Page 84 of Filthy Rich

I lean over as people pass us in the aisle, and I kiss her right on the mouth. “You are brilliant,” I whisper against her mouth. “That’s exactly true. This weekend, for maybe the first time, I felt like I fit right in, and it’s because of you. You brought me into the warm, happy, bright circle.”

After I drop her off, I can’t help thinking that this is the goal. My whole life, I’ve loved Bea. She makes me a better version of the person I already was, but she and I didn’t fit. Octavia’s different. She’s as shiny and warm as Bea, but she fits. She gets me without even trying. It’s like she has the key to unlocking my brain. Or maybe it’s my heart.

She makes me the best version of Jake.

When I open my own front door, I’m still smiling. It was a very quick trip, and I have to report back on set in two hours, on a Sunday afternoon, but it was totally worth it.

“So you do come back here occasionally.” Dad’s lying on the sofa, but he sits up. “Thank goodness.” He swings his legs over the edge and drops his elbows on them. “I’m ready, finally, to repay Dave and Seren for their heroic efforts over a decade ago, and you’re going to help me.”

Chapter 19

Jake

I drop my bag and toss my coat on the chair, and then I smile. “Not this time, Dad. You’re on your own, and you should know, we won’t be easy to break.”

Dad stands. “So you and the Fansees are a ‘we’ now?” His eyebrows rise.

“We are.” I fold my arms. “I talked to Dave this weekend, and it turns out, that stupid photo you sent was from before he ever met Seren.” I drop into the chair. “So that’s not going to do a thing. Seren actually laughed about it.”

His face falls, and he sits silently for a moment. Then he starts to laugh.

It’s a scary laugh.

Unhinged.

“After fifteen years locked away, that’s what you thought I was going to use?” He finally stops laughing. “Oh, Jake, you never cease to amuse me.” He sighs. “No, no, I didn’t expect that to fool you this long.” He shakes his head. “You were living with those idiots, and you didn’t figure out that he’s entirely besotted?”

I frown.

“Marriage is the oldest, the original con, and Dave got tricked years and years ago.”

Trust my dad to turn loving devotion in marriage into a grift. “Then what are you going to do?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you,” Dad says, dropping back to his seat on the sofa, but perching on the very edge this time, his hands steepled. “You might run right over and tell them my plan.”

“I will,” I say. “Whether you tell me up front, or I have to figure it out, I’ll tell them it’s you. I’ll tell the police it’s you, too. That’s why you should just give up now.”

Dad’s laugh this time is downright maniacal. “Jake, Jake, what did I teach you? Have you forgotten everything?” He points at the ottoman. “Shift closer so I can show you a few things.”

I hate that I listen to him. “Just show me already.”

“You know, babies imprint so easily.” He clucks. “You were just a little guy when they took you away from me. They thought they got to you just in time, but they didn’t know that I had an ace-in-the-hole. I always do. Don’t you remember that?”

I’m annoyed now. “Is that why you wound up imprisoned for fifteen years?”

“I’m a patient man.” He doesn’t look the least bit ruffled. It’s irritating.

And a little nerve-wracking.

“I’m going to tell you up front that I’m going to destroy them with your help or without it, so if you’re smart, you’ll help me. It’s the right play.” He drops a file on the ottoman. “Your perfect, wannabe-stepfather has been sexually harassing maids and support staff in that hotel for years.”

“That’s clearly a lie,” I say.

“Look at the file.”

I flip through the statements. It’s a bunch of signed affidavits of women, which Dad easily could have paid for, but when I’m about to toss them at him, I realize I recognize one of the photos.

Yvonne.