“Get the hell off of me!” he shouted. “You asshole! You did this!” The agent reading him his rights ignored him andcontinued. “Xylina! Xylina, you’re just going to let this happen! Look at what your husband did to me. I’m your father!”
Xylina sat still as a statue, watching the scene in front of her. I knew she would have more questions, which I would answer later, but for now I was satisfied watching her watch karma slap her dad in the face.
Phillip continued spouting threats and fighting against the agents as they detained him and dragged him out the room.
The lead agent came over to me. “Mr. Bedford. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
We shook hands and spoke a little more before he turned and left.
“I should take my leave too,” David said, standing. “I’m glad we were able to work things out. Xylina, I’m sorry you were forced to have that piece of shit as a father.”
Soon, both he and his lawyer left. Once it was just us two and Gloria, she went over what would happen next and when the forms would be available for Xylina to access before departing as well.
Xylina was still stuck, silently staring at the forms in front of her. I was sure a million things were running through her head.
“It’s not all the money you lost, but it’s a nice cushion for you. Unfortunately, once all your dad’s dealings came to light, the value of the company plummeted tremendously. Still, I think one point two million for a failing business is a nice deal.”
Xylina kept silently staring at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. I didn’t rush her to respond though. A lot had just happened, so if she needed time to process it all, then so be it.
Xylina didn’t say much after her dad’s arrest and the news about her money. She didn’t seem upset about me taking her dad down nor did she seem happy. Normally she was easy to read, but this time I couldn’t get a read on her. I had a few more things to tie up at the office before I was able to leave, so Xylina ended up leaving before me. Instead of going straight home, I took my bike out to the mountains to decompress after today’s events. Taking down Phillip wasn’t easy. In the beginning it seemed like I kept hitting dead ends. It wasn’t until I hacked his private server and personal accounts that I started noticing things weren’t adding up.
Releasing a heavy sigh, I placed my hands on the shower wall, dropped my head, and enjoyed the hot water beating down on me. Trying to take down your crooked father-in-law and launch a million dollar expansion to your company was a lot of work. It felt good now that everything had worked out. I could feel my tension releasing and my muscles loosening as the hot water poured down on me.
It was faint, but the sound of my shower door grabbed my attention. I didn’t remove my head from under the water. Soon, a soft body was pressed against mine, arms wrapped around me, and small hands stroked my abdomen.
Xylina pressed her forehead against my back and soon her warm breaths brushed across my skin.
Silently, I waited for her to speak. This was the first time we had been together since I came home. I was giving her space, but planned on checking on her after getting out of the shower.
Feeling the vibration on my back but unable to hear the words caused me to lift my head from under the water and glance over my shoulder.
“What was that?”
When she looked up at me, I was surprised to see her eyes red and swollen. “I said thank you for today.” Her voice came out raspy and rough. She cleared her throat and brushed her thumb across my skin. “I don’t know how you did what you did and I don’t care to know truthfully, but knowing that you were looking out for me like you did, it—” Before she could finish, she grew choked up, cutting her sentence short.
Spinning so I was now facing her, I grabbed her face in my hands and used my thumbs to release the few tears that fell from her eyes.
“Damn this baby. Making me a crybaby.” She attempted to laugh it off but more tears fell, this time faster.
Lifting her head, I bent my neck and connected my lips with hers. For a second I held the kiss while she clung to my sides before moving to the corner of her mouth to her cheek, her nose, then her eyes before returning to her mouth. The saltiness of her tears coated my tongue. My tongue raged with passion, heat, and desperation. Moving one hand from her face to her waist, I pulled her body into mine.
Pulling away, I studied her face. “Is what happened today okay?”
It couldn’t be undone and I didn’t feel bad about what I did, but I didn’t want to bring anymore unwanted sadness to her either.
After a couple seconds, a small shaky smile split her face and her head slowly moved up and down.
“I always knew my dad was a shitty person but I didn’t care because I had everything I wanted at my fingertips. Even knowing he was facing charges didn’t really register to me. Itwasn’t until he was dragged out in cuffs that it became real. When I got home, I went down the rabbit hole and learned about all of his shady dealings, how many lives he’d ruined, how much money he was estimated to have stolen. Learning all that and knowing I benefited from it made me feel shitty about having money for the first time in my life. He deserves to be in prison, but do you think I deserve that money?”
Her words surprised me.
Xylina snickered. “I never thought I’d regret getting money. It’s silly, really, the tears. It’s not like this is the first time I was given money or anything, so I don’t know why I’m so emotional over it. Fuck these damn hormones.” She tried to laugh through the tears again, but her crying grew harder.
Wrapping my arms around her, I hugged her tightly and this time she didn’t hold back. Her body shook as she cried into my chest.
“You don’t have to explain anything. You were also a victim of your dad’s greed, soyoudodeserve that money. If I had been able to get you more at your dad’s expense, I would have.” I pressed a kiss into her now wet hair and stayed in place. I rubbed my hand up and down her back soothingly.
Water cascaded over our naked bodies, but neither of us cared. In some ways, it was as if it cleansed things for us and the baggage we both carried because of her dad was washed down the drain.
