“Hello, Miss Molino,” she grinned knowing my name. “Bryce is just finishing up a meeting, it will only be a few moments. Please take a seat.” She motioned with her hand to a row of chairs lined along the wall. I took a seat in the first chair and entwined my fingers nervously. Then I lifted my head as the door to Bryce’s office opened. There was a middle-aged man inside shaking his hand and telling him that they would meet again soon. Then he turned to walk toward the elevator. As he got closer to my line of vision my heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be…I didn’t know his name but I knew the face, those dark eyes. How could I forget that evil face? As my glare froze on him, he took in the shocked look in my eyes and his own forehead creased until recognition lit up his eyes.
He stopped mid-stride and turned to walk toward me. “Hey, we’ve met before…” he drawled.
I couldn’t speak. I could barely breath. That night had been one of the worst nights of my life. I was feeling so low. He was good looking and nice, and I left the sex club to go back to his apartment. Only when I got there he had other plans for me. He was into heavy BDSM but that wasn’t the worst part. He had beaten me to a pulp and raped me.
A moment later Bryce stepped out of his office and walked up to me, I was still frozen in the chair. As he looked between the stranger and me his, dark brows drew together.
“Scott, do you know Vicky, my daughter?” he asked. Huh? What? My daughter? He was acknowledging me as his daughter? I didn’t do blood work yet.
Scott looked dumbfounded as he stared between Bryce and I but not as shocked as I looked. Bryce knew this freak of nature that got off on beating and raping women?
“Ah no…I thought she looked like someone I know but it was my mistake…” Scott trailed off, clearly trying to cover his path. Then he adjusted his tie. He looked uncomfortable.
“Vicky, this is Scott Wellington… he’s the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company out in Canada….Scott, this is Vicky, she actually also lives in Canada,” Bryce explained as he made the introductions.
“A pleasure, Vicky.” Scott put out his hand to shake mine. I was shaking like a leaf and I couldn’t imagine ever allowing this man to touch me again…he was a monster of the worst kind. I knew I had to shake his hand though, or else Bryce would think that there was something wrong with me. As it was, I had shut down for the past few seconds. I quickly pushed my anxieties aside and plastered on a smile. I quickly shook the asshole's hand and pulled my own hand away fast enough for him not to take grip of mine.
“Take care, Scott…we will be in touch,” Bryce said, patting him on the back and basically dismissing him.
“Vicky, this way…” Bryce motioned for me to follow him into his office.
Once we were inside his office I was still shaking like a leaf and Bryce seemed to notice. I wasn’t sure how to explain my erratic change of mood. I couldn’t exactly admit the truth. It would make me look bad and we only just met.
“You just told that man I am your daughter,” I stated, but it was more like a question.
“Yes,” he nodded his head and rubbed a hand across his lips. “I spent the entire afternoon and night thinking about you and Antonella. I knew the minute you left that if Antonella told you I was your father then I must be your father. Your mother was a good woman and she didn’t have a deceitful bone in her body….after we had spent the week together on the cruise, I tried to contact her, but in those days there were no cell phones. I called your grandparent's house a few times and they wouldn’t pass her the phone.
“Then one day I called and she picked up. I pleaded with her to come to New York. I offered her a plane ticket…My mother picked up the phone in the middle of the call and insisted I tell her who I was talking to, while your mother listened on. I was twenty years old and my mother was demanding me…” he huffed out a long breath and shook his head. “She asked me if I was on the phone with that prostitute dancer from the cruise ship…then she went on to say that no son of hers was going to date that trash… I’m sorry for the harsh words, Vicky, but the truth is, my mother is a bitch. It’s the only way to put it. Your mother was thrown off by my mother’s comments and she hung up. For weeks I continued to call her and the minute she picked up the phone and heard my voice she hung up. She wouldn’t give me a chance to explain that I had fallen in love with her. I spent months pining for your mother, I even packed a bag to leave for Thunder Bay to find her, but my parents caught on and they threatened to push me out of the family. I was a weak asshole and I never went after her. Losing your mother was my biggest regret in life…” he admitted as his eyes began to swell. “My parents forced me into marrying my first wife, the marriage was loveless, she was a cold woman, who only cared about dollars and cents…It was then that I pushed myself to work hard and not focus on my family, but it was my only solace in a cold world. Now I am a workaholic with three ex’s that hate me and six children that couldn’t care less if I was alive….I’m forty-two years old, Vicky, and when you walked in here yesterday, you turned my entire world upside down. You made me realize what a mistake I made twenty-two years ago letting your mama go. I just can’t believe she’s gone.” He swiped his hand hard over his mouth again, clearly trying to rein in his emotions. He really threw me for a loop. After my welcome yesterday I wasn’t expecting this.
“I want you to stay in New York, Vicky. Please give me the chance to get to know you,” he said with a pleading tone.
Off to the side of the room a small Asian man that I hadn’t even noticed cleared his throat. “I’m ready, sir.” The man was wearing a white lab coat and he looked like he had needles set up on a small cart. I took a big gulp of air.
“We won’t be needing your service now…thank you… just send me the bill,” Bryce trailed off.
“We won’t?” I questioned with my brows drawn together.
“Vicky, I know you are mine, we don’t need the blood work. My present world may be filled with unscrupulous people only trying to get ahead, but your mother wasn’t like that. If you don’t mind though, I would like to read the letter she left you…I want to understand why she thought she couldn’t come to me and tell me she was pregnant…it’s been eating away at me. She was my only chance at true love in this life, and I let it slip through my fingers like an asshole.”
“Sure.” I began to rummage through my purse for the letter I always carried with me. I found it quickly, still in the same white ruffled envelope it had been delivered to me by my mother’s best friend, Marie. She had apparently written it the day after her diagnosis. Even though it’s written as if she’s on her deathbed. She knew I would take care of her until the end, and apparently she predicted my father’s breakdown, maybe they had discussed it, I don’t know. I passed the letter to Bryce and he took it and then walked around his desk to take a seat in his chair.
“Do you want me to leave?” I asked, feeling like this was going to be hard for him, just like it was for me.
“No, stay, we still need to talk,” he paused and then he reached into his desk and placed a pair of glasses low on his nose. He began to read and I watched as his face slowly paled and his shoulders hunched over. He looked like he wanted to break down, and it was taking everything in him to hold it together.