I can’t help myself. “Why are you in my fucking house?” I snarl, barely holding on to the facade of being a decent human being that I try to keep in place around Sloane’s parents.
“Ledger!” my mom and Sloane hiss in sync.Come on! This asswipe is in my house, and I’m supposed to be civil?I’m clearly not going to win this one.
Deciding to keep my mouth shut, I grip my drink even tighter and pull Sloane into my side when she moves past me toward her mom. Taking a deep breath of her coconut scent that I love so much, I try to find my peace in this rapidly devolving situation. God bless both my mom and Jack, who are trying to distract our new arrivals with discussions of the play and church and golf. Henry still has plenty of material to keep Scott preoccupied for hours, if not days. Maybe we can get through this dinner unscathed, and Janice’s little stunt will be for nothing.
Now that everyone is here, and we’ve found an extra place setting for our unwelcome surprise guest, we can finally sit down and eat. A full mouth of food will surely prevent anyone from causing too much drama.
The meal is delicious, not that Mrs. Smith has ever made anything that wasn’t. Thanks to my mother’s frankly ridiculous life story, she’s been able to regale everyone with tales from her youth that take some of the heat off Sloane and I. Scott has laughed a few times, and Janice has had a few glasses of mulled wine (although I think my mother told her it was mulled juice, so I’m not sure she realizes exactly what she’s been drinking). I’m gathering the courage to finally make our announcement when everything promptly goes to shit, thanks to the asshole who I should’ve kicked out of my house before he even crossed the threshold.
“I gotta say, Ledger, I expected a lot more black paint and red leather in your house,” Dean says, before downing the restof his glass of wine and sitting back in his chair. The smirk on his face tells me he knows exactly what he just did, and my urge to snap his neck hits an all-time high. That won’t help this situation, though, and it won’t help Sloane, so I take a deep breath and decide it’s time. It’s time to ascend to the final plane of being the bigger person. Nothing is going to rattle me tonight. My wife needs me to be calm and in control.
“Sloane’s perfect taste drove the design for the interior,” I say, hoping to deflect from the underlying accusation he just leveled at me. Kissing the back of her hand, I keep our fingers laced and place our hands on her thigh, noting that she’s as tense as a board. “We plan to tackle the exterior next, with a pool and sundeck—”
“It’s just,” Dean interrupts, “I would have thought that your aesthetic would have carried over atleasta little. Or do you keep all the whips and chains and mirrors confined to the bedroom? Or do you have a red room? When I think of the interior of a sex club owner’s bedroom, French country chic just doesn’t really fit, ya know?”
Everyone at the table sucks in a quick breath through their teeth, and then…silence. You could hear a pin drop. I’m not convinced any of us are actually breathing.
“You own…asex club?”Janice whisper-screeches, saying the word sex like it’s a curse word, which, to her, it probably is. Scott is standing now, and his face is approaching nuclear levels of redness, to the point I briefly think that tonight might actually be the night he has an aneurysm or heart attack, or both. “Is this true, Sloane? You’re dating adeviantwho not only does drugs and rides motorcycles but owns an entire sex club?”
I can feel Sloane trembling in her seat next to me, but that’s okay. I’ve never felt more in control than at this moment. Sloane is my priority, followed by my family, and the Johnsons can get fucked for all I care.
Turning, I face my mom first. “Mom, I’m sorry that you had to find out about this in this way. I haven’t been entirely truthful with you, and while the security business is legitimate, it has become largely self-sustaining at this point. I do operate a club in the city dedicated to exploring pleasure, and it’s been one of the most fulfilling creative endeavors of my life.”
My mother gives me a soft smile before sweetly sipping her wine. “Honey, if you think I didn’t know about Rendezvous within a week of you applying for the permits, I’m not sure you know me at all.”
That gets everyone’s attention, and Jack chokes on his own drink. “Don’t be dramatic, Jack. I’m old but not dead! I’m just surprised you boys haven’t seen me there, although I do usually bring a mask and stick to the people I know. Some things a motherdoes notneed to see.”
“Youown and operatea sex club…” Janice is starting to shake now, and I begin to think maybe a couple of ambulances should be called, just in case. “You have corrupted our daughter!”
“Well, he ownsa majorityof it, technically, but a large portion of the shares are mine as well. And I’m not sure you can characterize him asrunningit anymore, at least not in the past few months. He’s been way too busy staying locked up here with Sloane and…ow!” Jack exclaims. I’m thankful Margot smacks him on the side of the head to stop before he can describe any more of what I’ve been doing to Sloane over the past few months.
Dean is standing now, still nonchalant and smirking like he’s not done dropping bombs on our Christmas Eve gathering.Fuck.
“I’malsosurprised you have so much light colored furniture here. Do you have secrets for getting them clean after you fuck her bloody in your little perverted satanic rituals? Or is that just in her apartment living room and not here?”
Jack is clearly still trying to defuse this situation, but it’s too far gone. He doesn’t realize, blabbering on, “Hey, I’ve never seen him take part in a satanic ritual! Perverted, I mean that’s pretty subjective, I’d say. A few years ago, I had two nuns who…”
“Jack, that’s enough,” I grind out, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Dean, it’s time for you to go.”
“Is what he’s saying true, Mr. Sinclair?” Scott breaks his silence. “Dean, how would you even know these things?”
I sigh, knowing that at least a partial truth is necessary here. “Mr. Johnson, it is true that—”
“I know because I saw it, Scott. With my own eyes.” Dean is sorely testing my patience right now.
“You broke into a residence in the middle of the night, where you had no right to be!” I refuse to be blamed for this asshole breaking and entering when he knew he had no business.
“I had a key!” Dean shouts. “I had a key, and I wanted to check on Sloane and explain that this has all been a misunderstanding and a nightmare, and I couldn’t sleep without telling her how I felt! So of course I let myself in tosurprise her, and instead, you were fucking her! Covered in blood! And you didn’t stop even when she was unconscious!”
Well,thisis an even silencier silence than the silence earlier.
Janice has tears of anger trailing down her face, and Scott has sat back down and drained his wineglass.
“Well, I’ve been fucking around Ledger for a long time.”
I groan internally, willinganyoneto stop Jack again, but nobody does. “And I know damn well he wouldn’t do anything like that without consent, so whatever you saw still isn’t your business, asshole. Time to go,” he says, trying to help but completely unable to read the room.
Before Jack can toss Dean outside, Janice snaps.
