Ricochet (76 page)

knowing grin. "Haven't you, Matty boy?"

Matt felt sick to his stomach. "Rick…" he

began, but Rick raised his hand, silencing him.

"Don't, Matty. He's twisting your head now

too. It's what he does. He can't help himself."

"I did lie to you, Rick. About the cemetery,"

Matt told him softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Did he give you the box?" Rick asked tightly,

not looking at him, as if afraid of the answer. "Did

he give you the box to leave for me out on the

porch? Did you lie to me about not knowing where

that came from?"

"What? No!" Matt shook his head vehemently.

He couldn't have been Rick's anchor that night, as

his dom was falling apart in his arms, if he'd been

hiding that kind of secret. Rick relaxed a notch,

and he nodded, accepting that. "He showed up for

the first time the next day and said he'd left it as a

peace offering. He told me he was dying, told me

about Sarah…"

"She was a nice touch." Rick made an ironic

bow in his father's direction.

Sean inclined his head. "I thought so."

"Where did you get the photo?" Rick glanced

at it.

"Photoshop - that's a fantastic invention, son.

Makes my work a hell of a lot easier!" Sean

laughed. "I had that kid hooked." He nodded at

Matty.

"No, you damn well didn't," Matt snapped.

"While I was getting you that glass of water, I

called Rick on his cell and left him a message;

that's why he's here."

"Actually it isn't," Rick said, looking

surprised. "I didn't get your message, Matt."

"Then why did you come back early from

your run?"

"I don't know. I just had a feeling something

bad was going on here, but it seems like you had

my dad figured out all on your own. Looks like you

wouldn't have succeeded with Matt after all,

Sean."

"Damn it, and I thought I was doing well with

the kid. Like I said - skittish." Sean gave a

regretful shake of his head. "Ah well, you win

some, you lose some."

Rick sat down suddenly, looking completely

deflated. "Why now, Sean?" he asked brokenly.

"Why did you wait all this time before giving me

that box? Why didn't you give it to me when I was

a kid, when it would have really helped? I would

have loved to open those cards from Mom on my

birthday."

"No, you wouldn't," Sean snapped, and for the

first time, Matt got a real sense of the man beneath

the manipulator. "You were crazy about your mom.

It took months for you to sleep through the night

without crying for her after she left. I didn't want

you to start that up again. Believe it or not…" Sean

paused. "Well, I did feel for you, Rick. Losing

your mom, being dumped on your dad like that. I

didn't want you any more than you wanted me, and

boy did you make it clear you didn't want me. You

were a hard kid to love."

"You didn't even try."

"Maybe I didn't know how." Sean shrugged.

"But I did my best by you, whatever you think of

me. I didn't let you starve. I gave you a roof over

your head."

"Yeah." Rick gave a little grunt. "Yeah, I

guess that probably is your best too." He gazed at

his father thoughtfully. "You know, I think this is

the first honest conversation we've ever had."

"If you'd been like me in anything other than

looks, then maybe we could have had some fun

together, but you were always such a miserable

little shit," Sean said. "We could have done some

great cons together, Ricky boy. You're a good

actor - always were, even back when you were

just a little kid, and I'd get ya to cry to soften some

sub's heart."

"Yeah, well, I never wanted to join the family

business, Sean. It sucks."

"Too much of your mom in you; those big

green eyes and that big old heart of hers," Sean

said with a sigh. "I was fond of her, you know, in

my own way."

"Why did she just leave me and go?" Rick

asked, his voice breaking. "Why didn't she tell

me… explain to me…?"

"You were five years old, for fuck's sake! We

argued about it, but I said if she wanted me to raise

you then a clean break was better. Besides, she

didn't want you to watch her dribbling, and shitting

herself, and messing up her words, and not being

able to walk. That's what a brain tumor does to

you, Rick. It's not a pretty way to die."

"Did you even go to her funeral?" Rick asked.

Sean shrugged. "Did you?" Rick roared, slamming

his fist down on the table.

"What was the damn point?" Sean flared back

at him. "That's all just sadness, Rick. It's all grief

and pain and shit like that. If you don't get close to

anyone, you can't get hurt. Better to keep moving

on and avoid that kind of crap."

"Yeah, oh yeah, and if there was one lesson I

learned from you when I was growing up, it was

that." Rick slumped back in his chair.

"You never learned a damn thing from me!

You always were a judgmental little shit, from the

minute your mom dumped you on me. We could

have been friends, Rick, if you'd been more like

me and less like her."

"I was a kid. I didn't want a friend - I wanted

a dad."

"Well, I didn't want a kid! You came as one

hell of a shock to me, Rick. You might not think

much of me, but I didn't abandon you, or leave you

on the steps of some orphanage somewhere. I took

you in and raised you."

"Yes, you did." Rick nodded slowly. "And

that's all you were capable of. I get that now, I

actually really do." He got up. "You know, I'm

glad we finally had this conversation, Sean, but it's

time for you to leave now. You don't have anything

to hold over me, blackmail me with, or cheat me

out of anymore, and I have someone to protect

now." Rick glanced at Matt. "You don't want to

push me anymore, Sean; I'm too dangerous now."

The two men looked at each other for a long

time. Sean's dark eyes were searching, and his

gaze raked over Rick as if he was looking for

some weak point, something to exploit, or one last

thing to taunt him with. Rick didn't say a word. He

just stood there, finally impervious to his father's

wiles.

Sean gave a little grunt and then nodded his

head in grudging acknowledgement of that fact and

got to his feet. Matt had the sense that somehow,

something had been resolved between them. It

wasn't neat, or tidy, or even very satisfactory, but

it was a resolution.

"I don't care what you think about me, or

what's gone down between us in the past, but

where my sub is concerned, I mean business," Rick

said firmly. "Don't come near him again, Sean.

Don't even think about it."

"No point." Sean shrugged. "Kid can't be

conned by me now." He waved in Matt's direction.

"So long, Matt. Take good care of my boy now,

won't you?"

Matt lifted his chin and gave Sean a defiant

stare. "Fuck you."

Sean roared with laughter. "You know, I

kinda like you. My boy did better than I thought in

collaring you."

"Go into the living room and wait for me

there, Matt," Rick ordered, grabbing hold of his

father's arm. "I'm just gonna take out the garbage."

Rick escorted his father along the hallway,

out of the front door, and onto the drive.

"Looks like this is goodbye, Ricky boy." His

father stuck out his hand.

"Goodbye, Dad." Rick ignored the proffered

hand. Instead, he pulled his father in close and

gave him a brief, tight hug. "We won't be seeing

each other again."

His father gave him a little squeeze in return.

"I know that, son. We're done. There's nothing here

for me anymore."

Rick drew back, and then, without warning,

he delivered a hard right hook to his father's jaw.

Sean reeled backwards, lost his footing, and ended

up on his ass on the ground.

Rick crouched down beside him. "That was

for letting her die alone," he said quietly.

Then he got up and walked back into the

house, slamming the door shut behind him.

He felt curiously liberated, as if a great

weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he

strode happily into the living room… and then

stopped dead in his tracks. Matt was kneeling on

the floor in the middle of the room, his head

pressed into the carpet.

"Uh… Matt?" Rick said softly, bending over

his kneeling sub. "What's going on?"

"I'm ready," Matt said shakily.

"Ready for what?" Rick asked, mystified. He

put a gentle hand on his sub's head and raised it,

cupping Matt's chin to make him look at him.

"You ordered me in here… so I thought it was

because you were going to punish me," Matt said,

looking just as confused as Rick was feeling right

now.

"Uh - no. I told you to come in here because I

didn't want you to see me punching my father's

lights out through the dining room window." Rick

gave a rueful little wince.

Matt pulled his chin out of Rick's hand, his

blue eyes flashing. "You should punish me," he

said firmly.

Rick sat back on his heels, perplexed.

"Why?"

"Because I lied to you."

Rick sighed. "Matty, I'm just glad you're safe,

and he didn't hurt you."

"But I lied to you," Matt repeated stubbornly.

"You were tricked by one of the best con

artists in the country; that's not your fault!"

"Yes, it is. You warned me, Rick! You even

made me promise I wouldn't talk to your father or

let him get into my head."

Rick frowned. "But that was ages ago -

before we even got together."

"It was still a promise."

Rick put his hands on his sub's shoulders.

"Look, Matt - do you know how many times my

father has been caught doing what he does? Do you

know how many times he's been in court, or gone

to jail for it?"

Matt shook his head.

"Never," Rick said firmly. "He's been

arrested a couple of times, but he's always talked

his way out of it. Nobody has ever been able to

make any charges stick and usually his victims are

so ashamed that they don't even bring a complaint.

Some of them still go on believing in him long

after he's left them with nothing and moved on!

They won't hear a word against him. He's good,

Matt. Not just good - he's the best, and I know that

better than anyone. So why should I punish you for

falling for his tricks?"

"Because none of those other people knew

what he was like, and I did! Because you told me,

over and over again, and because… because, to be

honest, deep down, I didn't believe you." Matt's

jaw jutted out obstinately. "There - that's the damn

truth, Rick. I didn't really believe that any parent

could be that bad. Sure, I knew he hadn't been a

good dad to you, but I guess I always thought there

were two sides to every story, and maybe he

wasn't as bad as you made out."

"Wow. Okay." Rick got up and walked over

the sofa, feeling winded. "Right." He sat down and

gazed at his sub, who gazed back at him fiercely

from his kneeling position on the floor. "Well, that

hurts, but it's still not a reason to punish you,

Matt."

"Maybe not, but the fact I lied to you is, Rick.

I lied. I might have had what I thought were good

reasons, but at the bottom of it all was a kind of

arrogance," Matt told him, his blue eyes blazing.

"Arrogance?" Rick repeated blankly. "I'm not

sure I -"

"I wanted to be the one to bring you and your

father together! I thought of myself as some kind of

peacemaker between you."

"You wanted us to play happy families - like

you never had, and I never had growing up. You

wanted the big, fairy tale, happy ending." Rick

sighed. "I can understand that. But real life isn't

like that, Matt. In real life, people are like my

father and like Sebastian Rule - they don't change,

or mellow, or become the people we want them to