, finally landing an elbow in his stomach. He let go enough for her to roll off his lap.
“You’re so crude. And keep talking about me and you aren’t tapping anything.”
He grabbed hold of her, moving her back into his lap again. “I won’t talk about your ass anymore if you do me one favor.”
She sighed, pretending to sound aggrieved. “What do you want from me?”
“We never talked about the cabin.”
She froze, not wanting to disturb the tranquility they’d experienced over the last couple weeks. He didn’t mention her note to him, and she figured he was waiting for the right time to approach her. He could have the house—after the previous weekend, she was done—but she hadn’t bothered breaking the news to her family.
“When are you tearing it down?” she asked.
“I don’t know if I will. What I am doing is kidnapping you for the weekend so we can go back to the cabin. I want to look at it again, with adult eyes, without your family around, to see what to do with it. I’ll probably leave it with you, to be honest. Destroying your family’s legacy is no longer important to me, not if it hurts you in the process.” He tapped her leg, signaling for her to get up. “Pack your bag; we’re going to head out in about an hour or so. We’ll check it out and decide what to do with it together.”
She got ready, eager to get to the cabin. Needing a break after everything, she appreciated Roman wanting to discuss the house instead of just destroying it. She met him at the front door where he grabbed her bag and loaded it in the back with his.
“You're pretty sure, huh? What would you have done if I said no?”
He pulled her close, nuzzling her neck.
“Don’t you know you can never say no to me? Just like I have attempted to spoil you and ensure all your needs are met, you aren’t going to tell me no.”
“Braggart.” She pinched his ass and he responded by slapping hers. She jumped, shooting him a look before making her way to the passenger seat. The drive to the cabin was peaceful, and she loved getting a chance to be with Roman away from the distractions of the city. Though they were able to see each other more, it was mostly at night and they climbed into bed without a lot of the conversation some days.
“We’re here,” she whispered, reaching across the gear shift to hold his hand.
He squeezed it, exhaling. “We’re here,” he agreed.
It was quiet since and looked like an abandoned old house from a horror movie. Alexandra shivered, thankful for Roman’s presence. She unlocked the door, turning on lights as they made their way inside the house. He carried the bags, moving past her to the bedrooms while she headed to the kitchen. Her grandparents didn’t keep it stocked unless they knew someone would be there, but there should’ve been some nonperishables from their previous stay.
“Oh, shit!” Her heart in her throat, Alexandra ran to find Roman. He was backing out of the master bedroom with his hands up, and she made her way down the hallway to see what was in the room. A thousand scenarios could happen, but nothing prepared her to find her mother and Franklin in bed together. The sheets were pulled up to cover their nakedness, her mother’s face blood red while she bit her lip, looking from them to Franklin.
“Can we get dressed?” Franklin sneered.
“Sure.” Roman backed into her. Alexandra hadn’t moved, shock keeping her in place. Her mother was naked in bed with the guy she’d been looking for all last week. She’d stepped into an episode of The Twilight Zone. Roman took her arm, leading her back downstairs.
“What the hell was that? I thought the house was empty,” Roman told her. He went into the kitchen, slamming cabinet doors until he found the whiskey. He poured a finger, throwing it back and slamming the glass on the counter.
“It was.”
He poured another drink, sick to his stomach thinking about them having sex, downing it as fast as the first. She almost cautioned him from drinking more at that speed but was stopped by the footprints behind them.
Franklin walked in shirtless, looking like he'd swallowed nails. He took in the alcohol on the counter, grabbing the bottle and drinking it straight. “What the hell are you two doing here?”
“Don’t get pissed at us; no one was supposed to be here.” Roman tried to reason with him. Franklin wasn’t going to talk to him like he was a child. “You may be with Alexandra’s mom, but it’s no reason to disrespect us.”
“Franklin, I’ve been looking for you all week. They said you were out of town.”
“I was.” He smirked. “With Adelaide.” He held out his hand behind him when Adelaide came up. She hugged him from behind, kissing his shoulder, glancing at the two of them.
“Alexandra, what are you doing here?”
“Maybe I should ask what you’re doing with him.” She pointed at Franklin. “Mom, you have no idea what he’s done. And I’m not even sure he’s who he claims to be. Do you know he’s had plastic surgery?” Her mother and Franklin shared a look, communicating without words what Alexandra would pay millions to discover.
“I know. I’m not faulting him for making some changes, although he was already perfect to me. I was happy he reached out to me, and we’ve spent some time reconnecting.”
“You know? Are you serious? He didn’t get a nose job; there was a complete facial reconstruction. He’s linked to a couple of my cases, in fucked-up ways I can’t even begin to explain to you.” She felt Roman’s hand on the small of her back, lending his support while she went toe-to-toe with two people she now didn’t recognize. She didn’t know the old Franklin, but her mother seemed to have lost her mind at some point since the last time she’d seen her.
Franklin threw his head back, laughing, replaying everything she’d discussed with the partners the other day.
“You still don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about me. It’s never been about me. It’s always been about you.” He started to walk off, taking her mother with him, but seemed to think better of it and turned around. “Tell me, what were the results of your DNA test?”
Alexandra swallowed; no one was supposed to know. He cocked his head to the side when she refused to answer. “Come on now; don’t spoil it for me since I went to all that trouble to get you the sample.”
She narrowed her eyes. Roman tried to pull her behind him, but she moved away from him so she could watch Franklin while he continued to taunt her.
“Don’t play dumb, Alexandra; it doesn’t suit you. I knew exactly what you’d do when I left my tissue for you. Did you think you were fooling anyone? Same as when I planted all the evidence for you. So I’ll ask you again, what were the results of the DNA test?”
“Negative. Which means you aren’t my father or whoever the hell you’re pretending to be. Marcus Kane is dead, and he’s been dead for years.”
“Are you sure? I mean, sure, there’s been no trace of him since the crash, but are you absolutely sure he’s dead?”
Alexandra threw up her arms in frustration. “Dad has to be dead; why else would the test be negative?”
Her mother, finally gaining some sense, jerked her hand away from his. “What does she mean? Why would your blood test not be positive?” She backed away from him, shaking as the implications rolled through her.
“I don’t know, Adelaide,” he scoffed. “Why else would the test be negative?” He looked to where her mother stood. Shaking hands ran through her hair. “Does she know?”
“Know what?” Alexandra spoke up, but they ignored her.