Page 39 of Bona Fide

“You’re fully aware that if you let Demi into that White House, she'll burn you and it to the ground.”

A mirthless laugh escapes me as I bring my drink back to my lips. “Wasn’t that always the plan? To be married, which would gain the perspective of doting husband with children and win the hearts of Americans everywhere?”

"Plans change." His face is the normal somber that he always masks, but something else alludes to a secret that I'm unaware of.

"How so? Since losing Camila, now you want to have a change of heart?" His brows snap together, and I see him swallow as he deters his focus from me.

I hit him with the lowest of blows, but it's the fucking truth. And my lovely wife helped with the simple fact that my youngest sister allegedly overdosed on pills mixed with heroin. Drugs that Demi practically shoved down her throat and up her arm.

And daddy dearest over here bulldozed her down my throat.

“It took one of us to die for you to see that Demi wasn’t the loving little bitch that you thought she was,” I continue, tightening my hold on my glass. “You let your head get muddled during your many blow jobs from my wife, Pops. But let me make something perfectly clear...once a cunt, always a cunt. The more you let her into this world, the more she thought she could control it. She fed on that shit. And when you give that bitch an inch, she’ll take more than the goddamn mile. She’ll eat you up, spit you out, and stomp over the remainder of you with her Gucci heels. She’ll light the whole fucking town down just to have you watch it incinerate.”

“So what do you plan to do then?” my father quakes through a whisper. “You’re going to let her become First Lady and then destroy everything you’ve worked toward?”

“Yes.”

My father snaps his head back to me. “What?”

“I said...yes.”

“Are you mad?”

“Extremely, thanks to you. Your pep talks were legendary.”

He vigorously shakes his head. “It was never supposed to be this way.”

My lips break into a smile. "Yes, it was, and so much more. You thought Demi would save me because I was just a bachelor whom no one would vote for nor take seriously to become anything, much less the next president. Best pep talk of my life."

“Because that was the plan,” he snaps.

“I would’ve preferred a wife that didn’t fuck my father before myself but—” I shrug. “—hey, we live in a different world than reality, don’t we?”

“Demi just wanted my money.”

“And you gave it to her, didn’t you? What’s more pathetic is that Nora let you do it.”

“Keep your mother out of it and watch your fucking tone with me, boy. I’m here to help you.”

“There is nothing you can do that won’t cause more of an issue. She already killed Camila. I was already fucked by—”

“What are you talking about?” my father snarls, face reddening and clearly getting pissed off.

I recline back in my seat, propping my arm over the headrest. “I spoke with Phoebe, Nora brought her to the governor’s ball.”

“She told me.”

“Your lover, ex-lover, mistress, whatever you want to call her, she still has men visiting your daughter.” Pops frowns. “To shove pills down her throat and shoot shit up her arm to make it look like she’s a drug addict.”

“Why?”

“Beats the living shit out of me, but I’m going to find out.”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“Yes, maybe it was a distraction or to get back at me because I dumped her after I beat the shit out of that guy at the bar.”

“She never...mentioned you because—”

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