Despite Sarah apparently talking to James about the location of tonight’s birthday meal, he point-blank refused to change the restaurant to somewhere a little more low key.
He was testing me I could see that when he took great delight in telling me what I was going to have to wear tonight.
“If you want to be there for Remi, then you have little choice,” he said with an evil smile on his lips.
The motherfucker was playing me, and I was falling right into his hands, because he was right. Tux or no tux, I wanted to be there for Remi. I wanted to be there more than I should. But him standing his ground and acting like she’s the daughter he never had only proves I was right.
She’s his weak spot, and I’m going to fucking smash it very, very soon. I just haven’t quite figured out how it’s going to go down. I’m hoping inspiration will strike at the right time—just like the night we stumbled over the IT geeks on our way to meet Bexley, when he needed to be taught a lesson. They didn’t take much convincing to send that photograph around the entire school for everyone to see, while ensuring the trail didn’t lead back to us in any way.
My lips twitch as I think about that pathetic motherfucker tied naked to that pole. It was the least he deserved, but fuck if it didn’t feel good. I’d heard since it was his mother who eventually came to untie him. Seems maybe his team doesn’t care as much as he thought, because they quite happily left him there and continued partying without him.
Oh, how the mighty fall.
Although I’m sure he’s going to come back fighting at some point. He’s been too quiet. I have no doubt he’s planning some big revenge as we speak. Whatever it is, he’ll lose. I’ve no doubt.
Standing in the bedroom of the pool house, I stare at my reflection in the full-length mirror. I look fucking ridiculous. I thought my prep school uniform was bad, but this… this is a fucking joke.
I pull at the tight collar of my crisp white shirt. It feels like it’s fucking strangling me. My tattoos peek out on my neck and down onto my hands, and I refuse to remove my piercings. James can try to dress me up to look like a preppy douchebag, but he can never remove the truth. I’m bad through and fucking through, and it’s about time he had a reminder of that.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I pull a blunt from my pocket and light up. There’s no fucking way I’m leaving dressed like this while sober.
“I feel like a fucking penguin,” Conner mutters, coming to join me with Cole following him. They’re dressed exactly the same in the tuxes James oh-so-helpfully hired for us.
“This bitch had better be worth it,” Cole mutters as Conner snatches the blunt from between my fingers and takes a drag. He makes a show of offering it to Cole, but we both know he can’t have any, no matter how desperate he is.
“You got any fucking alcohol in this place?” He stalks toward the kitchen and starts pulling the cupboards open. “Jackpot!” He pulls out the bottle of vodka I’d stashed and lifts it to his lips.
Motherfucker.
“Seriously though, is James just trying to piss us off?” Conner asks, falling down into what he seems to have claimed as his beanbag now.
“No. He’s just trying to piss me off. This is a test to see if I really care about his precious Remi.”
“Which you do. Evidenced by the fucking ridiculous penguin suit.”
“So it would seem.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. That girl’s got you so fucking whipped.” I raise an eyebrow at him as I take another drag. “You’d just about do anything for her, I’d put money on it.”
“That’s one bet I wouldn’t take, brother.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do we need to have another little chat about not fucking this up?”
“That wasn’t a little chat, asshole. That was me giving you a shiner for sticking your nose in my business.”
“Remember it how you like, but I warned you.”
“Whatever.” Dropping what’s left of the blunt into a used beer bottle sitting on the coffee table, I push to stand and smooth down the front of my pants.
“Come on, let’s get this shit over with.”
“I can hardly fucking wait.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Does James think she’s a real fucking princess or some shit?” Conner asks as we round the corner to find a fucking limo waiting for us. “We’re his own flesh and blood, and we don’t even receive a fucking card, yet she gets this treatment.”
I don’t need his reminder of how this differs to our own birthdays over the years. Most of them our own mother didn’t even remember, let alone our absent uncle.
My stomach clenches with anger that, while we were barely living back in the Heights, James was here living it up and treating his princess like she’s fucking royalty. It’s the exact reminder I need for why I’m doing all this.
If this were anyone else’s birthday, I would not be here right now. As it is, I’m very tempted to turn around and throw these fucking clothes onto a fucking bonfire.
I don’t realize there’s anyone inside, so I’m surprised when William opens the back door and a high-heel clad foot appears behind it.
“Fuck me sideways,” Conner breathes as Remi steps away from the car and allows us to get a look at her. “Well, that’s me suitably jealous. You’re in for a good night, lucky bastard.”
I barely register his words as all the blood in my body races toward my cock. “Fuck me.”
My eyes take in her perfectly curled hair hanging around her bare shoulders, before dropping down to her deep red, skin-tight, full-length dress. Her tits are pushed up in such a way that all I can think about doing is sinking my teeth into them and rebranding her, because that is literally the only thing that could make this sight any better.
That thought is shot to shit when she takes a step toward me and her long, bare leg emerges from behind the fabric.
“Whoa. That thing should be fucking illegal.”
“Stop. Fucking. Looking.”
“I would if I could make my eyes move.”
I elbow Conner in the side, and the little bitch moans as if I punched him again.
“That wasn’t necessary,” he sulks as Remi joins us.
“That tux looks good on you, Ace.”
“Not as fucking good as that dress does on you.” I continue running my eyes up and down her body, not really believing she’s real.
“Excuse me while I go puke in the flowerbed.” We both ignore my irritating brother.
“I really didn’t think you’d come.”
“It’s your birthday, Princess. Where else would I be?”
“I don’t know. Running drugs, killing a guy or two.” Her brow rises, but there’s a smile on her lips. “Anything but wearing that and coming to the most exclusive restaurant this town has to offer.”
“I must admit, the first two options do sound more appealing, but sadly, you’re stuck with me. And, if you’re lucky, I won’t even kill anyone.”
She laughs, and I smile with her. She likes to joke about my previous life, but I’m not sure she realizes that almost everything she says is true.
I didn’t lie to her the day I told her I wasn’t a good person. I guess it says more about her than it does me that she’s willing to overlook it all, whereas I’m the selfish motherfucker who didn’t give her a chance.
“Come on,” James calls, making my muscles tense instantly. “We need to go, we have a reservation.”
Heaven forbid we make the place wait for us.
I roll my eyes and slip my hand into Remi’s to pull her back toward the limo. Letting her climb in first, I pretend it’s because I’m a gentleman. That’s bullshit, I just want to stare at her ass as she bends over and try to figure out if she’s got any panties on or not. My cock swells as I picture her bare pussy beneath the silky fabric. Biting down on my cheek, I picture laying her out on my bed later and pushing the fabric of her dress up around her waist, eating her until she’s coming on my face.
Fuck, this is going to be a long ass evening.
“Have you ever been in a limo before, boys?” Sarah asks politely.
I’m about to bark back an equally dumbass reply when Conner speaks up.
“I’m not sure a limo has ever been to the Heights. If it had, it probably left looking a little different to how it arrived.”
Both Cole and I chuckle, clearly both picturing a similar scene.
“Okay, well… I think you’ll like The Blue Bay, the food is out of this world.”
“Do they have those fancy little portions?” Conner asks skeptically. He cares more about the amount of food he’s going to get tonight than he does about having to wear these god awful suits.
“Um… some of them can be on the smaller side. But I’m sure there will be plenty.”
The drive across town is awkward as hell, and it doesn’t get any better when we turn off the main road down a private driveway leading to the restaurant.
“Fucking hell, that’s impressive.”
“Language, Conner,” James barks, looking anything but comfortable with us all together. He keeps looking between me, Remi, and our joined hands like he’s going to shank me any minute.
You’re not getting out of this quite that easily, motherfucker.
The restaurant is more pretentious than I expected, and I hate it from the moment we walk through the doors. Everything is either perfect white or chrome. The floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the almost three-hundred and sixty degree view of the Bay beyond, and when I ask for a beer the waitress turns her nose up like I’ve ordered a glass of shit.
“Champagne for the adults and orange juice for the kids, please,” James says, stepping in.
“Kids?” I ask incredulously when the waiter has walked away. “None of us are fucking kids.”
“You’re under twenty-one, so no alcohol will pass your lips tonight.”
I scoff and sit back in my seat. Remi’s hand brushes up my thigh, and I reach down to wrap my fingers around it as I try to keep my cool.
I don’t want to fucking be here, pretending that we’re the fucking Brady Bunch.
It’s bullshit, all of it.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Conner asks, his eyes wide as he stares at the menu before him. It might as well be written in another fucking language for all the sense it makes.
“Just pick what meat you want and the rest can be a surprise,” I tell him as James’ eyes drill into the top of his head. “What was wrong with a normal restaurant where we can wear normal clothes and eat normal sounding food?”
“It’s Remi’s birthday, she deserves the best.”
“Even though she specifically told you she didn’t want this.”
“That’s enough,” he hisses. “Stop trying to ruin it.”
“Me? You want me to stop ruining it? Un-fucking-believable. Are you really that clueless?”
He stares at me for a beat before the waiter reappears and puts an end to our slanging match to take our orders.
“Remi, I know your birthday isn’t officially until Friday, but with Cole’s first game and the party I’m sure you’ll all attend after, I thought we should celebrate tonight. So, without further ado. Happy birthday, sweetheart.” James hands over a perfectly wrapped box.
She’s forced to remove her hand from my leg, and I reluctantly let her go, although I miss her calming touch the second her heat leaves me.
“Oh wow,” her eyes go wide, “I wasn’t expecting anything. Thank you so much.”
“You don’t even know what’s inside yet, baby,” Sarah coos, nodding toward the box eagerly, hinting to the fact that she’s well aware of its contents.
We all watch in silence as Remi pulls open the ribbon and slides the top off. She pulls back the tissue that hides the contents before she gasps. “Oh my goodness, James. I can’t. This is too much.”
“Nothing is too much, sweetheart. You deserve it and more.”
We all watch with bated breath as she reaches in and pulls out what has her so shocked. The last thing I expect to see when her fingers emerge is a fucking car key.
A tornado begins to swell within me. He bought her a fucking car. I risk a glance over at my brothers, who are also staring at it in utter disbelief.
For years we go without anything, not even a fucking phone call. I might be the only one out of the three of us who’s turned eighteen so far, but I didn’t get a fucking car. All I got was a fucking OD’d mother and a fucked-up life.
Remi’s hand trembles as she places it on the table. She glances my way, her eyes burning into my side of my face as my stare remains on the key.
This is total fucking bullshit.
Is this why he wanted us here? So he could rub everything we don’t have in our faces? Are we really that unworthy? That unlovable?
That meaningless?
“That’s not all.” James eyes the box again, and Remi hesitantly looks inside.
She pulls out an envelope. Assuming it’s just a card, I sit back and try to work on my anger not getting the better of me. This is the last place I need to lose my cool with James, but I’m balancing on a very thin edge right now.
As expected, Remi pulls a birthday card from the envelope, but it’s not until something falls from it that I see red. My head spins and my fists clench.
“James, no. I can’t accept this.”
“You can and you will. It’s for the college of your choice.”
“This is fucking bullshit.”
Gasps sound out around the restaurant as my chair goes toppling back and all eyes turn on me, but the only ones I see are his. The lying motherfucker who’s trying to ruin my life with his manipulation and lies.
