33. Emily

Ihead downstairs as my father bangs around in the kitchen. I find him putting a pan on the stove, the burner clicking then whooshing to life. He's got grilled cheese fixings on the counter. "I can make you one if you want," he says, turning to me, and stops short, looking surprised.

"Hey, Dad," I say, wishing this moment would end, maybe with my violent and sudden death. "Uh, this is my, uh?—"

"Hello, sir, we should officially meet. My name is Simon, and I'm your daughter's husband." Simon comes around me and offers Dad his hand.

Dad stares and shakes weakly, looking from Simon to me and back again. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were visiting. It's great to officially meet the famous Simon. I just hope I don't have to get in your face again."

Simon grins. "I'll be on my best behavior."

Dad gestures at the spread. "You guys hungry?"

"No, we're okay," I say, speaking before Simon can accept. I nudge him away and turn to my father, a million thoughts rolling through my head, but the most obvious one is the loudest.

I never should've lied to him.

This whole secret extra money scheme came from a good place. I never wanted Dad to feel like a burden. It was bad enough, taking money from me, but taking it from a total stranger? Letting my random stranger husband financially care for him? I was trying to spare Dad's already destroyed ego one more blow.

That was stupid. I should've just told him the truth from the start. Maybe he wouldn't have liked it, and it would've hurt knowing his daughter married a stranger for him, but at least there wouldn't be this terrible moment.

I take a long, deep breath, and decide to get it over with.

"Dad, I found that stuff in your closet, and you should know that the money wasn't coming from the government. It was coming from me and Simon. I wanted to make sure you were taken care of, but I didn't want you to feel like a burden, and so I cooked up this stupid, elaborate scheme, and I'm so sorry. I should've just told you from the start."

He stares at me, his mouth hanging open, before turning to the stove and clicking it off. He doesn't turn back right away, and instead stands with his back to us, and his shoulders start to shake. It kills me, watching him tense and shudder, and I think he's crying?—

Until I hear the laughter.

That makes me stand up straight, confused as hell. Why is my dad laughing right now? I just told him that I lied to him and tried to reverse-scam him, and now he's laughing like that's funny? His only daughter betrayed his trust. He should be screaming at me.

Instead, he's cracking up. He turns around and wipes his eyes, he's laughing so hard, and holds his guts with one hand while holding the other in the air.

"You schemed me," he says, barking it out between fits. "You really schemed me! And I found it!"

I stare at Simon, not sure what to do. I might have to get some sleeping pills to make him calm down or something, because it sure looks like he's having a fit. But Dad's howling with laughter, and Simon's grinning too.

"Okay, seriously, Dad, why are you laughing? What the hell is happening right now?"

He groans and leans back against the counter, shaking his head with a massive grin. "Honey, I'm so pissed at you, but I was right. My god, I was right!" He throws his head back and howls, and I toss my hands in the air feeling absolutely disgusted.

"You really have gone insane. Simon, I hope you know a good psychiatrist, because we might need to institutionalize my father."

Simon shrugs casually and stretches his legs. "Actually, it seems like your father is very, very lucid."

"Bingo, totally lucid," Dad says, snapping in the air. "Don't you get it, sweetie? I thought I was losing my damn mind. I was terrified I was getting scammed again but the damn scam didn't make any sense. They were sending me money instead of demanding it. I mean, what sort of backwards sonofabitch scammer sends money? I was going absolutely nuts trying to figure it out, and I was sure someone was trying to screw me, I just didn't know how, until right now. I was right, I was getting scammed. Just by my own damn daughter!"

He cracks up again, bent double, and I check the stove just to make sure it's not leaking gas. Simon's grinning too, a delighted look on his face, and I'm just sick of this whole damn house. "You two are absolutely demented," I say, even though part of me is happy that Dad doesn't seem too pissed. I storm out of the room to give myself a little space while my father has a mental breakdown.

"No, honey, it's okay," Dad says, following me into the living room. "I'm just relieved. I was feeling really low for a while and thought maybe I was just a dumb rube, like anyone could just steal money from me and I'd go along with it, but this time I didn't. I noticed things were strange and I was right. I think I get why you did it the way that you did, and I'm angry with you, but you gave me the chance to prove to myself that I'm no fool. I guess in some ways, I'm happy you did it."

I shake my head, totally mystified, but I can see his reasoning. Last time, he only figured out the scam when it was way too late—and the scammers had all his money.

But this time, he saw through the tricks, didn't trust a damn thing, and unraveled the entire mess.

"Gotta say, Mr. Hayes, that was some top-class detective work. The red string looks a little crazy, but you did a great job." Simon stands in the doorway, arms crossed, looking smug and happy. "Not many people could've figured that mess out."

"You went after the wrong paranoid old man," Dad says, finally calming down. He sighs and rubs his face with both hands. "I'm mad at the two of you, don't get me wrong, but I'm also grateful you did it."

"Let's call it even then," Simon offers.

"We'll see about that. And you should call me Richard, since you're my son-in-law now."

"Alright, Richard, thanks for that."

I open my mouth to tell him that Simon's not my husband anymore, but he gives me a sharp look, and I snap it shut. Instead, Simon and my dad head back into the kitchen, talking about the shape of the scam and going over all the different shell companies. Simon answers all of Dad's questions, and the two of them get along like best buds as they sit at the table and eat grilled cheese.

Which is agonizing. I want Simon to get out of here, and I don't want Dad to like him. If Simon gets along with my father, it'll be harder to get divorced, and I don't need more damn complications.

Too bad they seem like best buds. It's absolutely infuriating.

"For a scammer, you're not so bad," Dad says, slapping Simon on the back. "I can see why my daughter married you. You're a pretty decent guy."

"Thanks, Richard. You're okay yourself. I should hire you to help me put together shell corporations since you're such an expert on it."

Dad howls with delight. "Happy to consult at a hundred bucks an hour."

Simon's eyes sparkle with mischief. "How about two thousand an hour?"

"Hired." Dad shakes Simon's hand. "Let me know when I start." Dad stomps off, mumbling about taking down his crazy wall and needing a nap, leaving me alone with my husband as he scrubs up the remains of lunch.

What the hell just happened?

Dad was supposed to be pissed at us. Instead, he just accepted some definitely fake job at an obscene hourly rate and seems to think that's totally normal. Simon's looking smug as he hangs the dish towel up and puts the frying pan away.

"You wanna talk now?" he asks, eyeing me with an absolutely maddening grin.

"I want you to go home. What were you thinking, getting close to my dad?"

He cocks his head like he doesn't understand what I mean. "He's my father-in-law. I should've done this sooner, don't you think?"

"Simon." I lean toward him, both my hands on the island, glaring hard so he knows I'm not joking. "We aren't staying married."

He sighs like I'm the unreasonable one here and comes toward me. "Yes, we are."

"No, we aren't." I put my hands up before he can get too close, blocking his path. My fingers brush his perfectly formed chest muscles, which is absolutely unfair, because it makes my core clench down. "Please, can you just stop?"

He takes a long, deep breath, and blows it out. "Emily, listen to me. I fucked up when I didn't tell you about my father's offer immediately. I think if I had done that, you might be more willing to hear what I'm saying to you. I am so sorry I put you through this and if I could go back and change one thing in our relationship, it would be that idiotic mistake." He takes a step closer. I take one step back.

"I decided the moment I left my father's office that I'm not going to take his offer. And I was going to tell you about it, but you were cooking and you seemed so excited, and I realized how badly I wanted you. I let myself get distracted, and that's my fault, but it's because I care about you. What I said upstairs is the truth. I want you as my wife. And maybe you don't want that anymore, and you want to stick to the five years we planned on, and that's fine. If you want to leave me in five years, I'll still honor our agreement. But I'm going to bet you won't. I'm going to bet you want to stay with me already. And, baby, what we have, it's worth fighting for."

I blink back tears. This can't be happening. He's not saying all this right now, because it's making me melt, and I don't want to soften toward him. I want to be strong. I want to do the right thing. I want to let him go and get his dream.

"I don't want you to give up the Don position for me," I whisper.

He shakes his head. "I'm not. This isn't over, not yet, and even if that's how things shake out, I won't be upset. I'd rather have you."

He comes to me then and I'm done fighting. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. I lean into him, biting my lip to stop myself from crying, and when his mouth tips down toward mine, I let myself tumble into the kiss. He's warm and tastes good, and he's everything I've missed since coming back to my dad's house, and I don't know how I was living without him, even if it's been a really short time.

"I'm not saying this is forever," I whisper, smiling a little.

He grins back and bites my lower lip. "That's okay. I'll have five years to convince you."

"I'm not sure you can do it. I mean, you scammed my father."

"Good point, but now I'm going to pay him an exorbitant amount of money to sit around and do nothing. I think he'll gladly take that deal."

I get on my toes and kiss him, letting it linger, before taking a deep breath through my nose. "Are you sure about this?"

"Baby, I'm sure. I'm never going to marry that girl. I never seriously considered it. You're what I want." His expression gets more serious. "And I have a plan for that other thing."

I'm not sure what his plan is, and I'm not sure that it matters right now. I'll help him however I can—but first, I need something else. "Take me home, please," I whisper, tugging him down so I can kiss him again. "And you better hurry, because I've been all pent-up since coming here."

He laughs and drags me out to his truck, and he breaks a whole lot of traffic laws getting me back to our house.