Played: Manhattan Ruthless - 55
Chapter Fifty-Four M ason’s cell phone vibrates, and he grabs it from the nightstand. “It’s from Nathan. He says to turn on the news.” I grab the remote, anxiety bubbling in my stomach at whatever it is we’re about to see. Charlie kept me updated until they executed the warrant, and I figure he’s be...
Chapter
Fifty-Four
M ason’s cell phone vibrates, and he grabs it from the nightstand. “It’s from Nathan. He says to turn on the news.”
I grab the remote, anxiety bubbling in my stomach at whatever it is we’re about to see. Charlie kept me updated until they executed the warrant, and I figure he’s been busy since.
I flick to CNN, and the red banner across the bottom of the screen reads
BREAKING NEWS: prominent new york banker and his wife arrested .
A reporter stands outside my parent’s house, a large red umbrella protecting her from the rain. I snort at the irony that my mother has been reduced to his wife and not a person in her own right. It’s misogynistic, and ordinarily I would hate it, but it’s oddly satisfying.
The reporter’s update is mostly speculation. She talks about human remains as if there might be more than one victim. After finding out about Cassidy, nothing would surprise me.
Mason links his fingers through mine. “You okay?”
I shake my head. Despite everything, it’s not easy seeing my parents’ heinous crimes splashed all over the five o’clock news. I grew up knowing they weren’t good people, but I never would have believed them capable of murder.
“We can handle this,” he says. “We can come up with a media strategy to make sure that you’re not hounded, and I can help you write a statement and—”
“Baby,” I cut in. “I love that you’ve gone straight to damage control, but this isn’t work. You can switch off. There’s gonna be questions, and I’ll handle them, okay? I’m a big boy, and this isn’t your mess to fix.”
“I just want to protect you,” he says.
“I know, and I love you for it. But they’re the only people who’ve done anything wrong. We don’t need statements or damage assessments or mitigation. Only the truth.” I kiss his knuckles.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder, and we lie back and watch the rest of the news report. The photos they use of my parents are less than flattering, and I imagine my mother’s horror at learning a picture of her with gray roots that makes her appear to have a double chin is being blasted all over the national news. It doesn’t look like her at all. They must have worked hard to dig up that masterpiece.
As the report begins to repeat all the same information they’ve already revealed, my mind wanders and my emotions go to war, fighting for a turn at the wheel. But underneath all the negative ones, there’s a whole lot of something I realize I haven’t felt for a long time, and that’s hope. It feels strangely karmic to watch a report on my parents being arrested while I’m in the arms of the man they convinced me it was wrong to love. The man who is one hundred times more decent, kind, loyal, and honorable than my parents ever were. It feels like a giant fuck you to the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally and instead made me spend over thirty years hating myself.
That chapter is well and truly over.