All at Once (Complete)

xxiii. For Good

I was not lying safely in my bed, as I had presumed... But rather, I sat tied to a wooden chair in the middle of our living room. It was dark, but only because the curtains were pulled. I could see a dim light shining behind them, telling me that there was daylight outside.

It took me a moment to gather my thoughts and remember the events of the previous couple days. Riley's mum died. He kissed me and then he left. But he came back.

I thought he had come back to me. But no, he was gone and someone had come into the house.

Who? Was all I could think... Chase was the first into my head but Hudson had assured me he was safely behind bars, with no chance of release. So who was it?

I got my answer only a few minutes after that thought. My eyes widened as I watched a tall, bearded man walk into the room as though he were a King.

At one look at his face I nearly screamed... It couldn't be him...

He laughed and I began to notice very slight differences in his face. This wasn't Chase, it must have been his-

"Brother, sweet pea. In case you were wondering," his wink made my stomach clench. I was gonna be sick. "I'm his brother."

We were always told Chase had a brother, but that he was safely tucked away in a Russian monastery... I guess the bald head and robes didn't suit him.

"Aww, look at that little face. You must be ever so confused you poor thing. But that's no worry, allow me to fill you in."

He pulled a chair from the side of the room and placed it directly in front of me. After he was seated, he placed his thick hands on each of my knees. I felt the bile rise in my throat and tears come to my eyes. There was nothing I could do.

"Let's start from the beginning shall we? Like the moment your father met my brother."

He smirked and it reminded me so much of Chase, of the smirk he shun upon me in the courtroom, ever so long ago.

"Once upon a time, there was a young man with a beautiful wife and a pretty little girl. He wanted to give them everything he couldn't afford. But when he lost his job, he was far too embarrassed to tell his wife. So instead, he came to see the nice handsome man who promised him a little loan. With this loan, the young man decided to bet it all, to make more and be able to pay it back. But you see, the problem with betting is that, most of the time you don't win. So your daddy dearest came back for more money. And more money. You see, he'd quickly gotten addicted to the thrill of gambling."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, it he was telling the truth than everything I'd ever known about my dad was a lie.

"The young man eventually woke up to himself and got some help, got a job, he had a pretty lush life again... Except for the $500,000 in debt that he had racked up with the handsome man. Now that is a lot of money to pay back quickly, and the handsome man understood that... So he gave your daddy 10 years to pay it all back. Fair deal, right? But the problem was, your daddy thought he could outsmart us and sneak away without paying all the money off.. Bad move on daddy's part, wasn't it?"

I was struggling to process all this. I couldn't believe my dad would do such a thing. He was good man, and Chase was making him sound like a money-hungry monster.