Meeting With His Father

Meeting With His Father
CHAPTER 178
FYNN'S POV
"How did you get out of prison?" I sat down on the seat opposite his in the restaurant he'd picked out for us to meet. It was a local one.
He wore a hoodie and glasses despite it being evening. It was probably a disguise so he wouldn't be recognized.
I was surprised when I got a call from my dad, asking to meet. I never thought I would be seeing him anytime soon, if ever.
"You must think so little of me, Fynn. How do you think you and Zyliah left prison when Sayge ordered your arrest?" His eyes narrowed slightly, his brows marred with lines that sat between angry and annoyed.
He was offended—offended I'd thought he wouldn't be able to come out of prison.
"So you would let me die in prison?" he said, sounding like an offended five-year-old.
"You called. What's the emergency?" My tone was direct and sharp, purposefully ignoring his words, as I definitely didn't want to fall for whatever tricks he had planned.
His mouth started to curve in a sneer, but he stopped halfway, tightening it instead in a thin, angry line that I pretended not to see. "Why did you empty my retirement account?"
I shrugged; I knew that I couldn't leave here without playing his games, so I humored him. "It's not yours anymore."
"It was always mine, you foolish boy." He gritted his teeth, his knuckles whitening.
"Not anymore, old man. You lost the right to spend money you didn't work for, especially from a company that wasn't yours to begin with." Spite dripped from my words.
This man before me was nothing short of a devil. I'd always done his bidding when I was younger, even after seeing the way he had treated my mom before she died.
In fact, I could swear that he had caused her death one way or the other, because she never had any peace. While my mom had loved him too much, he, on the other hand, had taken advantage of her emotions and twisted them around her neck, choking her with it until she fell to her knees, becoming subservient to him.
I never saw him lay a hand on her, but what he did was much worse than physical abuse, yet Mom still stayed. At a point in their marriage, it wasn't just love. It was fear. She became too scared of him to do anything contradictory to what he would want.
In that household, I grew up with the same fear, unable to stand up to him. I never thought there would be a day I would finally go head-to-head with the man.
"I need that money back, Fynn, or else..." His eyes held the threats his mouth had failed to confess to.
"Or else what?" I shot back, my tone cold. "You'd send another guy to go burn down the company since the first one didn't do the job? And maybe this time, they'll kill me? Is that it?"
The shock and surprise in his eyes, for a moment, displaced his anger. "So it's true. He wasn't lying." It was more to himself than to me, but I heard it regardless.
"Who wasn't lying?" Suddenly thirsty, I took the bottle of water I'd ordered a few minutes before and twisted the cap open.
The gulp was long and satisfying. Talking to this man always left me exhausted; I just wished he would die in jail and let me be.
"How did you find out about my plan?" He asked in response, his eyes on my face as though searching for... I didn't know whatever the hell he was searching for.
I tried not to let my expression be too readable. I shrugged again with a light smirk. "You think too highly of yourself and too...well, you think nothing of me, though it's not a surprise anymore, to me anyways. But the shock on your face when I revealed what you had planned to do,” I groaned in satisfaction, “that look was satisfying as hell. Now, if you don't have anything to tell me, I'll be taking my leave. Also, tread carefully around me, or else I don't mind reporting you to the police, and let's see if you'll have the money to bail yourself out this time."
I stood to leave.
"He's dating Zyliah."
Three words. But they had more effect on me than any other he'd thrown at me since this rift between us started.
Still, doubt made an entrance. "Who's dating Zyliah? Is this your way of trying to make me lose focus so you can come up with more plans to ruin my mom's legacy, or what? Because, if it is..." My mouth curved in a derisive sneer. "You better cut it out."
"I believe you know who I am talking about. This friend of yours—I'm guessing that's the only way you knew of my plan. Tall, brown hair, and brown eyes. European accent."
It was my turn to be shocked as I stared in disbelief. I lowered myself back into the chair. "What? How do you know this?"
He looked smug. "I'm guessing your college friend doesn't seem to think you're worth being with, Zyliah. How foolish you are." His tone was mocking.
"How do you know?" I edged forward, thinking of a million and one reasons why I shouldn't believe this scum I had for a father.
"Let's say I had the ill luck of meeting him." His expression contorted as though he was reminiscing about a bad memory. "The boy who was supposed to burn down the company, he works for this friend of yours. He came to my motel with him. After I'd finished discussing with Marvin, he left and soon returned with his boss, your friend. The latter warned me against my plan; he said some words, and that's how I knew."
My anger took a second seat as I calmly thought about the matter. His explanation was quite vague on what he'd discussed with Marvin, rousing my suspicion. "What plan?"
"What do you mean, 'what plan'? That's none of your business."
"It is my business. What plan did you have for Marvin to come visit you for? You fucking just bribed your way out of sentencing. Rather than go live a simple life somewhere, you're still thinking of doing more harm? You're disgusting!" I raged while ensuring my tone was still low so others wouldn't overhear.
His eyes flashed, but he didn't react to my words. "I don't care what you think of me, but I just had to let you know the type of friend you're going out with."
The laugh came—low and mirthless. "Suddenly you're the father who gives a shit about his son?"
"I've always given a shit about you; you're just too dumb to know it."
I was no longer laughing now. "Tell me the real reason why you're telling me this."
He leaned back, pulling the hoodie lower over his face. "He's obviously not the kind of friend you should have. Today, it's the girl you love; tomorrow, it might be your company. His boy, Marvin, tells him everything. So he could most certainly use Marvin to get that company from you. So why don't you and I team up to go against him?"
I studied his expression, trying to process everything he had just told me. He had perfectly described Kevin, which meant he had definitely met him. As for trying to make me believe Kevin would take the woman he was supposed to help me get back, I had doubts.
Kevin didn't seem like that kind of a guy. Back in college, I'd always respected him for the personality he had.
For Martino Delson wanting to 'team up,' it definitely wasn't for my own good. He was doing this more for himself than for me—he was low on every angle, especially financially. He wanted a way to get back up.
Still, I couldn't just write everything he'd told me off. I just needed to be smart when dealing with someone like my father.
"I have no idea what you're hoping to gain by accusing my friend, but I'll try not to play into your hands. You're desperate, and you need help. A financial ladder to get back up—if not all the way up, at least somewhere high enough that you could use it to get the rest of the way up."
There was no reaction from him. He just listened.
"I cannot believe your story until I find out myself."
He rose from his seat. "And when you discover that I'm not lying, here, this is my new number. Call me." He dropped a small piece of paper on the table, sliding it across before he walked away, slightly bowed to avoid being recognized.
I took the paper, stared at the digits, then tucked it into the pocket of my jacket.
I paid for both our drinks and left the place. The sun had finally gone beyond the horizon, with dusk growing into night.
On my way home, I dialed Kevin's number. I needed to hear the truth from him.