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It startled me sometime later when the door opened and slammed shut. I peeked over the arm of the couch, just in time to watch Daniel drop to his knees in the foyer and burst into tears. His entire body heaved from the force of his sobs, and I rushed to his side and threw my arms around him.
That mostly succeeded in scaring the hell out of him, and he lurched back with a yelp. Then his gaze focused on me, and he blurted, “I didn’t think anyone was home.”
“I know. Sorry for startling you.” I slid closer and pushed his blond hair out of his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No. Definitely not.”
He sniffed and dried his eyes on the sleeve of his tuxedo as I said, “I guess this means your boyfriend wasn’t at the office like he said.”
“Oh, he was there,” Daniel told me, as he shifted around and leaned against the front door. “So was his boss, Frederick. I walked in on Brad balls deep in good ol’ Freddy’s ass, so yeah. He’s cheating on me.”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry. What are you going to do?”
“I broke up with him on the spot, but it only seemed to amuse him. That fucker actually looked smug, and you know what he said to me? ‘Took you long enough to figure it out.’ What an absolute piece of shit!”
“That’s awful!”
“I thought I was going to marry that sociopath, only to find out I was just a joke to him. How could I devote a year of my life to someone with so little regard for me? How could I believe his lies when he told me he loved me and wanted to be with me? What the hell’s my problem?”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself. You’re the victim here, and he really does sound like a sociopath.”
Daniel got up and shook his head. “Hell no. I refuse to be a victim. And I’m not letting him get away with what he did to me!”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea, but mark my words—payback will happen. In fact, my new goal in life is to fuck over Bradley Sterling, by any means necessary.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and muttered, “I feel like I’m going to explode.” Then he turned to me and asked, “Want to get out of here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean getting out of the house, out of San Francisco, and out of our lives for a few days.” He paused and asked, “Wait, why are you home and not at the fundraiser?”
“That’s a long story, and actually yes, the idea of getting out of here sounds fantastic.”
“Great. Go change and pack a bag, and I’ll meet you back here in five minutes.”
Sometime later, when we were headed south in his Fiat, I told Daniel what had happened with Aleksei and Lee. When I finished the story, he muttered, “Well, shit.”
“That about sums it up.”
“I met Lee when you were dating him,” he said. “Except for his height and build, he doesn’t look like Aleksei at all. He doesn’t even have the same last name. It should be clear to everyone involved that this was just a freakish coincidence, and nothing anyone did on purpose. Lee wasn’t even speaking to his dad when you two were dating, and it’s not like he ever wanted to talk about him, right?”
“Right.”
“So, how could you possibly have known?”
“I couldn’t have,” I said. “Aleksei barely mentioned his son, either. It was a painful subject, because there were so many hurt feelings and unresolved issues between the two of them. And now I just added one more to the mix.”
“It seems like you and Aleksei have a lot you need to talk about. So, why are you currently fleeing San Francisco with me?”
“I just needed to buy myself a little time to sort through how I feel about everything,” I said. “I also wanted to get out of their way, so Aleksei and Lee can work through this. If I’m around making Lee feel uncomfortable, that just complicates matters.”
“Got it.”
I glanced at his profile in the semi-darkness, as he changed lanes and passed an eighteen-wheeler. “Do we have an actual destination, or are we just driving aimlessly? I’m fine with either, by the way.”
“For lack of any better ideas, I’m heading to my brother’s house in San Bernardino. He’s currently in Hong Kong on business, and I have a key to his place.”
“Where’s San Bernardino?”
“East of Los Angeles.”
I nodded and asked, “What about work?”
“Fuck work. I spent years putting up with so much shit from that place, and I’ve reached my limit. So, fuck the shitty job, fuck Alan Allen Alan with his anger management issues, and fuck my cheating ex-boyfriend. In fact, fuck my entire life. I’m going to take a few days to regroup, figure out what to do next, and then do a hard reset on my life.”
