“I’ve still got my money?” Arthur turned and looked at the lawyer.
“Yes, sir. However, if you do not complete rehab or if you begin drinking again, you lose any rights to future moneys earned by your family. You will only receive a percentage of what is currently held in the family accounts.” He flipped through papers in his folder and laid it on the table.
I glanced down briefly at the paper and then back at my father. I wasn’t worried about how much money had been left to me. My largest concern at this moment was my father.
“What if she doesn’t want to be Duchess of Thysmer?” My father’s lip curled. “What if something happens to her? What then?”
The blood in my veins froze as I stared at the man in front of me. I’d always accepted that my father hated me. But did he hate me enough to try and kill me? For a title he seemed to loathe?
“Something happens to her?” Max’s deep voice cut through the room. “What do you mean?”
“What are you worried about?” Dad sneered at Max.
“You wouldn’t be the first person to try to gain a title by removing someone else from the picture.”
“Grow up, boy. If I was going to kill my daughter I sure as hell wouldn’t suggest it.” My father shook his head and walked back over to the cabinet to replenish his scotch. “I told you she’s using you. Now she has you all riled up because she’s been shacked up with you for a few days.”
“Do not speak about Meredith in such a disrespectful manner.” The words snapped out of Max.
“Stop it.” I growled the words at my father. “I am not using Max.”
“Then why is he here following you around like a puppy?” He snorted. “That’s what your mother did. Got me hooked with a few tumbles in the sheets. Then dumped you on me and ran off.”
“Father,” I hissed through gritted teeth. I wish I wasn’t surprised that he was airing our dirty laundry.
“Embarrassed?” He laughed and swallowed what he had poured in one gulp. “You’re just like your mother.”
“Let’s all take a seat,” Rachel spoke up. “Wills are never a pleasant thing to deal with, and this one is a bit tougher than usual.”
“I want you all out of my house.” My father slammed his glass down on the table. “Now.”
“Technically, the house belongs to both of you. Unless you refuse rehab. Then it goes directly to Meredith and her son.” The lawyer took on a stern tone. “I’m here by the crown’s orders and will not leave until I have finished my job. Until you are sober and a functioning part of society, you will not be taking over any control of the current estate.”
“Fine. I’ll go.” Standing up straighter, with only the slightest hint of a bobble, he straightened his jacket. “I’ll go.”
“We need to finish the will. There are things to discuss about personal artifacts, your father’s dwelling in Germany, the family heirlooms.” The lawyer stood up.
“I’m not entitled to any of it, remember? Unless I let you people make me into someone I’m not.” My father glared at me. “Let the bitch have it. I know how to survive without a title. I won’t live under the thumb of an idiotic queen and the mentally unstable ramblings of my old man.”
I reached out and grabbed Max’s arm when he took a step forward. His entire body was tense, even his jaw was clenched in anger.
“You would call your daughter a bitch and the queen—who granted your family lands back and bestowed God knows how much money on your family—an idiot.” Max’s arm shook under my touch. “You don’t deserve any of it. Not the house, the title, or the money. But most of all, you don’t deserve your daughter.”
“Doesn’t matter, does it?” My father sneered as he walked across the room. “It’s all going to my little bitch.”
I wasn’t fast enough to stop him, even if I’d been strong enough. Every time my father had called me a bitch had been a stab in the gut, slowing my reflexes. Max was across the room in a heartbeat, grabbing my father’s lapels with his fists and slamming him against the wall.
“Apologize,” Max roared.
When my father started to laugh, Max pulled him away from the wall, only to slam him back against it.
“That is an order.” He leaned close to my father and lowered his voice. “You will apologize to Meredith now.”
My father stopped laughing and met my eyes over Max’s shoulder. I put a hand to my mouth, my composure completely wrecked. Never had I been more mortified or hurt by the way my father behaved. And yet, on the other side of that coin was Max demanding I be treated with respect. It was like looking at the yin and yang of manhood. They were each other’s opposites in every way.