Page 227 of The Last Good Man

“Rylee went to his house in Long Island. They had a big fancy party with his boss, the other lawyers, and their families. My sister had never been a fan of those, but she was there––she was supposed to spend time with my father–– so she tried to fit in. One of the young dudes she talked to was my father’s boss’ son. The kid gave her something to drink––she wasn’t supposed to drink alcohol––and took her to one of the bedrooms. Later, he tried to take her clothes off. She sobered up, fought him off, and ran away before calling my mother and telling her what happened. I went there to pick her up. My sister couldn’t pull a string of words together, while my father pretended nothing happened. Apparently, he didn’t want to upset his boss. Well… Downplaying everything and questioning Rylee didn’t sit well with me.”

His lips pull into a bitter smile as he shifts his gaze to me.

“I couldn’t believe he was doing that to his own daughter…” he says. “So, I nudged her into my car and went inside to look for that kid. My father tried to stop me. He didn’t want the whole thingto be blown up out of proportion.His words, not mine. At that point, he was more concerned with making the story go away than protecting his daughter. I grabbed him by the neck and told him everything I couldn’t tell him as I was growing up about how he had always put his interests above our safety. He fought me back and brought me within inches of ending his life. The only thing that stopped me was Rylee, who’d gotten out of the car, searched for me in the house, and found us in his office fighting each other. She put her hands on my back, screaming hysterically, telling me she needed me more than he needed him. That somehow made me stop. I released him, and he started to breathe again. His eyes dripped with anger as he was rubbing his neck… He warned me I’d pay for that, and I told him to go to hell. I’d already paid for it by having him as my father. Rylee sobbed, imploring me to leave the house, and I couldn’t walk out without reminding him he had fucked with our lives by always putting himself first. That made him go quiet, and we finally left the house while the party was still underway, as if nothing had happened. Later, he filed a complaint with the police. He was who he was and couldn’t admit to his own faults. He blackmailed us, and my mother didn’t want to lose me, so they reached a compromise. They still had joint custody of Noah and Rylee while I got the deal I got.”

I listen to him, my heart pulsing quickly.

“How are things now?”

He breathes out a dark chuckle.

“We don’t speak to each other. Rylee hates him. Noah is eighteen and no longer cares about him. My mother collects the alimony. I give her money, but she insists on collecting what he owes us. He’s always late with the money as he has other obligations. Or he simply doesn’t care. That is Tim London in a nutshell.”

I inhale and exhale slowly.

“You’ve come into quite a bit of money since you know Marco Costa.”

“Yes, I have. I worked forhiminitially, and thenhepaid me to perform in the boxing ring. He quickly realized my potential and wisely offered me more.”

“Wisely?”

“Mm-hmm. Had he not done that, someone else would’ve done it.”

I struggle with my next question.

“Do you kill people for money?”

He looks at me seriously before a smile floods his eyes, and he laughs like it’s a good joke.

“Killing people wouldn’t get me far. I told you I don’t want to go to jail again. It wasn’t the worst experience, but it wasn’t the greatest either. People my age go to college, not to prison. But I can’t complain. My life changed for the better. And then I met you,” he says, giving me a soft wink.

I muse.

“How do I fit in all this? I don’t understand. What made you believe I was good for you?”

“You are good for me,” he says, smiling.

“How can I be? I’m so stiff and pretentious.”

“You used to be that way,” he says.

“Yes… Precisely. I used to be that way. I’d been pampered my entire life. Except for my dating life, everything had gone my way. What made you think you and I could be a good thing?”

His eyes go blank as he thinks about it. He shrugs before he speaks.

“I don’t know what it was. You were hot, for one. And then…” He centers his eyes on me. “You were everything I couldn’t be. I think that was it. I also knew you were vulnerable, and as obnoxious as you were, I still felt the need to protect you.”

He pauses before he continues.

“As crazy as it sounds, I learned a lot from my sister. After my father had bluntly denied her reality, my mother wanted her to see a therapist. But she wasn’t comfortable talking toa stranger, especially since my father had questioned her credibility, so she refused to do it. Then, one day, she visited me in jail. Mother left us alone, and she opened up to me. She was lucky in a sense, but even so, her trust was shattered not only in that kid who had misled her but also in menin general. When someone doesn’t respect your boundaries, you don’t think something is wrong with them. You think something is wrong with you. That’s a shitty place to be in, and it takes a lot of work and healing to get to a point where you can trust yourself again. That’s where she was, and I felt sorry for her. I also disliked the kind of man that does that to a woman. My father had done things to my mother as well.”

“So you felt sorry for me.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way. You seemed to have your shit together, but being at that therapist’s office wasn’t a good sign. I don’t know why I felt for you…” he says, averting his eyes. “I think it was that stupid convo on your phone. The guy was phony, and youseemed lost. I didn’t feel sorry for you. I was baffled by you. You seemed to have everything going on for you, and yet you couldn’t figure men out. And then, I was annoyed with that Thomas guy, who had the opportunity to mess with you.”

“So you thought you should mess with me instead,” I say, smiling.

He smiles.

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