Slide (Black Addiction #1) (22 page)

“You’re not good enough for her.” Phil tore through the Max barrier and went straight after Rusty. “She’s my daughter.”

I’m not really sure what exactly happened next. Possibly a massive explosion causing the world to end, who knew? The noise disappeared as well, the yelling and the screaming completely evaporating into thin air as my brain tried to process what I’d just heard. I was this man’s daughter. As in, the fictional character whose name was absent from my birth certificate was standing in front of me.

No.

None of it made sense.

My brain finally kicked back into reality. I watched security, with the help of Max and Joey, try to break up a hurricane of flying fists between the man I loved and some guy who apparently was responsible for my birth. And here I had thought the show on stage was explosive. Nothing like what was going on now.

“How are you my father?” The voice that hadn’t been able to speak a few moments ago found its way out of my throat. My mother didn’t even know who my father was and now
this
guy was volunteering? It made no sense.

My question had been enough to do what the security hadn’t, both men stopping to face me as their fists stayed cocked, ready to strike. My need for an answer forcing me to go on. “How the hell are you my father? Answer me.”

“Your mom and I were together a long time ago. We were both young. She got pregnant. I wasn’t ready to be a dad so I left. I reached out to her a few years ago, she didn’t want to tell me shit at first. She was still pissed, but finally she gave in. Took me three years before she finally emailed me a picture.” His fist unclenched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone—a photo of me lighting up the screen.

“Jesus Christ.” Max grabbed the phone from Phil’s hand, studying the likeness before looking back at me. “You had a kid? How the hell do you have a kid?” Obviously I hadn’t been the only one in the dark, my dear dad forgetting to mention my existence to his own family.

“What are you saying? No. Shut up, you’re lying,” I screamed completely unconcerned about who was around and what they heard. None of this could be true. There was no way. Of all the people who could be my father, this man was not it. It just wasn’t possible.

“Babe, listen to me.” Rusty threw his arms around me. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? Max is going to deal with his fucktard brother and we’re going to leave.” His lips hit my forehead as he pulled me in closer.

“Why is he saying that? Why?” My head shook as I tried to understand what would make someone play such a cruel and heartless joke. “Why?”

“Because it’s true,” the man who had sent my world crashing down around me answered. “I know that’s not what you want to hear. But it’s true. Call your mother. Ask her.”

It was too much. The noise, the people, the staring. I had no idea which way was up, my head spinning so much I thought I was going to puke.

“Alison, let’s go.” Rusty made the decision for me as he slowly pulled me away. The crowd parted as we walked through. I passed the gallery of stares completely stunned. Only able to remain on my feet because the strong arms wrapped around my waist were keeping me upright. Rusty refused to let me go until we’d exited the club.

It was in a daze that I got into his car, oblivious to what he was saying or what was happening. My mind checked out until we arrived back at his house. My body was carried up the steps and gently laid on his bed before I snapped out of my catatonic state.

Holy shit.

What the hell just happened?

“Ali, baby.” Rusty shuffled on the bed beside me, his ever-present arms squeezing me closer. “It’s going to be okay.”

I’m not sure how he could make that promise; there was no way he could have known that. No way any of us could know how this was going to play out. My life was a series of catastrophes. One more epic than the last and it was definitely
not
okay.

“Do you think it’s true? Do you think he is my dad?” It was crazy. Completely insane, but he had my picture. A picture I’d sent to my mother last Christmas when she’d gone through rehab again. Why would she give it to him?

“Honestly, I don’t know. There’s an eighteen-year age gap between Max and his brother . . . I mean the numbers match up. Phil went off the rails before Max was even born so, based on possibilities? It’s entirely possible. If that is something you want to know, we will find out, but my only concern is you right now.” His hand rubbed up and down my arm as he pressed his lips to the top of my head.

God, he was being so sweet.

I had completely ruined his big night. The preview of what was about to come and the first time anyone other than the band had heard their new material. Instead of celebrating with his friends or having crazy, freaky groupie -like sex with me, he was dealing with the fall out that was my life. Yet again. It was completely unfair.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. My feelings were completely twisted into a mess of everything and nothing, my mind unable to focus. “Tonight was supposed to be about you, not about me.”

“What have you got to be sorry for? None of this is your fault, do you get that? None of this.” He bent his head so he could look me in the eyes. “This is one thing you will not own, this is not on you.”

It was nice of him to say that, even if I didn’t believe it. But, the writing was on the wall.

I was cursed.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. I wished I had asked more questions. Asked if Phil was indeed my father, how he could have walked out and forgotten about me for twenty-five years. How could he just choose now to wander back in, completely disregarding whether I’d want to know him or not. I wish I had asked why the hell he thought he had any right to even speak to me after deserting me. Leaving me to fend for myself with a mother who needed more care than I did.

But out of all those questions running around in my head, I asked none. My mouth and mind seized completely as I let some loser who at most was a sperm donor, completely disarm me. That’s what I hated most of all. That I had believed I’d changed. That I believed I was strong, smart and able to take on the world. But I was none of those things. I was the same mess I always was. The same mess I guess I’d always be.

I had no idea
what the fuck I was doing. If I was making it worse or if I was making it better, but all I knew was that I had to do something.

We’d been sky-freaking-high coming off stage. High fives and congrats being thrown thick and fast and all I wanted to do was get to where my girl was.

While Angie hadn’t birthed her first born rocking out, she wasn’t feeling great either. Enter baby daddy with a bunch of unspoken I-told-you-so’s who got her out the door before Joey had finished making out with his bottle of Gatorade.

Joey and Max had no problem with me finding Ali before we continued to bask in the glory, my need to have her with me at desperate levels.

The stage had never felt that good. I guess I’d never had anything that amazing waiting for me after I stepped off it. It juiced me up enough to know that was how I wanted it to be from here on out. That she was as much a part of the
feeling good
as was the crowd. It was the ultimate in having my cake and eating it too. There wasn’t a man alive who could tell me he was luckier.

So you can imagine my utter surprise when I pushed through the crowd to see Max’s oxygen thief of a brother with his hands all over my girl. I’d just caught the tail end of her screaming no, more than enough confirmation that she wasn’t digging the attention. Phil was my new public enemy number one.

But of course being an asshole wasn’t enough for the man, he had to kick it up a notch and tell my girlfriend what a poor choice I was, topping it off with an oh-hey-I-am-your-father. That Vader reveal was not something any of us saw coming. Even the dude who had been bailing his ass out for the last ten or so years was just as clueless as the rest of us. Whether his claim was real or not, the guy had serious problems—my fist being one of them.

Now I’d never been much of a fighter, pointless in most cases. But seeing my girl look like she was about to pass out was enough of a motivation for me to get physical. Like a switch had been flicked, I was ready to WWE Phil into the middle of next week. Sadly, security and my band hadn’t agreed.

Alison had passed out in my arms not long after getting home. Either from the exhaustion or the shock, it was no freaking wonder that she’d curled up on her side and gone nite-nite. Hopefully the sleep would give her some perspective, see the shitstorm raining down had nothing to do with her. Her apology of ruining
my night
, tearing me apart from the inside out.

It wasn’t long after she was safely in dreamland that I’d got the message from Max. The dude’s text was sent from my front fucking door where he stood, wondering if we could talk. I’d say conversation was definitely required.

“Please tell me that he is not with you?” I wrenched open my front door, my head swiveling, just hoping to catch a glimpse of the asshole. “If he’s here, he’s a dead man.”

“Do you think I’d be stupid enough to bring him here after what he did?” Max walked through the doorway, his face fucking defeated. “If he were here, you wouldn’t have to kill him, I’d be doing it myself.”

“Take a seat.” I gestured to the couch. “Got a hunch this is going to take a while.” My ass hit the leather as he followed suit. My need to know what-the-fuck at an all-time high.

“Fuck, man. From everything I found out, what he’s saying is true.” His head fell back against the couch as he started to explain, the time between the club and my crib obviously used to gather intel. “He met Alison’s mom when he was seventeen, knocked her up and bailed. Of course, he didn’t bother sharing that with anyone figuring he was on the last straw with our folks. Not that it mattered, they threw his ass out a year later when he got arrested for DUI. Even
they
didn’t know about Alison or her mom. All they did know was he started one fire after another and they were through enabling him.” He balled his fists, hiking them up to his temple in frustration. “They’d seen what I hadn’t. I’d always assumed he’d come good. He played me.”

“There is no way any of us could have known it. Last time I checked you weren’t fucking Nostradamus. What I don’t get is why now? Twenty-five years he hasn’t given a shit and now decides he needs a Father’s Day card sitting on his mantle?” I wasn’t even touching the fucking issue of what-were-the-chances-she-was-my-girlfriend. That small world crap, freaking me the hell out.

“Yeah, well I asked him that as well.” Max rolled his head back, the conversation just as messed up on his end. “He ran into Melody Williams, Alison’s mom, a few years back. He assumed she’d had an abortion or given the baby up when he left, neither of them in any condition to be parents. He was surprised when he found out she’d not only had the baby but kept her. His curiosity got the better of him so he pursued it. Seemed like she eventually was in a forgiving mood and started drip-feeding him info. The emails Nicole found spelt out that he’d parented and bailed on a child when he was eighteen, which is why she threw his ass out. And while we were worried he’d be getting friendly with a box cutter and a vein, he’s been trying to track his kid with only the photo Alison’s mom provided. He didn’t make the connection that
his
Alison and
your
Alison were one in the same until the confrontation at the club.”

“So him manhandling her in a club was his attempt to make up for lost birthdays? Five more minutes and we’d be sitting here talking about his funeral, not about his questionable birth control methods in his youth.” Those weren’t idle threats. I still wasn’t convinced there was going to be any time in the near future where he was going to be safe in my presence. Best he keep away and not test the theory.

“Rus, trust me. I know. It took two of us to peel you off him. You and him in the same room is not happening.” Max sat up like the penny finally dropped. “Fuuucckk. That means Alison is my niece.”

“Dude, my head is going to explode right now. No offense but I wouldn’t be expecting her to call you uncle anytime soon. Honestly, I don’t know how any of this shit is going to pan out.”

The extent of the damage was still unknown. It’s not every day you find out the deadbeat who abandoned you, really is a fucking deadbeat. Not to mention the already existing condition which had been a shitty few months. If anyone were going to
Charlie Sheen
it, I’d say she had better reasons than most.

“You do whatever you have to. Goes without saying that if you need anything—just ask.” His stare nailed me from across the room, the look he was wearing pretty serious.

Max and I were tight, and usually there’d be no doubt about him having my six. Problem was, the guy who was an issue shared the same last name.

“How’s that going to play out with our conflict of interest?”

“He’s my brother. I love him—that’s not going to change—but there’s no coming back from this. I’m done.”

Everyone had their ceiling. The limit of shit they were willing to put up with and Max had obviously found his. I’d say he’d put up with more than most, his loser of a brother having to grow a pair and go it alone.

“Listen, dude. It’s been a long ass night. I’m going to bail. My folks are freaking the fuck out and I have no idea where the hell Phil is.” Max scrubbed his face as he got up to leave. Not like there was anywhere else we could go with the situation. Too many variables and all of them rested on the girl who was tucked up in my bed.

“Yeah, cool. Hey, thanks for stopping by and filling in the blanks.” I held out my palm, his hand returning the shake.

Max paused before continuing to the door. “Sorry, I don’t know much else. Keep me posted on how things go down.”

I gave him a nod and he showed himself out, the evening well and truly a bust as I sat my ass back down on the couch. Sleep was going to be a while.

“Hey.” Alison poked her head around the doorway, her eyes bloodshot from fatigue or tears—I wasn’t good with either scenario.

“Come here, baby.” I opened my arms as she walked over to me. Her body nestled into my lap. “Did we wake you?”

“I’ve been in and out.” She yawned, her head resting on my shoulder. “I heard some of it.”

While the last thing I wanted was to add to the misery she was already dealing with, I told her what I knew. The low down Max had given me wasn’t detailed in any case, but better than the sketchy explanation she’d gotten from Phil. For the most part it sounded legit. The ages matched up and if her mom was throwing support behind it then I’d say it was probably true. Not what she wanted to hear, but the truth nonetheless.

“I need to call my mom, I need to know.”

“You do whatever you need. I’m right here.”

It wasn’t my deal to tell her what to do. Whether or not she wanted to go digging up answers was always going to be her call and I would support her either way.

The phone call could have probably waited until the morning but she went ahead and made it anyway. The cell pressed so close to her face I was sure it was going to leave an imprint.

“Mom?” Her eyes met mine as soon as the call connected. “I need you to tell me who my father is. The truth this time. I need to know.”

There wasn’t a lot I could do, so I held her hand and listened to the one-sided conversation. Her voice wavering between pained and anger.

“How could you have kept it from me? All these years you said you didn’t know?” The rage kicked up in Ali’s voice, her hand trying to free itself of my grip. My hold not relinquishing.

“Do you have any idea what you have put me through? Why would you do this? Why?”

Her mom confirmed that Phil was in fact her father and short of a paternity test, no more proof was going to be obtained. At least not tonight. Through all her rapid-fire questions, the only constant were my hands on my girl. My rock solid resolve that whatever happened, she’d do it with me by her side.

The call didn’t end well, not that I expected anything better.

“Can you believe she knew this whole time? The whole time, Rusty. Her excuse for not telling me was she didn’t want to hurt my feelings because he walked out on me.” She paced, wearing a hole in the carpet.

“Like not knowing was so much better. Not to mention that he turns up back in her life after no contact, no child support, no anything and she just tells him everything about me. Like he has any rights.” Her feet continued to move as her agitation rose.

“I don’t want to hear how much she was in love with him and how she couldn’t resist him now. What if he had wanted to hurt me, she just gave me up. Just like that.” Her hands raked through her hair in frustration as she finally stopped. “She didn’t even think about me. Not even for a second. Not to mention the lack of heads up that he’d come looking. She had deluded herself into thinking he wasn’t going to do anything with the knowledge. Like that made any sense.”

She needed to get it out and I was cool with being her sounding board, throwing the right amount of support and encouragement when she needed. It was sometime in the early hours of the morning when she finished her verbal assault on the two idiots who were her parents. We didn’t even bother heading back to bed, just collapsed on the couch. Once again, zero fucks given as long as we were together.

For the second time that night she fell asleep in my arms, me following soon after. Regardless of what happened in the future, one thing was for sure. She wasn’t getting rid of me. I was in this for the long haul.

***

I had such a pain in the neck.

No, not the colossal fuck up that had happened last night but an actual pain in the neck. I stretched this way and that, trying to work out the massive knot that had formed at the base of my skull, but no dice. I needed a bottle of Advil at the very least.

My eyes dipped down to the beautiful girl who was sleeping peacefully on my chest. Her breathing had finally evened out and apart from the rise and fall of her amazing tits, she hadn’t moved an inch.

Unfortunately we didn’t get the opportunity to enjoy the solitude for much longer; my phone blaring obnoxiously from the side table took care of that.

“Shit.” Alison jumped; her confused face took a quick look at the surroundings before she looked back at me. “Oh, hey.” She gave me the first smile I’d seen in hours. It almost made me glad for the interruption.

“Hey.” I brushed the side of her cheek as I grabbed my cell.

Whoever was calling me better have a good fucking reason. Mornings blew at the best of times but this particular morning, I wasn’t in the mood to be sociable or polite.