Page 36 of A Haunting at Keystone Manor

Do your worst, Mr. Covington. I’m coming for you next.

Chapter twenty-five

Blackmail

Jake

I can’t believe we’re going to blackmail my father. I feel sick at the thought of standing up to him, but I’m going to do this for Alex. For the future of this hotel. For myself.

“I want to be the one to do this,” I tell Alex. “I need to stand up to him for once in my life. I'm sick of him pushing me around, acting like I don't get a say in my own life."

“Okay, then that's what we'll do."

"What time is he getting in?”

“Eight thirty tonight. We’ll ambush him then.”

I nod. “I still can’t believe you called him. You’re crazy.” I’m impressed though. I’ve never had the guts to say a fraction of the things Alex did.

“I know, trust me. I was second guessing myself for a minute, but this is the only way to move forward. I’ll make sure Brandon and Seth are ready, in case we need backup.”

“Thank you,” I say earnestly. He rubs my shoulder.

“Always.”

***

My father arrives at eight thirty exactly, wearing a pin stripe three-piece suit, greying hair slicked back. I don't think I've ever seen him wear anything else. He looks around the lobby, distain written all over his face.

Alex is with me for support, and Brandon and Seth are lounging quietly along the wall. I’m thankful Alex is allowing me to take the lead on this. As he walks in, I quickly give myself a mental check. Energy is good. I can do this.

It takes him a minute to notice me. He’s looking at Brandon, confused. His gaze hardens as it eventually settles on me. “Jacob. What is the meaning of all this? Your nonsense has been giving me palpitations.” He rubs his chest, right over where his heart should be.

“Hello, father,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest. He watches my movements, taking in my rolled-up sleeves and bared forearms, giving me a look of disapproval.

“Looking disheveled, as usual. I know I raised you better than that. You need a haircut, you look like a woman. So, tell me, how did you pull this one off? I identified what I thought was your body at the morgue. Your mother hasn’t been able to get out of bed for weeks in grief. Explain why you’d put us through that.”

“I am dead. I don’t know what Andrei told you, but he killed me the night you sent him here to force me to come home. Do you want to know what he did to me before that though?” I don’t want to get into the details with him, but I want to make him hurt, if that’s even possible.

He scoffs at me. “Nonsense. Have you been buying drugs from this one? He’s got that look about him.” He points at Brandon.

“Leave him out of this. I’m not on drugs, I’m dead. I was strangled, and you saw the bruises on my dead body. I’m not lying about that.” I look over at Alex and can tell he wants to say something, but he keeps quiet for now.

“You’re trying to tell me you’re dead, and that Andrei killed you. You are on something, aren’t you? He took you under his wing so you could attempt to make something of yourself. He was trying to help you, you ungrateful little brat. He was a valuable business partner, and somehow you manipulated Kayla into killing him for you. Or did you seduce that little cleaning boy into doing it for you? We had quite the interesting chat on the phone yesterday. You’ve caused quite a mess here, a mess I have to clean up. Are you trying to destroy this family? You’ll be lucky if I don’t take it out on your hide when I get you home.”

I run a hand through my hair, anger rising as he talks.

“BULLSHIT!” I yell, anger coursing through me. I’ve never raised my voice at my father. He takes a step towards me and I flinch back. If he could get his hands on me, he’d beat me with his belt until I was begging for mercy. Alex tries to step in front of me, but I hold him off.

I’m shaking now, in rage and fear, but I’m sick of being afraid of him, and having Seth, Brandon, and Alex here has emboldened me to finally stand up to him.

“I came here to get away from him, away from you. You could have just let me go, but he followed me and killed me when I wouldn't submit. He raped me, did he mention that? Just like he’d done a hundred times. Did you know about that? Would you have even cared if I’d told you?”

My nerves are fraying and I’m starting to lose control of myself. I'm unwittingly pulling energy from his emotions and they're all wrong. Tainted. Dark. I hate the way it’s making me feel.

By the time I’m done unloading on him, his face has turned a deep red. “You are a lying little devil. Stop with the dramatics at once! I’m done listening to this nonsense. You are going to come home with me and fulfill your responsibilities to this family. You’re getting married to Katerina, whether you like it or not.”

Alex gasps, and I wince. We’ll be talking about that later. I haven’t told him that little detail.