I reach up, touch my lip, and I'm bleeding. He's hit pretty fucking hard for a guy who spends all day at meetings. I wipe the blood away and grin, making damned sure he sees what he's done.
Dad jerks his finger out and stabs me in the chest. “You want it this way, buddy, then you got it. You'll never call her Mom. You'll never respect her. Fine. But you will not insult my wife to my face. Understand?”
I'm almost sorry if he weren't such a giant cock. Still, I manage to nod, and he jerks away.
I listen to his footsteps fading behind me and don't turn around 'til they stop. I'm wondering why I haven't heard the door close, and it's because he's still standing there, looking at me like I just stomped mud across his precious Turkish rugs flown in from Istanbul.
“I've been wrong about you. Everything I've given you...it's only held you back. It's poisoned you, Son.” His voice is low, cold, robotic. “You've got until the end of summer to pack up your things and leave the state. Make some tough decisions, and do it without me and my dirty money, Ty. I'm selling your club. I'm setting you free. And if I find out you've done anything to upset Mandy, Claire, or – God help you – my company, I will have you prosecuted and locked away. I don't care if you're my own flesh and blood. You're a sick animal, son, and there's nothing more I can do for you.”
I'm fucking stunned. Gutted. I can't believe it's taken me so long to see the fighter instinct is genetic.
Except, unlike the combo punches and gut busters I use to take down my opponents, my old man rips hearts out and pops them in his withered hands.
It's all over quickly, so freakishly fast I can't decide whether to rush him and choke him 'til he passes out, or else fall to the ground and puke my guts out.
He's gone before I can do jack shit. The door pops open and slams shut behind him, rattling the heavy glass.
I've got half a mind to pick up the deck furniture and start throwing it through every hand-crafted window pane lining the back of the house. But fucking up my old man's castle won't really do shit. It'll satisfy my monkey brain and nothing else.
It won't take back what just happened, it won't fix anything, and it sure as shit won't extinguish the firestorm he just hurled on my head.#p#分页标题#e#
I'm fucked.
Shit, I'm past wanting the asshole to change his mind. He whipped his dick out and swung it, forever reminding me that I'm a goddamned worm without him and these riches I'm supposed to worship.
Forget it. Damn it. Fuck it.
There's nothing left to do except what I came out here for in the first place. I tear my shirt off and drop my pants. Then I run to the pool and dive in buck naked.
I swim fast, furious, and hard as I can, splashing water all over the place. When my limbs are full of fire and my lungs don't wanna pump anymore, my mind's clear enough to start thinking about all the decisions I should've made years ago.
Nothing but the swim keeps me from burning myself alive.
I've got a hundred questions and no good answers. First thing on the list – where the fuck can I go that'll still have waters as clear and crisp as this to clear my head in?
VII: Everything to Lose (Claire)
I wake up more rested than I've felt for years. Guess there's something about having the weight of this insane attraction to my step-brother lifted that makes all kinds of things easier.
And no, after last night, he's not just my cocky, foul mouthed step-brother. He's become my lover.
He's stopped just short of claiming me the deepest way a man can. More importantly, he stopped when he could've taken me, leashed his desire because he cares.
Nobody else ever helped me when I'm sick or drunk except a few close friends like Dana.
Sure, Mom used to do it, but it was always somebody else's job like the housekeeper she hired during her long sessions in DC.
I wake up feeling like a billion dollars for the first time since I moved into this mansion. All the pieces are in place, and that makes me smile. It doesn't fade when I'm in the shower and freshening up. It's so nice to throw on a t-shirt and shorts after my first week wearing all business attire.
Breakfast is next on my list, but first I want some fresh air to help feed the cozy afterglow heating up my brain. I head down the hall to the big glass panels leading outside, hoping the morning chill has faded by the pool.
It's a lovely place to sit and I really haven't enjoyed it enough this summer. Lucky for me, there's still time to enjoy lots of things before the Washington's infamous rainy season creeps in.
I'm almost to the door when I see someone moving in the pool. One quick glance at the smooth, shapely muscles delving through the water like it's nothing tells me who.
It's Ty. And he's – holy shit – completely naked.