“This is the best field trip ever. Mom, can I be homeschooled?” Anastasia asks.
“It was a mistake, Ariel, I swear!” Sebastian pleads, removing his hands from his crotch to hold them against his nose again, since it won’t stop bleeding. “I didn’t realize I hadn’t filed the paperwork correctly until I lost my job on the cruise ship and one of my friends who is a lawyer suggested I try and go for alimony just to tide me over for a few months until I could get another job. I had this great business opportunity that came my way that I couldn’t pass up, and I knew you were doing well and . . . my friend fudged the alimony paperwork when he found out the divorce never went through. And then the business opportunity fell through and . . . I needed money to live! What was I supposed to do?!”
I immediately pull my foot back and slam it into his crotch.
Everyone behind me lets out a collective “Ouch.”
Sebastian howls in pain, rolling to his side and curling up in the fetal position with his hands back between his legs.
“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GET A FUCKING JOB LIKE AN ADULT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” I shout. “I LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF YOU! EVERYTHING!”
Walking around next to him, I squat down and get close to him.
“You spent years tearing me down and making me feel like I was nothing. I finally got free of you, and I finally found my voice and found something I loved, and you did it again. You tore me down and left me with nothing. Well, guess what, chéri? Now it’s your turn. I have my own lawyer friend. You will pay me back every single penny you took from me, including interest, or your ass is going to rot in fucking jail, you spineless piece of shit. A weak, skinny, Frenchman in prison? I bet the boys would enjoy shower time with you,” I tell him with a smirk.
Vanessa and I aren’t exactly friends yet, but Sebastian doesn’t need to know that.
He stares at me with wide eyes, quickly nodding his head.
“I promise. I’ll pay you back everything. I’ll write you a check and bring it over tomorrow. I’m seeing someone now. We’re actually getting married soon and that’s why I’ve been trying to get in touch with you about this. She’s quite wealthy, and she wants this over with as quickly as possible, so it will be no trouble at all,” Sebastian explains.
“Jesus, you’re disgusting. Does your fiancée know what a piece of shit you are?”
“I can send her my Snapchat videos, no worries,” Anastasia announces.
Standing back up, I shake my head at the pathetic sight Sebastian makes, curled up on the floor with total and complete fear in his eyes and blood all over his face. Turning away from him, I start walking away when my dad grabs my arm and stops me.
“That’s it? You’re just going to leave him like that?”
“I think my work here is done.”
My dad laughs softly, moving around me to crouch over Sebastian. He curls his lip, narrows his eyes, and growls before standing back up. All of a sudden, my dad’s face lights up with a huge smile as he points down between Sebastian’s legs, where we all see a wet spot forming.
“Yeah, I still got it,” my dad says, puffing out his chest as he walks back over to me and wraps his arms around my shoulder. “Let’s go home, Slugger.”
We all walk out of Sebastian’s hotel room, leaving him lying in the middle of the floor with blood on his face and piss in his pants.
Even though violence is never the answer, I have to admit it feels fucking great to beat the hell out of someone who spent years making your life a living hell.
Chapter 28: Murder House
Much to my father’s disappointment, we said good-bye to him in the lobby of the Hilton and sent him back to work. I’m pretty sure he was higher on adrenaline than I was, and he wouldn’t shut up about all of us going out to celebrate, suggesting we take in an afternoon show at Charming’s.
First of all, there is no way in hell I want to be anywhere near my father at a strip club. Second, there is no way in hell I want to be anywhere near Charming’s in the off chance that Eric might be there. And third, a strip club in the middle of the day? That’s something you can never unsee. Clearly PJ doesn’t employ anything less than the best as far as his dancers go, but the thought of what kind of clientele would be at a strip club at noon in the middle of the week makes me want to stock up on bleach to pour into my eyes.