Page 78 of Love Me, I Dare You

“You found out one night you came home from some poker game, drunk off your ass, and trashed the house. The first night you hit her.” At least it was the first night my brothers and I witnessed him lay a hand on her. It wasn’t the last, but it was the moment I realized nothing would ever make me forgive him. It was the day I promised to hate him.

“Bismarck told me himself. Gloated after he’d nearly wiped me out in a game of poker down at the casino. Told me how heknew one of you was his. Hell, he even joked maybe you all were, but I knew…” he pauses, an unreadable expression on his face. “I thought it was you.”

Panic floods through me at the thought. When Franklin told me about my mother’s affair with Bismarck King and how she had a child with him, he’d made it seem like it was one of my brothers. He never outright told me who, but never once, did I suspect he could have possibly meant me.

No, there’s no fucking way the universe would be that fucking shitty.

He lets out a sharp chuckle that triggers a bout of hoarse coughing. “Relax, boy. It’s not. You can rest assure you didn’t fuck your sister.” His crass tone sickens me, and I can’t believe I nearly pitied the man for being so close to death. This proves he deserves it and so much more.

“Look, dad,” I say, but the word feels like acid on my tongue. Reaching into my back pocket, I unfold the piece of paper I brought with me and hand it to him. “I’m not here to reminisce on our most memorable moments as father and son. You made sure there weren’t many, at least none worth mentioning. I’m here for one reason only. It’s time to move on, old man.”

Sitting up slowly and with much effort, he takes the paper from me, his jaw growing stiff as he reads it. “I was far from perfect, but I never so much as looked at another woman. My mistake was taking your mother for granted. She was young. I thought I’d hit the lottery when she agreed to go out with me. Though after she did what she did, with him of all people, I lost my way and was too fucking proud to ask for help to find it back.”

My eyes burn, tears welling at the words he speaks that mean nothing because they change nothing, but maybe they’ll lead him to accept what I’m about to ask. “For once in your life, do something selfless for your family. You might hate us, but youowe us. So much more than this, but it will do. So long as we are completely free of you.”

Without another meaningless apology, he nods, reaching for the pen I hold out. “I never hated any of you. Especially not your little sister, but I also couldn’t be the man you all wanted me to be, the father you needed me to be. Trust me, you really were better off this way. You might not see it that way but, it’s the truth.”

I scoff, averting my gaze for a moment to conceal the flood of overwhelming emotions surely written on my face. When I turn back to face him, I’m once again in control and determined to get this done.

“Trust me, we know. And I may have allowed the past to nearly ruin my relationship with my siblings the way you did yours, but it’s not too late for me. I will work tirelessly for their forgiveness and fight to once again be a part of their family—of what it really means to be a Bishop. Not in your memory, but in ours. In who we were as children, who we are as adults. There’s something a lot stronger that binds us. Not the blood coursing through our veins, or the last name on our birth certificates.” I force myself to take a deep breath before I can continue. “It’s the love we have for one another that will allow us to repair what’s been broken.”

I watch as he signs his name on the line, sealing my family’s future. A future he originally destroyed. I don’t thank him, don’t apologize or say goodbye. With a simple nod, I take the paper from his decrepit hands and turn away, walking out the door without looking back.

Once out in the hall, I shoot a quick text to all three of my brothers, knowing Franklin Bishop’s time on earth is ending far sooner than we thought. My fingers grow numb as I type out the text, but there’s no other feeling, just a tightness in my chest I’m better off forcing myself to ignore.

Me: His time is coming. Make your peace if you need to. I just did.

“Where is he?” Monroe shouts as she comes barreling into the kitchen. Her dark hair is strung up into a ponytail, and she’s dressed in some type of fancy athletic outfit—those expensive ones girls wear to run errands, but don’t really work out in. However, her wide eyes look tired.

Jase and I brought our food back to the ranch. I wasn't in the mood to be out and about around town after my visit with Franklin, or talk to Jase about it either. I made it clear he could tag along so long as he didn’t ask.

It helped that it was lunchtime, so we brought Monty’s crew some burgers and beers, giving them an extended break for their hard work.

“Monty’s out back by the barn. Jase is in the bathroom upstairs, installing some light fixtures.”

“I don’t give a fuck where Jase is,” she shouts, making me turn my head toward her. “I saw your text to Monty. Where is dad?” My stomach drops at her question. Why the fuck did she have Monty’s phone?

“I don’t…”

“Don’t treat me like I’m a fucking child, Nash. I was upstairs working on Monty's computer, and noticed he received a text from you in a group chat with our brothers. One I am not a part of.”

“You’ve been here the whole time? You should have said something. I would have taken you a burger.”

Monroe huffs out a long, exasperated sigh. “Stop deflecting, Nash. You forget we’re more alike than you think. I know the way your mind works.”

“Look, Izzy,” I say, trying to calm her and give myself enough time to come up with an excuse. Because right now, I have no fucking clue how I’m going to get out of this one.

“Don’t call me that. Not when you can’t even look me in the eye and tell me the truth.”

“Monroe, what’s wrong?” Monty asks as he enters the room, a worried look on his face as his gaze flicks between us. Of course, he’s going to once again think this is my fault.

My sister hasn’t outright said she’s forgiven me, but my presence no longer revolts her to the point she’s vomiting. I never once thought about how my relationship, or whatever there is between Bailey and me, would affect her. I’m sure pissing her off about this won’t help my case.

“She wants me to tell her where our father is.”

Monty’s face grows bright red, anger visible in the way his body tense and his jaw goes stiff. “No, no fucking way. I didn’t sacrifice everything to keep you away from him, for your own safety, for you to just go running back and ruin it all now. You’re better off never seeing him again, Monroe.”

“You can't make that decision for me, Monty. Not anymore. Because I respect you more than anyone, for not only the man you are but all the sacrifices you made to be there for me when I needed you most, I’ve stayed away, I haven’t asked about him, haven’t ever even wanted to see him again, but this? I deserve to make this decision on my own.”

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