Page 64 of My Boss's Sons

“Something happened.” Dad’s opening line left us all leaning in, waiting to see what he was going to say next. When he didn’t say anything else right away, we all leaned back and sighed.

“Get on with it, Dad.” Alex had been in a bad mood for several days and the reason why was obvious. Sophia.

“Sophia Bennett.” Dad sighed and let his thoughts trail off again.

It was strange to hear her name repeated after thinking it. “What about her?”

“I need all of you to promise to hear me out before you get angry and storm off.” He stared especially hard at Alex. “This isn’t going to be easy for me to say.”

Noah took a deep breath. “Just get on with it, Dad. This is just making whatever you’re going to say worse.”

Dad scrubbed his hands down his face and then looked at Mom. “I messed up. I broke our vows, Mary, and I’m more sorry that you’ll ever know.”

My stomach bottomed out completely. Sitting all the way forward, I stared hard at our dad. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Sophia. She… When she didn’t get the last promotion, she came to me.” Dad looked down at his hands and there was raw emotion in his voice. “She came onto me and I was weak.”

Noah was rigid next to me and I could feel fury radiating off of Alex. I just stared in shock. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. There was no way.

“I’m so sorry, Mary. I messed up and I’ve never hated myself more. I wouldn’t be telling you this in front of our sons if it didn’t involve them, too.” Dad looked back at us. “I know she seduced you boys, too. I don’t blame you. She’s…smart. She was more conniving than I ever would’ve thought possible. And now she’s cost us millions of dollars. Millions that I think she’s going to get a share of.”

My ears rang and I wasn’t sure I was still awake. I had to be dreaming.

“Explain yourself, Gerald.” Mom’s voice shook. “Now.”

“I gave into her and I’ve never been sorrier for anything in my life. I regretted it the moment it was over and if I could take it back, I would. She made demands before she even left my office.” Dad wiped his eyes. “I’ve never felt like such a fool. She demanded money right away. She told me that she’d tell everyone if I didn’t give it to her. So, I did. I was an idiot. She just kept making more and more demands.”

I felt physically ill at the idea of my dad sleeping with Sophia. I couldn’t believe it. We knew Sophia. She wouldn’t do that. Would she?

“She wanted the promotion but I couldn’t just take it away from Bill Trent. I told her to wait a year and I’d make it happen. I just hoped I could figure something out in the meantime. Her threats to expose me worked every time. I didn’t want you boysto know what I’d done. I didn’t want you to know what I’d done, Mary. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

“Get to the millions, Gerald.”

“She pushed a company through to Bill and while he was busy learning the ropes, she tricked him into making a deal. I don’t want to think about how she got him to give in.” Dad stood up and began pacing again. “This company was supposed to be on the cusp of a huge breakthrough. We bought them out, at Sophia’s doing, for thirty-six million. I found out this morning that they’re not worth a thousand dollars. I have a private investigator looking into it but he’s already found links between Sophia and the company owner. It’s not the money…. We could survive losing that and be fine. It’s the news story that’s going to break any day. We’ll lose everything. Who’s going to trust us to make business decisions when we lost our shirt in such an embarrassing way?

“She came to my office every day and did and said vile things. She told me all about your relationship. She bragged about the things she got you boys to do, despicable things. I’m just so sorry you boys got mixed up in this.”

Alex laughed. “This is bullshit. You’re playing the innocent husband and father so well, but this isn’t the first time you’ve fucked around on Mom. I don’t buy a word of what you’re saying.”

Noah and I both turned to look at our little brother. What the hell was he talking about?

“Alex…” Mom sighed. “Maybe this isn’t the best time?”

“You’re going to let him pretend like he’s always been faithful?” Alex threw up his hands. “I’m not doing this shit. I don’t know what you’re doing here,Dad, but I want no part of it.”

“Alex, don’t leave. Please, honey. We need to face these things together.” Mom looked away and discreetly wiped her eyes. “Let’s just stay together.”

I looked back at Dad. “Just…clear this up for me. You’re saying that Sophia seduced you, blackmailed you, stole millions from our company, used us, and…did it all while stroking a white cat and twirling her eye patch? Dad, you’re making her sound like some sort of evil villain. We’ve spent so much time with her and she’s not the things you’re making her out to be.”

“You think I’m lying? You think I would chance ruining my marriage and hurting everyone I love? For what?” Dad threw his hands up. “What would be the point, Ethan?”

Noah stood up and walked up to Dad. “You’re not lying? Sophia did that stuff? Before you answer, Dad, think about it. This isn’t just some random woman to us. We care about her. We’ve spent time at her house, with her family, with herdaughter. I need you to look me in the eye and be one thousand percent honest with me.”

Dad gripped Noah’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, son. She isn’t the woman you think she is.”

“What do we do?” Mom pinched the bridge of her nose. “Solutions, Gerry. Now.”

Dad nodded. “Solutions. I’ve got a few options for right now.”

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