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“But I shouldn’t have needed to. I had the perfect life. I had the best parents anyone could have asked for.”
“I did too,” I admitted. “My stepdad was the only father I’d ever known. But it didn’t make me stop wondering about my birth father. I was lucky enough to have my mom to tell me stories about him. It didn’t mean I loved my stepdad any less. Your fathers will understand that.”
Tristan shook his head violently, pulling his chin from my hold. “No, they can’t know.” He looked at Brennan. “Brennan, please, they can’t know.”
Brennan settled Tristan with a touch to the back of his neck. “They won’t know until you’re ready to tell them yourself, okay?”
Tristan breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“Tristan, what happened after your father showed up in New York?”
“I met with him a couple times, but all he ever talked about was himself and how all these people had ripped him off…his previous employer, his former landlord, his ex-girlfriend. He started asking for money again. I gave him what I had left and told him there wasn’t anymore – that he had it all. I didn’t hear from him for a few months after that. I thought maybe he’d gone back to Vegas. A few weeks ago I was getting ready to come home when he showed up at my residence hall. He said he was in trouble and he needed money.”
Tristan focused his attention back on the cat. “The amount he wanted…it was crazy.”
“How much?” I asked.
“Fifty thousand.” Tristan shook his head. “I told him I didn’t have that kind of money. He wanted me to get it from my parents. He knew they were rich. I told him no and he got really mad.”
I forced my fists to remain unclenched as I asked, “Did he hurt you?”
“He slapped me. Told me I didn’t give a shit about him. Said I was just as worthless as my mother and that I deserved to be sick like she was.”
Fury burned through me and I had no choice but to get up and start moving. Brennan sent me a concerned look, but remained silent. He’d clearly heard this entire story already, but I could tell it was hitting him just as hard the second time around.
“What happened after that?”
“I didn’t hear from him again until last week. He showed up at our apartment,” he said as he motioned to Brennan. “I don’t know how he found me – the only one who had my address was the head of the residence hall I lived in and that was just in case the post office didn’t forward all my mail.”
“What happened when he showed up at your place?”
“He was freaking out. Said if I didn’t get him the money, some guys were gonna kill him. I didn’t believe him and told him to leave. He pushed his way into the apartment and then these two guys showed up. I’d fallen when he’d forced the door open. One of the guys demanded the money. I told him I didn’t have it. He…he said I had three days to get it and then he kicked me in the side.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Brennan whispered and I turned to see him brushing Tristan’s hair off his forehead.
“I thought I could handle it.” Tristan’s gaze shifted to me. “I had this watch my fathers had given me as a graduation present. It was really expensive so I’d left it here when I went to New York. I knew my dads wouldn’t miss it, but they would notice if I sold my car. I pawned the watch and some other valuables and when the guys showed up last night, I gave them all of it.”
“How much did you give them?” I asked.
“Twelve thousand dollars,” Tristan murmured. “I thought it would be enough, but they said it was just a down payment and they wanted the rest in a week. I told them no and that I’d go to the cops if they didn’t leave me alone. They…they did this,” – Tristan lifted his injured hand – “and this” – he pointed to his face – “and said I had one week to get them the money. If I didn’t, they said a broken finger would be the least of my problems.”
“And your father?”
“I haven’t seen him since that first night.”
Brennan looked up at me. “I took him to the ER last night so they could splint his finger. We told them he fell off his bike. I brought him here because he refused to tell his dads.”
Tristan shook his head. “They can’t know. They’d be so ashamed of me.”
“Tristan-” Brennan began, but I cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder before I sat down on the coffee table again and forced Tristan to look at me.
