Page 109 of Can't Win 'Em All
“I’m … irritated.” He shot me a dark look. “The fact that she said I had nothing to offer her now that my money is gone ticks me off.”
Hold up. “Are you telling me you actually thought she was with you because she loved you?” A disdainful snort escaped. “Good grief, Dad. Buy a freaking clue. She only got with you in the first place for the money.”
“That’s not true,” Dad barked, his annoyance obvious. “She cared about me. It wasn’t just the money.”
I couldn’t decide if he was delusional or lying to save face. Before this moment, I would’ve always gone with the latter possibility. Something was off about him, though. “Perhaps we should have a talk.” I spooned more oatmeal into my mouth and debated how to drop the truth on him without causing him to fly off the handle. I wasn’t in the mood for a screaming match. “None of them ever loved you,” I ultimately blurted.
“None of whom ever loved me?” he challenged blankly.
“Your mistresses. The women you had short relationships with. Yeah, they wanted you to buy them gifts. Some of them were hoping to get pregnant to trap you. All of them chose you because of your position in the Stone Group. Your personality—and I’m guessing your bedroom prowess … or lack thereof … didn’t draw any of them in.”
Dad’s nostrils flared. “You take that back.”
Was he kidding me right now? “You cannot be serious.” I made a clucking sound with my tongue and shook my head. “This is just sad, Dad. Like … so, so sad. Are you actually telling me you thought they loved you?”
“Why wouldn’t they love me?” He turned defensive. “I’m a catch.”
“Not for your personality you’re not.”
“How can you say that? I’m your father.” A soupçon of sadness overtook his features. “I just don’t understand how you can take your mother’s side in all of this.”
“You don’t understand it?” I finished off my oatmeal and put the empty bowl on the table. “You cheated on Mom.”
“So? I didn’t cheat on you guys.”
“You still broke our mother’s heart. You treated her like crap. She’s the only reason you had any of this to begin with and you were awful to her.”
“And do you think she ever let me forget where the opulence came from?” Dad sneered. “She held it over my head for the duration of our marriage.”
“I don’t particularly remember that. Are you sure you didn’t imagine it because I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen.”
“It did happen.”
“Or you have such a fragile ego you imagined it.” I was done playing this game with him. “You need your ego stroked more than anybody I’ve ever met. It’s embarrassing.”
“You’re a woman. You don’t understand these things.” Dad vehemently shook his head. “Men need to be told what good providers they are.”
“We didn’t need you to provide for us. Mom’s money assured we would always be okay in that department. What we needed was a father who was interested in what we were doing.”
“I was interested in what you were doing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Remember when I was in ballet? How many recitals did you come to?”
“You had two left feet. You never had the discipline to be a ballet dancer.”
“That didn’t matter.” My temper got the better of me as I glared at him. “It doesn’t matter how well your kids do something, you just show up for them. That’s the important thing.”
“Is that what you’re going to do with your kid? Are you going to show up to dance recitals and pretend they’re good?”
“I’m going to support my daughter no matter what she does.” I had no doubt I would be good in that realm. More importantly, I knew my brother and sisters would, too. “My baby will have all of us supporting her. We learned from the best what not to do.” I gave him a defiant look.
“Listen to you.” Dad shook his head. “You act as if I had nothing better to do than to coddle you.”
“That was your most important job, and you never came through. We are who we are in spite of you.”
He stared out the window. I was on the desert side of the hotel by choice because the Strip side was too busy. “I’m getting it all back,” he said out of nowhere after a few seconds of silence. “This hotel, this casino, I’m taking it all back. I’m going to be in charge again. If you want to stay here, you’d better start treating me with some respect.” His tone was icy.
I knew thanks to a text from Rex that the contracts had already been signed. Dad’s plan was dead. He simply didn’t realize it yet. My mother wanted to be the one to tell him that he was done. I couldn’t stop myself from ruining his day, though. I needed him to realize he’d lost.
