James.
I will be the first to say… I'm a f*cking idiot.
I felt horrible about how I'd treated Becca. I didn't take into consideration her feelings at all, and I was so eager for us to be seen together, I ruined everything.
There was no way Becca was going to speak to me after this. Fate had given me something perfect, and instead of cherishing it, I blew it out of the water with my own selfish desires.
Not to mention my daughter caught us having sex. Something she had made clear she would never let go, no matter what happens. She has guilt tripped me in the past, but this time, she was taking it way too far.
Slamming the front door, I stormed through the house. Allegra's had been a no go, and even though I was sure that's where she had gone—she wasn't there.
Or at least she wasn't there anymore.
My mind reeled with confliction on how to handle it all. I never meant to let things get so complicated. It was supposed to just be a summer fling. Something to do for fun while she was here, and then slowly, I became possessive of her.
The thought of another man even touching her made my skin crawl.
I was f*cking pathetic and had ruined everything.
“Where have you been?" Tally snapped with her arms crossed as I walked into the kitchen. I wasn't in the mood to deal with her shit, and the more she kept opening her mouth, the more she was pissing me off.
Stopping in my tracks, I turned to her with narrowed eyes. “I am your father, and I do not have to explain myself to you. Do you understand me, Taliana?"
She gasped, eyes widening before an angry glare crossed her face again.
“You slept with my best friend!" She stomped her foot. “How could you embarrass me like that?! I mean Ashley or Jane, I can understand, but… Becca? She is so beneath you!"
Astonished by my daughter's remark, I shook my head, laughing. She wasn't upset I had slept with Becca because she was her friend. She was upset that it was Becca because she wasn't from our lifestyle.
“So, let me get this right. Had it been one of your uppity friends, you would have been fine, but because Becca doesn't come from our lifestyle, you find her beneath you and it's a problem?"
“Well, yeah. Duh," she scoffed, rolling her eyes giving a flick of her hair. “It's disgusting."
“You know what… never in my life have I ever been disappointed in you. But right now, I am literally disgusted with the way you are acting. That girl has been nothing but good to you, and you have been a complete heartless bitch to her. You are beneath her and don't deserve to be anywhere near her."
I had never spoken to my daughter this way before, but that was probably the reason she had the mentality she did. That, and because her mother played a heavy part in it. Tally needed a reality check, and if I had to hurt her feelings to do it—then so be it.
Tears filled her eyes at my comment. “How can you say that? I'm your daughter."
“I'm saying that because you are my daughter. I don't know who you have become over these past few years, but you're not the same little girl I raised. You have changed, and you're becoming just like your mother."
Shaking my head, I left her standing in the kitchen to think about everything I'd said. I wasn't going to tolerate her actions, and the more she kept on, the more she was going to find I wouldn't sustain her lifestyle anymore.
No longer did it just have to deal with the way she treated Becca. It had to deal with the way she treated everyone in her life. It was a disappointment, and not something I would entertain financially.
Slamming my office door, I slunk into my chair with a bottle of whiskey.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do now that everything had fallen apart. More than anything, I wanted to find Becca and apologize to her. Help her see I didn't mean the things I'd said.
Everything just came out wrong, and in the heat of the moment, I buckled and f*cked up.
Looking down at my phone, I stared at her beautiful face. Only two days before I had made her photo from the Bahamas my background photo. I wasn't sure why I did it, and honestly, it was something completely out of character for me.
Yet, there she was. Smiling in the sunshine in that damn yellow dress.
Allison's name popped up on my screen with a text message, and I groaned, thinking about what she was going to say. Against my better judgment, I opened the message, and my once calming anger grew again.
'You ruined that bitch's life, James. I won't let this go.'
F*ck. If things weren't bad already, now they are even worse.
Hopefully, when I saw her, Becca would forgive me.
If Allison didn't get to her first.
*****
Tally.
Pissed didn't begin to explain how I felt. I should have known it was Becca sleeping with my dad. There were too many times the way she was acting was completely sketchy. Not to mention, I had Life 360 on my dad's phone, so I knew for a fact he was in the Bahamas.
I could only bet he took her there with him.
Clenching my fists, I gripped my phone and stormed from the kitchen up to my room. If my father actually thought I was going to just let this go, he was sorely mistaken.
As soon as my bedroom door closed, I called my mother. I had debated on doing this earlier, hoping my father would see reason behind what he had done.
Had he, I wouldn't have mentioned it to my mother. I would have just let Becca humiliate herself with the notion she actually thought she could have him.
Eventually, she would have disappeared, and without her having friends, her social life would have too. But now… she was going to pay for betraying me.
If she couldn't be loyal to me, I would make sure she didn't betray anyone else.
“Tally… you made it home safe?" Mother said sweetly on the other end of the call.
“Yes, but oh, my god, Mom… you're never going to believe what I walked into."
“What happened? Is everyone okay?" she asked with concern.
“No, everything's not fine. I literally came home to catch dad in bed… with f*cking Becca."
My mother was silent for a moment, listening to what I had said. I explained to her the entire argument, and even the fact my father didn't want to take responsibility for what he had done.
“I knew the little bitch was up to no good," my mother snapped, seething with anger through the phone. “Don't you worry, Tally. We will think of something, because I will not stand for her acting the way she was. It's disgusting."
“That's what I told Dad, but he seems to be, like,… hypnotized by whatever she was doing. God, what if he gets her pregnant?!" The thought alone almost took my breath away. If she ended up pregnant and was seized by my father, I would never see a penny of my money.
She would convince him to disown me, and then… god knows what would happen.
“Oh, that little bitch better hope she isn't pregnant. But if she is, there are ways to handle that without us getting caught. For now, you just leave things to me. I will figure them out."
“Thanks, Mom," I sighed. “To top it all off, I heard Chad got into a nasty fight with someone. I wouldn't be surprised if Becca told someone to hurt him. He is a good guy, and he and Tony told me she called Chad over the other night or something… and he declined her."
I was still disgusted by the phone call I had gotten earlier in the day. It was something I planned to talk to Becca about because I heard how she tried to convince him to come over. She told him my dad was out of the house.
Chad came from a respectable family, and I would never understand what the hell he saw in her.
She was literally a no one and her time of mooching off of me and my money was done.
“Baby, I tried to tell you years ago that Becca was bad news. The only thing she wants is your dad's money. Why do you think your dad and I used to argue before she came down? I knew what that girl and her family were doing." She made me think back to all those times my parents argued.
She was right, though. I mean, my dad always paid for everything, and never once did her parents offer to pay him back. This wasn't a f*cking charity, and for them to act like that was disgusting as well.
“Yeah, you're right," I sighed in frustration. “I can't believe I was so blinded by her bullshit."
“Well, don't let that little harlot bother you. I will handle her." My mother replied, pointedly. That let me know she meant business.
My mother wasn't someone to play around with. She had an evil side to her any woman should fear, because when it came to getting something she wanted, she was determined and unforgiving to anyone in her way.
“Okay. I'll talk to you later," I said, hanging up the phone.
Deep down, though, I felt conflicted. I had really thought Becca and I were good friends, and perhaps, thinking back, sometimes I wasn't the kindest to her. However, I would never sleep with her dad.
I couldn't understand what would possess Becca to do it. Was she lonely, or was she straight heartless? Either way, I was done with her.
If Becca wanted to play these games, then I could, too.
There is a saying my mother had been telling me since I was young. Never play games with someone who can play them better than you.
And that was exactly what she did. She played games with the wrong person, and now she was going to get burnt by her actions.
Picking my phone up, I sent a text to the hottie I had been seeing.
'It's time to stop playing games in the dark. I think it's time we make ourselves public.'
The message went read, and when it did, I smiled at his response.
'Sounds perfect. I'm done hiding too.'