Page 98 of Beautiful Defiance

33

SEVEN

The first thing my father did after hearing of what I’d asked of my cousins is to sit me down and demand I talk to him.

“What the fuck is going on, Seven?”

I pace, refusing to open up to the man who ruined a good thing. Why did he give up on Mom so easily after she put up with his drinking for years as he wrestled with the darker side of his job? Why did he put himself in the position of getting caught with another woman? Shit, why put himself in that position in the first place?

But the more he looked at me with love in his eyes as he followed my movements, the words spilled from me like a dam broken by too much pressure placed on it.

I start with my anger over him messing things up with Mom.

“Did you fall out of love with her?”

“None of that.”

“Did you cheat on her?”

“Never.”

“Then what the fuck is the problem?”

“Fuck sakes, Seven, watch the fucking language.”

I smirk. Yeah, sure, I’ll watch it when he curbs his love for the f-bomb too.

“Your mom’s changed, Son. She’s been withdrawn. Hasn’t opened up to me the way she used to. I went to see Marianne, hoping she could shed some light on why. Marianne, she and I, we were engaged. She was your mom’s best friend.”

“Wait, what? You were caught half-naked in a hotel room with a woman you were planning on marrying?”

What the fuck?

“What Marianne and I had was an arranged marriage, the joining of two powerful families. But when I met your mom, all bets were off. She was all I thought about. The thing is, your mother is the purest of heart, too kind for this damn world. She’s a force for good, and I’ve done nothing but wrong her, keeping truths from her.”

He sets his elbows on his knees and drops his head in his palms.

It takes a lot for my dad to open up to me like this. What he told me, about my mom withdrawing from him, goes beyond the normal father-and-son talk. I give him my truth.

“Dad, you haven’t wronged her. There’s nothing wrong with loving someone the way you and Mom love one another. What is wrong is you working so much we barely see you. What is wrong is you not involving Mom in your line of work anymore.”

They fought about that part, very loudly. Mom used to help with the “family” business of this foreign trade thing of Dad’s until Dad told my mom to stay out of it. That his line of work is getting too dangerous for her.

“Mom has a degree in computer science. Large companies come to her to hack their systems for flaws. Use her skills. Mom wants to be useful, to make a difference, to help.”

I take a seat next to him.

“Does Mom know the marriage was arranged?”

“No.”

“You should tell her the reason Marianne was in your room.”

“She set me up.”

“What?” I ask, the agony in Dad’s voice threatening to have me send my cousins after this Marianne chick.

“She’s still in love with me. Can’t forgive your mom for agreeing to marry me. Hates me for ending our engagement. She had a photographer take the picture. I didn’t know she was in the room until it was too late. We were supposed to meet in the hotel’s lounge.”

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