by Coralee June
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Lilah!” I yelled before clasping my hand over my mouth in disbelief.
Since the moment Mom married Joseph, I’d been working up to this moment. Hamilton broke me down, and I was building myself back up. “I’m done,” I said softly.
“You have everything, Vera! Everything. You got to go to school. You got to go to prom, to graduation—”
“Stop blaming me for having a different life than yours! You didn’t have to keep me, Mom. I’m so thankful you did, but I’d rather be motherless than live a life where I have to apologize for existing.”
“I loved you. I did everything for you,” she sobbed.
“And I’m thankful for that, but you need to take a hard look at your life and how you treat me,” I said. Calm, my tone was deadly calm. “I won’t let you do this to me anymore. I’m done.”
“What does that even mean? You can’t quit family.” Once again, she went to the extreme.
“I’m not quitting you. Stop going to such extremes, you narcissistic psycho. I’m done with being your verbal punching bag. I’m done with the guilt. I’m just...done. If you want to go back to being my mother and stop caring about all this materialistic bullshit, then you know where to find me.”
“What is going on here?” Jack asked. His tie was undone, and the top button of his shirt flared open, revealing his chest. “Lilah, are you okay?”
Mom curled her hand into a fist and pressed it against her mouth before dramatically running over to Jack and falling into his open arms. “Joseph is leaving me, Jack. And Vera is being so cruel.”
Jack looked oddly calm as he patted her back, as if he expected her to act this way. He probably knew about the divorce papers before all of us. “Vera, this is a really difficult time for your mother. I think all of us need to be patient and understanding right now.”
Mom sniffled and pulled away from Jack. “What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? Oh, gosh. I can’t stay here.”
Jack reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “You can stay here as long as you need to. It’s been nice having someone else in the house. Just because my son is an idiot doesn’t mean I’ll kick you out.” Mom looked up at Jack like he was a prophet capable of healing childhood cancer. Her eyes widened. She blinked twice and licked her lips.
“You’ll really let me stay here?” she asked, her voice a sensual rasp. I couldn’t even believe what I was witnessing. Was my mom always this transparent and I just now realized it? Or had her life with Joseph twisted her up into this lying, scheming person?
“You can’t be serious,” I said in disbelief.
“Where else do you expect me to go?” Mom cried dramatically. “In fact, where do you think you’re going? Jack and Joseph pay for your apartment and your tuition.” She scoffed. “Not too high and mighty now, huh?”
A shot of fear went through me, but it was short-lived. I could handle this. I could figure my shit out. Get a job and—
“No one is going to be homeless. Just because the two of you didn’t work out doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to make sure you’re safe. I told Vera I would take care of her schooling and apartment until she graduated, and I have every intention of keeping that promise. Education is very important to me.”
I looked at Jack for a moment. It all clicked into place. “Have you spoken to Hamilton?” I asked.
Mom clutched her chest. “Is everything always about Hamilton? What about me!?”
Jack ignored her. Politely, of course. Or at least as polite as he could be while pretending she wasn’t making everything about her. “Hamilton and I had a really great chat. He came over, and I think we’re going to finally have the fresh start I’ve always wanted. He made it clear that your relationship was over.”
So Hamilton actually spoke to his father? Interesting. He hated Jack. If he was willing to actually go through with this, then...shit, maybe I was responsible for Joseph divorcing my mother. Hamilton had said we wouldn’t have to worry about Joseph anymore. I just wasn’t expecting everything to happen so quickly. Why was Hamilton doing this for me?
Why did I care?
I wanted out. This was my chance to walk away from all of it.
“I don’t want your money,” I blurted out.
Jack blanched. “What?”
“I never wanted to go to Greenwich University. I never wanted to live at your apartment or drive your cars or participate in your schemes.” I looked at my mother. “You want someone to blame for your failed marriage? You’re living with him. He’s been looking for a reason to get rid of you since before you and Joseph were even married.”
Mom gasped. Jack grinned and put his hands up defensively. “Now, Vera, please don’t spread lies. Your mother has a lot to process. Why don’t you go back to your apartment, and we can—”
“No,” I said while rolling my shoulders back.
Jack looked at me in confusion. “What?”
I lifted my chin up. “No.” I was over all of this. I was too raw to process or plan what my next move was, but I knew right here, right now, I was pulling myself out of this train wreck. I wasn’t a Beauregard. I wasn’t Lilah’s daughter. I wasn’t a fucking Rose or Petal or anything. I was my own motherfucking person, and nobody was going to fuck with me ever again.
“Call me if you want to have a real conversation about the dynamics of our relationship, Mom,” I said before lifting the strap of my purse higher up on my shoulder and looking at Jack. “I’m going to borrow your car because Uber rates are astronomical,” I said with a giggle while clapping my hands together. Was this what it felt like to stop caring? “I’ll park it and mail you the keys. Have a nice life, Jack.”
I spun on my heels and headed toward the door, with my mother’s sobs ringing in my ear. It wasn’t until I was on the front porch that I could have sworn I heard Hamilton’s muffled voice in my mind, praising me for finally standing up for myself.
“That’s my girl...”
6
Hamilton
“You smell like a fucking bar, Hamilton,” Jack growled as we walked down the street toward the hotel where my brother was staying. DC was booming with energy this morning. Men in suits pushed past us while talking on the phone, and tourists took pictures of my father as he kept a pristine smile on his face, despite being frustrated with me.
“Considering you plucked me from a barstool in Greenwich last night, I suppose that’s an accurate description,” I stated coolly while smoothing my wrinkled shirt. I drank until the pain became mild, though it still burrowed deep. A constant presence that shamed me.
I spent all of yesterday and last night doing four things:
Mourning my relationship with Vera.
Learning about Beauregard Industries from Saint.
Hiding from my best friend—who would kick me in the balls for working with my dad.
Drinking my ass off.
My phone pinged, and I pulled it out of my pocket to check my messages. Hope flared to life within me. I felt like a delirious plane crash survivor trapped on an island, listening to the wind for another plane to save me, even though it was the same thing that stranded me in the first place. It was bullshit, but I partly hoped it was Vera reaching out. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted her to tell me that she’d done it—she’d finally told off her mother. She didn’t know it, but I got a front row seat to the intense showdown. I was visiting my dad, hiding in the hallway when she told Lilah to grow the fuck up. It was beautiful. I wanted to kiss her in that moment, but then I remembered that I was the asshole pushing her away and hurting her over and over and over again. I pushed her away at her lowest point, so I sure as fuck didn’t deserve her at her best.
Saint: Just landed in DC. Let me know when you can meet.
Saint was probably the last person I should be working with right now, but I trusted Jack about as far as I could throw him. Saint was blacklisted and eager to find a story to redeem his name. We made quite the pair. It fel
t like I was betraying Vera by going back to him, but I figured the sooner we could finish this shit, the sooner I could…
Well, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do once this was all over. Not knowing was very attractive to me. If I were to decide, then I’d have to deal with the possibility of never seeing Vera again.
“I shouldn’t have trusted you with this. How can I be sure that you won’t be getting drunk when you’re supposed to be watching Joseph?”
I rolled my eyes. “We have to make this believable, Jack. Joseph expects me to be the dumb, destructive member of the family,” I replied. I had drowned myself in enough whiskey to tranquilize a horse last night, so I was pretty prepared for my starring role. Jack and I left Connecticut at six o’clock this morning, barely giving me a chance to grab my dog and a backpack of clothes. The second we got off the plane, Jack signed papers for a rental house for me and had his assistant take Little Mama there.
“You look like shit. Keep a couple steps behind me,” he snapped.
“You are such an encourager, Jack. I mean, really, you should write a book on parenting. I bet it would sell millions.” Jack straightened his spine at my words, obviously agitated. “If you had given me more time, I probably would have showered and put on my other pair of ripped jeans.”
Jack scoffed and halted at the front door of the hotel where Joseph was staying until his house was fully built. Of course, he couldn’t do the normal thing and get himself an apartment. No, my brother had to get the penthouse suite. Two grand a night for the hotel staff to kiss his ass. It was the kind of waste of money that made me sick.
“Before we go up there, I need us to be on the same page. I’m going to explain to Joseph that you want to work—”
“Wrong,” I interrupted before blowing a ceremonial raspberry to show Jack just how shitty that plan was. “That won’t work.”
Jack frowned before smoothing his sleek suit. “And why not?”
“Because you’re starting off with that I want to be here. We both know that’s a bold-faced lie. I don’t want to be here. If you want to convince Joseph that I’m really here to work? Play to his ego and follow my lead.” I mean, fuck, I thought Jack was a manipulative politician, didn’t he know how to con a person? “But first,” I said before grabbing his shoulder, halting him in his tracks. “Tell me about Vera.”
Jack sighed. “Really? Right now?”
“Right now.” I needed a little motivation to go up and deal with my brother.
“She slept at her apartment last night, but the doorman saw her leaving with a single suitcase and a backpack. She turned in her key and headed to school. This morning, I was refunded her tuition for next semester, so I’m assuming she isn’t going to Greenwich University in the spring. I have people following her. She has a couple hundred bucks in her bank account. I might add some more—”
“No. Don’t. She doesn’t want your money.”
To say I was surprised that Vera told her mother off would be an understatement. I was so fucking proud of her. If she wanted to go off on her own, then I supported that. But I wasn’t afraid to get creative about helping her behind the scenes.
“She’s probably going to go job hunting,” I added while stroking my scruffy chin. “Have your people find out where she applies and make sure she gets it. With good pay.”
Jack pulled out his phone and sighed. “Consider it done.” I watched him type, pulling strings with a single press of a button.
“Good. I want her to feel like she’s doing it all on her own. We’ll just provide a little behind the scenes support.”
“Whatever you say,” Jack replied.
I yawned. “Great. Good talk. Let’s go fuck with Joseph.” I started marching inside the hotel, and he followed after me.
“I don’t think you’re sober enough to think this through rationally,” Jack complained as we made our way through the lavish lobby and toward an elevator manned by one of those cheesy dudes with the round cap to press a fucking button for us, because God forbid, we press our own buttons.
“Trust me,” I insisted. “You want me to trust you? It’s give and take, Jack.”
He huffed, and I didn’t care. “I hate it when you call me that,” he said in a soft voice.
“You hate your name?” I challenged, even though I knew what he meant. I’d been calling him Jack ever since Mom died.
He shook his head, not bothering to argue with me. “Let’s get this over with.”
When we arrived at Joseph’s front door, Jack didn’t bother knocking. He slid his keycard into the slot and let us both inside. “Joseph?” he called out.
Showtime.
I started chuckling and added an extra sway to my walk. “This is where the prized son lives?” I asked in a booming voice. Jack spun around and eyed me incredulously, as if I’d already fucked up the plans.
“Dad?” Joseph called from what I assumed was the bedroom. “What are you doing here?”
I replied before Jack could. “Jack always wants to clean up his son’s messes.” I spit on the ground just as my brother came into view. He wore a suit, and his blond hair was wet, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower.
“What is going on?”
“Hello, brother!” I added a bit of a slur to my words. “I got fired today. Apparently, you have to show up for work now? Don’t they know I’m a Beauregard?” I cackled. Okay, time to tone it down.
Joseph eyed me, and the look of pleasure on his face almost made me crack. He always loved seeing me miserable and broken. “Is he drunk?” he asked Jack.
“It would appear so,” Jack fumed.
Now was the moment to really sell it. “Can I go home now? It was just one tiny arrest. You can get me out of it with a wave of your magic wand, daddy-oh.” I lifted a finger and pointed at them both before finding a chair to slump into.
“What happened?” Joseph asked.
Alright Gov. Beauregard. Show me how a politician lies. “I got a call at four this morning. Hamilton was stripping naked at a local bar. I had to pay off a photographer not to put it in the papers that a Beauregard was trying to coordinate a mass exodus of streakers.” I started chuckling maniacally. Good job, Jack. That was very on brand for me. “I also was informed on the flight here that he lost his job this morning. I had hoped he would have sobered up a bit more by now, but…”
I ran my hand over my abs and puckered my lips. “Whatever.”
“I thought he liked his job?” Joseph asked in a haughty tone.
“He did. Hamilton is always destructive, but this is next level.” Jack went to the mini fridge and found a bottle of water, tossing it at my head. I let it hit me because I had a part to play. Method acting and all of that. “For fuck’s sake, Hamilton, sober up.”
I reached for the bottle now lying on the floor and toppled over out of my chair. Give me the motherfucking Oscar.
“I’m assuming he and Vera broke up?” Joseph asked. “I don’t get it. I mean, sure, I imagined fucking her a time or two, but I wouldn’t be so pathetic about it.”
Rage burned through me. He’d imagined her? What a sick fuck. Maybe forget this entire game and just beat the shit out of him now.
This felt like a test somehow. I laughed. “Vera wouldn’t fuck you,” I mocked. “She likes men that actually know what to do with their dicks.” And then, then I let a bit of authenticity bleed to the surface. It was just a single drop, but it was enough to make my face twist in pain and my chest constrict. “Vera,” I cried, hating that this brief vulnerability was on display for Jack and Joseph to see.
“Disgusting. I’m divorcing my wife and haven’t shed a single tear, and he got fired from his job for some coed pussy?” Joseph asked while shaking his head. Once again, I had to force myself not to violently punch him. “I still don’t understand why you brought him here,” Joseph replied in a bored tone. I have meetings and an interview with CNN later.
Jack looked at me before putting his arm around his favor
ite son and guiding him toward the living room. I could hear them still, but just barely.
“This could be our chance… He’s heartbroken… We could put him to work...”
My brother’s voice was louder. “It is easier to mold broken things, I suppose. I’m just not sure he’d even want to.”
Jack replied. “Something tells me he wants any excuse to get the hell out of Greenwich. He has no job, hardly enough money to survive. He doesn’t really have a choice. Bringing him in will look good, Joseph. And you can take him under your wing. Show him the ropes at our DC headquarters. I’m gearing up for reelection, Joseph. I don’t have time to deal with a drunk. I need to be in Greenwich.”
“I just started my new job. I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with a walking, talking scandal, Father.”
“He’ll be fine. What better way to control him than have him work for you?” Jack asked. Oh, so now he’d caught on. My brother craved power. He couldn’t resist the lure.
Joseph growled. “I heard my soon to be ex-wife is staying at your house still?”
“Just until she can get on her feet,” Jack said quickly. A little too quickly.
I felt Joseph’s eyes on me. Even though I was now lying on the floor, my own eyes closed as I pretended to be drunk sleeping. “Interesting. He fucks up, and you give him a job. I fuck up, and you make me get a divorce. The bruises were consensual, by the way. She liked it rough. I’m not mad about ending the marriage, even if I’m now a laughingstock, but I was having fun punishing her for the pregnancy lies.”
I had to force myself not to gag. Those bruises were most definitely not consensual. If I didn’t hate the bitch so much, I’d feel bad for Lilah. Too bad she was a shitty mother.
“Believe me. Working for Beauregard Industries will be plenty enough of a punishment. I’ll leave him in your capable hands. I can trust you to train him? I’ll make sure he has accommodations.”
“I suppose I don’t have much of a choice,” Joseph growled back. “Whatever you want, I go along with. Right, Father?” I wished I could see the look of utter disappointment on Joseph’s face. He had such angelic features that it felt sacrilegious to see Joseph so angry and twisted up with rage. “Get him off my floor, find him a proper suit, and tell him to show up on Monday ready to work.”
