Filed to story: Young Girls Forbidden Love Series: My Best Friend’s Daddy
I should have known I would hear from Blaine eventually. I first found out about his existence after my parents’ death when I was seventeen. My father’s will had very bluntly stated that his bastard was to receive nothing.
I had no idea that I had a half-brother out there in the world until after my dad was gone and couldn’t explain the situation for himself. I was left spending the rest of my early adult life piecing the clues together.
My parents’ constant fighting and lack of affection for each other made complete sense as soon as I knew that my father’s infidelity was likely the cause. I ripped apart my father’s office, trying to find any clues about his hidden life.
The only thing I found was a check register, showing he had paid a woman named Ann Blake one hundred thousand dollars. I had no illusions about my father, I knew exactly what he’d done.
My father kept detailed records of every dime he ever spent; the lack of information on the check register told me everything I needed. The hundred thousand dollars was hush money, and the woman, Anne Blake, had to be my father’s mistress.
I searched for years to find Anne Blake, but her name was so common, it was impossible to narrow down my search enough to find the right woman. I had no other information to go off of, and I was left with a million unanswered questions.
It wasn’t until I found out that I was Lauren’s father that I had a hope of finding my brother. Lauren had taken a DNA test that linked her to other Astors who had their DNA in the same database.
I took the same DNA test and waited for a notification that I had a sibling match in the database. Last year, that notification finally came, but after some digging into my brother Blaine Blake’s history, I wished I’d never known about him. More importantly, I wished he didn’t know either.
Blaine’s criminal record was far from clean, with multiple charges of petty theft and blackmail. It wasn’t long after that, that the threats started coming in. At first, it was easy to shake the threats off, and I simply ignored all of them.
In the last month, Blaine must have gotten desperate because his attempts at blackmail were getting increasingly threatening.
So far, I had even avoided telling my security team about the threats, but now he was threatening my family. I knew Bruce would get to the bottom of the problem, but he would likely find out about all of my family’s dirty laundry in the process.
I ran my hands up my face and through my hair. Leaning back, I stared at the ceiling. I knew I would never be able to sleep after the events of the last few hours, so I turned back around to my desk and opened my laptop.
I figured I might as well get some work done if I was going to be up anyway.
A notification greeted me as the screen flashed to life. Shelby had accepted my friend request. At that, I couldn’t help but smile, just a little.
There was something about that woman that made it impossible for me to get her out of my head. I was immediately distracted by the memory of her riding on the back of the jet ski to find the dolphins.
Thinking of that day, I could almost feel her slender body pressed against my back in her bikini that showed off her gorgeous figure and how her face lit up when the dolphins swam into the cove.
That night when she walked out of the salon in the dress that I mentioned would look good on her; she nearly knocked me senseless. She felt beautiful; I could see it on her face. It made her more beautiful than I thought possible.
I realized sitting there alone in my office; I would give anything to make her feel that way all the time. There was no point in denying it any further, I was attracted to my daughter’s friend.
If she were anyone other than Lauren’s friend, I would pursue her without a second thought. But, the last thing I needed was to complicate my relationship with my daughter even more.
It didn’t help that my daughter was so clueless as to be cruel to the one person she invited that could actually help her grow into a decent person.
The screen of my phone alerted me to another incoming text message.
Marmie: I need a plane ticket to the Bahamas. It was bad enough that I had to hear about my daughter’s engagement over the phone. I refused to miss her engagement party too. So we will also need to push the party back so I can be there.
A few seconds later, another message followed the first.
Marmie: Also, we need to start discussing the wedding plans. Lauren’s wedding needs to be absolutely perfect. We can talk about the details later. Send the flight information as soon as possible.
I opened the drawer of my desk and slid my phone inside. I was not in the mood to deal with Marmie and her demands. I knew deep down that Lauren was becoming more and more like her mother each and every day.
A part of me was excited about Lauren’s wedding for the simple fact that she would be another man’s problem. I immediately felt bad for thinking that of my own daughter, but it seemed she only cared about my money.
Thinking about Lauren’s upcoming wedding brought a new wave of memories rushing in. Embarrassment flooded my veins as I thought about the conversation I had with my daughter over dinner.
She’d said that Shelby didn’t fit the aesthetic of her wedding, so she wouldn’t ask her to be a bridesmaid. I couldn’t understand that.
Well, if Lauren wouldn’t have Shelby at the wedding as a bridesmaid, maybe I would bring her as my date.
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*Shelby*
The last thing I wanted to do was run into Todd, especially after his actions the night before; I thought it would be wise to avoid him completely. Book in hand, I headed to the secret deck off of the dining room balcony, where I had shared a few quiet moments with Michael.
I figured it would be the best place for me to hide out and also possibly run into Michael again. He had left in such a rush the night before; I was curious to find out what’d happened.
I checked down the hallway before speed walking to the dining room. As soon as my hand hit the doorknob, Lauren’s voice sounded behind me.
“Shelby, I have been looking for you everywhere!”
I turned around quickly, and I was relieved to see that Lauren was alone. She was wearing a one-piece swimming suit in navy blue with the bust line cutting down to her belly button. She had a white sun hat placed on her waves of perfect curls and a pair of Chanel sunglasses to complete her beachwear.
“Lauren,” I said with a smile.
“Come with me down to the beach. I am so bored, and I can’t stand being on this boat for another second,” she said with an overly dramatic sigh
“I thought we were heading to your dad’s place and wouldn’t get there until tonight.” I turned and looked out the dining room windows. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed earlier that we weren’t moving.
“Daddy said we had to stop to refuel. He is also giving some of the crew their half-day break so they can go on land and contact family or something stupid like that,” Lauren said with a roll of her eyes.
“Oh,” I said, slightly irritated at Lauren’s insensitivity. “Well, a half-day isn’t that bad.”
“It is when you have an engagement party to plan. Plus, daddy told me that my mom is flying out for the party. She is going to be waiting at the house while we sit here all day.”
The thought of meeting Marmie made me slightly nervous. Maybe because I was worried she would be able to tell I had feelings for Michael. I couldn’t let Lauren catch me in a daydream about her dad, so I shifted the conversation as quickly as possible.
“Where is everyone else?”
“Everyone has a hangover. Todd started a drinking game last night, and everyone had a little too much.”
Well, that made a lot of the previous night make more sense. Todd was never one to handle his alcohol very well, and he was even worse at games.
I was curious as to just how many drinks made Todd forget himself the way he did last night. He was not waiting long into the engagement to show his true colors.
“How are you not hung over?” I asked, looking her up and down. She didn’t look like she had been drinking the night before at all. As always, she looked absolutely flawless.
“The bartenders know to give me water instead of an actual shot. I hate the way I get bags under my eyes when I drink too much. It is much better to stay hydrated than look hungover.”
“Right. Well, I was just going to go find somewhere quiet to read, but reading on the beach sounds a lot more fun.”
“Great! I can wait for you to go get ready,” Lauren said, looking at my outfit. I had pulled my hair up into a ponytail and opted for a blue flowy tank top and jean shorts.
“I am ready, Lauren.”
“Oh, you look…cute. Anyway, let’s go!”
I followed Lauren out on the dock and quickly realized it would not be a simple morning on the beach.
A few members of staff had set up a large tan beach canopy surrounded by white gauzy curtains. In the center was a pair of chaise lounge chairs made of rattan and topped with matching white cushions. It looked like a photoshoot.
“Do you think you could take a few pictures of me? I haven’t posted anything in a few days, and my followers are getting antsy.”
The true purpose of Lauren inviting me to spend time with her this morning becomes very obvious. She needed a photographer, not a friend.