Page 64 of Mason Wilder
“I could have had him if it weren’t for you! He was interested in me. Then you came along and stole his attention, flaunting your hot husband and your marketing skills, and he forgot I existed,” Kendall snapped back, her British dialect now replaced by a heavy Brooklyn accent.
Papi finally spoke. “I don’t understand this obsession, Kendall. Nothing ever went on between us. I explained to you a hundred times that I was gay and, although flattered, not interested.”
Wait. What? Tessa lowered her hands and looked at everyone through a blurry haze of tears. Papi didn’t have an affair. It was all one-sided on Kendall’s part. She took a shuddering breath. Thank God. Relief flooded her and sent a new wave of tears down her cheeks and she sobbed again.
“Are you still trying to tell me you’re gay, Angel?” Kendall asked with an angry, sarcastic tone. “You have a wife and a daughter.”
“I don’t know if I can put a label on my sexuality anymore. All I know is that I love Jessi very, very much, emotionallyandphysically. She’s . . .” Papi trailed off, shaking his head. “This is really none of your business, Kendall.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Tessa’s Dad yelled at Kendall. “You’ve continually tried to ruin our lives. Why? And why the hell are you telling our daughter to call you ‘Mom’? That will never fucking happen. You can’t have Angel and you can’t have my daughter!”
Kendall’s face grew bright red and contorted as she readied herself to reply, then turnedabruptly to face Tessa’s mom. “You have everything I ever wanted!” she finally screamed, fists clenched at her sides. “Angel should have beenmyhusband! Tessa should have beenmydaughter! Why does everything fucking work out for you? I tried so hard to make it as a singer. My big break never came. I tried everything. I even stooped to blackmailing Angel with that stupid DVD I found of him and Tommy, but you had to go and turn it all around on me! You left me no choice but to leave town!”
Tessa’s mom took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes into slits. “Don’t you dare try to make it sound like it was my fault you never came around to see Mason,” she hissed. “That had nothing to do with the DVD or my threat to go to the police if you went public with it. That was before he was born. When you came back with him, years later, no one told you to leave. I think I remember Jimmy telling you to stay. But you didn’t. You left of your own accord. I had nothing to do with it.”
“What the hell did you expect me to do? I had nothing left in Brooklyn. My life fell apart and yours just flourished. Everyone loved you. The fans. The media. Angel! Overnight, you became this big fashion designer. I stewed and festered as I watched you rise to the top while I hit rock bottom.” Kendall narrowed her eyes and her face contorted with seething anger. “I vowed to topple you and bring you down with me. But you’re fucking untouchable! When you opened your first clothing store, I planted that seamstress to sabotage your designs. But you found out. How? How do you always know everything? How’d you know I’d be here right now?”
Tessa’s Dad looked like he was about to explode as he stepped forward and positioned himself directly in front of Kendall. Tessa had never seen him so angry. So livid. His eyes were like blue fire and hard as stone. Unforgiving. “I’ve had enough of this shit! I’m done with you meddling into our lives. I’m sick of this vendetta you have against my wife. You tried to ruin my marriage, and not just with the DVD. You paid that asshole reporter to write those twisted headlines so it looked like me and Angel were living it up without Jessi when we went to Asia. You made her think we didn’t want her as part of our marriage. How fucking dare you do something so sinister?I ended up punching that jackal and it cost me two hundred grand to pay for his camera, and God knows how much the label paid to shut him up. I’m tired of the way you chase after Angel and come on to him. Stay the fuck away from my husband. He’s mine. Stop baiting my wife. She deserves every privilege. She’s earned it. And now you’re trying to latch onto my daughter?” His arm flew wildly to the side, startling Kendall and causing her to jump back as he pointed at Tessa. “That’smylittle girl! You’re gonna have to go threw me to get to my family, so back the fuck off!”
Tessa never saw her dad so angry or such fire burning in his eyes. Her mom and Papi stood on either side of him, arms folded across their chest, faces as hard as stone. Tessa’s head was whirling with the admissions finally brought to light and openly revealed, each one more disconcerting than the last. Her head volleyed back and forth between her trio of parents and Kendall.
“I don’t care about you or your perfect wife!” Kendall shouted back. “All I care about is Angel! And Tessa! The rest of you can go to hell!”
She tried to step around Tessa’s dad, but he gave her a warning glare that stopped her in her tracks. His brows pinched together. “It was you, wasn’t it? Creeping around outside our house the other night, triggering the alarm.”
Papi let out a shocked gasp. “How dare you set foot on our property? We could have you arrested for trespassing. I should call the police right now.”
Everyone reacted. Tessa’s mouth hung open and she sucked in a quivering breath, while fear prickled down her back. Her mom’s eyes widened with anger. Kendall was mortified and embarrassed, her face draining of color from guilt, and she closed her eyes for a brief second. When she opened them, she looked longingly at Papi, tears brimming on her lower lids. “Please don’t be angry with me. I love you, Angel. Why couldn’t you love me back? I could have been your wife. Tessa could have been our daughter. She still can. We can be together. The three of us.”
“What the fuck am I listening to?” Mason stood in the open doorway, his face bright red and twisted into a mixture of anger, pain and disbelief. “Are you fucking crazy?
Another set of tears rolled down Tessa’s cheeks as soon as she saw Mason. She knew he was crushed and her heart shattered into a million pieces, bearing his pain. She moved toward him, but the sound of Kendall’s voice made her freeze in place.
“Mason. I’m so dreadfully sorry.” Kendall’s hands flew to her mouth and a tear slipped down her cheek. “I didn’t mean for you to hear any of that. Everything gets ugly whenever I’m around these people. This is just so awful.”
Tessa’s cheeks burned. How dare Kendall make it sound as if her parents were at fault when Kendall was clearly behind so much trickery. Ironically, her British accent returned as soon as she saw Mason, leaving Tessa wondering if it was all a show. Kendall was manipulative and calculating, just like everyone had warned. Now Tessa understood the animosity she saw toward Kendall on the old video and the resentment and distrust that remained within the family. The warnings were warranted. She knew the truth needed to be flushed out, but she wished everything didn’t explode the way it had in front of Mason.
“Stop playing the victim,” Papi said. “All we did was visit our daughter. You trespassed on our property and deceived the doorman just now by pretending to be Jessi.”
“That’s preposterous! I did no such thing!”
“She’s lying.” Tessa’s chest ached for Mason, and it reflected in her voice. She’d give anything to change the way this turned out, but, in a way, she was glad that Kendall was finally exposed and that Mason was here to witness it.
“No! It’s not like that, honey. I wasn’t being malicious. Not to you. I’d never hurt you. I love you, Tessa.” Kendall stepped toward Tessa, arms open wide.
Tessa leaned backwards, alarm making her heart race. All three of her parents took a step forward at the same time, but it was Mason who darted in front of Tessa to shield her from Kendall.
“Don’t touch her.”
Tessa stepped to the side to look into his eyes. His expression, usually so full of light and life, bore anguish and loss. His wounds were raw. Exposed. Bleeding. Never had he looked so distraught and utterly gutted.When he spoke, he sounded broken. “I want you to leave, Kendall. And never come back.”
“Mason, let me explain,” Kendall pleaded. “Please don’t misconstrue what you’ve witnessed here.”
“I heard everything. You tried to ruin Jessi’s business. Paid the paparazzi to print lies.” His eyes grew wide with disbelief. His lids fluttered and his brows skyrocketed. “I don’t even want to know about the DVD you tried to blackmail them with.”
Tessa immediately glanced at her parents, who were red-faced and humiliated. The idea of a sex tape made Tessa ill. If something like that got leaked, she’d die of embarrassment.
Kendall burst into tears and covered her face. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. It was so long ago. I’m so ashamed.”
