by Mary Martel
Neither of us spoke. Neither of us cried. We sat there through the entire service silent and unflinching while we held onto each other.
It was the most she’d touched me since I was eight and had still lived with her. And it wasn’t like even then she’d been all hugs, kisses, and tucking me into bed at night after reading me a story. She’d never done that shit. Not even with Gin, whom she’d actually claimed to have loved.
Today I was trying my hardest not to let my hate for the woman leak out all over everything. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do so far in my life. Somehow, I managed it just fine. So far.
The day was far from over though, and I wasn’t willing to make any promises where that particular woman was concerned.
When people were given the chance to stand up and share a few words about my father, my mother turned in her seat and stared down the nannies. She meant business, and if any one of those bitches got up there to speak, she’d personally and probably gleefully see to the destruction of their lives and shit would undoubtedly get messy for them. The women were smart enough to know it and remained seated with their mouths firmly shut.
Smart.
Mentally, I started taking notes, because I figured I could use all the help I could get my hands on when dealing with them, which would soon be one of my many jobs. I wasn’t looking forward to it and would likely need to brush up my skills in the bitch face department. I felt like I’d been allowing myself to grow soft.
Who better than my mother to take notes from?
“Are you coming back to the house?” my mother asked in a quiet voice meant only for me to hear.
I wanted to tell her no, to fuck off, and that her house was the absolute last place I ever wanted to be. I never wanted to go back to that place if I could help it.
I didn’t tell her no, not exactly. What I answered with was, “Not today... Mom.” We both cringed at the mom bit, but she gave my hand what I’m sure she thought of as a reassuring squeeze. The whole thing fell a little flat for me.
“When are you coming over then?” she pushed.
“I don’t know. I already have a home to go to.”
“For now,” she responded cryptically, and I was instantly right back to hating her.
She’d do it, mess with my dad’s house just to mess with the nannies. And in doing so, she’d be messing with me. I’d end up as collateral damage in one of her stupid, messy, bullshit games she liked to play so much.
“I’ll remind you, Gem, you’re still a minor and in need of parental supervision. You cannot simply walk away from me now just because you want to. You need me, and I need you to not do anything to embarrass either myself or what’s left of our family. If you can promise me that, then I’ll give you a certain modicum of freedom.”
I was seventeen, not fourteen, and my father’s attorney would take care of any legal tape I needed him to cut through. He’d do it before I even had to ask him to, he was just that good, and with my father gone, he’d want to keep me on as a client. People liked getting paid, otherwise what was the fucking point. I’d bet he was already working on my emancipation papers as we spoke.
And, seriously, what about when she embarrassed me, because we both knew damn well that was the way it would go down.
I gave her hand one last squeeze before letting her hand go and standing up. I bent forward, picked up my bag, and slung the strap over my shoulder.
The stupid preacher man was still talking, but I ignored him and looked down at my now gaping and outraged mother.
“I’m going home now, Mother. To my home, the one my father raised me in,” I informed her. A sick sort of pleasure shot through me at the darkness brewing to life in her eyes. I got off on knowing it was me who put it there. “You go home to the one your other daughter died in and you have your stupid party with you adoring fans who are there to fawn all over you while I spend time with the people who actually cared about him. You know, the people he actually gave a fuck about.”
Suddenly becoming deranged, I leaned down to her and right beside her ear, whispered, “You do realize you’re not on that list, right? Even though he fucked you the same day he buried one of his daughters, he still wouldn’t want you in his house celebrating his life with the rest of his children and loved ones. My guess? You were an easy means to help bury some of his own grief and he hasn’t gone back since.”
Her sharp intake of breath almost made me smile. Almost, but the timing wasn’t right and all eyes were most likely on me. This was my father’s funeral, after all.
I pulled back slightly, kissed my mother on her angry, red cheek, and without a backwards glance I got myself the hell out of there.
It didn’t take long for me to hear the thump of footsteps behind me on the wet grass. I didn’t need to look to know it would be Franklin following along behind me at a respectable distance. He’d respect my mood and give me space. He was smart like that. Besides, we were heading to the same place, his G Wagon, because Franks was a serious control freak and he liked to drive, which meant if we went somewhere together he always drove.
It was much easier for me to agree with him and just go with it as opposed to arguing with him about something I really didn’t give a shit about in the long run. So he wanted to cart me around everywhere like my personal driver, I’d let him do it. It made my life a whole lot easier, though I did actually enjoy driving my own car around from time to time.
Franks didn’t say anything as he stood beside me and bleeped the locks on the wagon. His hand swept away a stray, wet clump of hair stuck to my cheek, and I jolted out of my head, suddenly coming back to reality.
I was soaking wet, shivering, and freezing my ass off. I hadn’t even noticed when I’d stepped out from under the tent that the light rain had switched to a downpour, and I’d left my umbrella on the ground propped up beside that uncomfortable metal chair my ass had so recently vacated.
I blinked up at Franklin in shocked surprise. “You’re all wet now, Franks. I’m so sorry.”
He sighed and looked at me as if I were a naughty child he was tired of dealing with and was clearly at his wit’s end. Whelp, guessed we both knew that was coming. There was only so much of my bullshit I knew he’d put up with before he forced me to get my shit together. And he’d been around to put up with a lot of it, because he hadn’t left my side since Gin’s funeral.
“Shut up, Gem,” he growled in a low voice that vibrated with an edge of hostility that I didn’t quite understand. “Get in the damn car, and if you’re smart, you’ll keep your head down and you won’t think about doing something stupid. I won’t put up with this nonsense, and I’ll not allow you to put up with it no matter if you want to or not. Now get in the fucking car.”
My lips parted in genuine shock as I stared at him, once again forgetting all about the rain coming down on us.
I reached out and briefly touched the back of his hand with my fingertips. “Franklin, what did I do? Are you mad at me? What’s wrong?”
He blew out a heavy breath as he quickly looked away from me. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? I’m sorry for snapping at you. Now would you please get in the fucking car before we both get pneumonia. It’s been a long day, hell, a long week for the both of us. The last thing either of us needs is to get sick right now.”
I stopped listening halfway through his little speech. My eyes followed the direction he looked off in, and I blinked the rain away in an attempt to clear my vision, because there was no way Riley was really standing over there in the rain with no umbrella either and getting soaked while he watched Franklin and me.
Gone was the cheap but nice suit he’d dressed in for Gin’s funeral. Today he wore dark blue jeans and a large, black pullover hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head. At least the hood provided some kind of defense against the rain, but it wasn’t much. Still, it was more than what I had going for me at the moment.
What in the hell was he doing here? He had only met my fath
er the one time, and it was not like they’d become good friends in that short time.
Some insane, stupid part of me wanted to storm over there and demand to know just what the hell he thought he was doing here, but like I said, that was insane and very stupid, so I didn’t do it. I didn’t think it was smart to get that close to him. I could still remember the intense way he’d looked at me when he walked me up to Gin’s room, carrying my water bottles and wishing me a very sweet goodnight and even sweeter dreams. It had been incredibly hard for me to walk away from him and was becoming even harder by the second to keep myself from walking over there toward him right now.
I shook my head in disgust. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was clearly sick in my twisted, messed up head, and I didn’t even want to know what my sister would think if she could see me right now.
The whole thing made me feel sick to my stomach.
“Gem,” Franklin snapped harshly in a sharp tone that had me quickly looking away from Riley and back to Franklin. The way he looked at me had my already churning stomach doing backflips and going wild.
If this shit kept up, I was going to puke all over in a nasty mess.
“I’m getting in the car,” I promised in a quiet, urgent voice.
“Thank fuck,” he ground out as he reached around me to open the passenger door. I got inside and Franklin didn’t hesitate to slam the door shut behind me. He went around to the back of the wagon and popped open the back hatch. I heard him rummaging around back there, but even now I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the wet Ken doll standing across the lane with his hands stuffed in his front hoodie pocket as he stared right back at me unmoving, unflinching, and unwavering.
It looked a lot like Riley Landers had become just as infatuated with me as I had become with him. I wondered if he was aware of just how different those types of emotions could run in different people, and just how dangerous it could be. Just how dangerous I could be.
I was willing to bet he didn’t have a fucking clue.
Franklin opened the driver’s side door and climbed in behind the wheel. He threw something at me, hitting me square in the chest, and I looked down to see a pile of clothing in my lap.
“Take off the dress,” Franks ordered curtly in a tone that said to argue with him would be dumb. “It’s soaked through. Put the clothes on, they’re clean and most importantly dry. I got them out of my gym bag. With everything going on with you, I haven’t had a chance to go to the gym recently, lucky for you. Get in the back, put the clothes on so you don’t get sick, and I’ll drive us back to your house so we can make sure all the shit is being set up just how you wanted it to be.”
That actually sounded like a decent plan to me. Ignoring Riley, I tossed my bag over my shoulder into the backseat and began pawing through the pile of clothes Franklin had thrown at me. An oversized t-shirt that would be too big on me, and the same with the hoodie. The sweatpants would be a smidge too long but fit me fine around the waist because I’d be able to tie them. And, lastly, a pair of comfy looking socks that looked to be brand new.
Perfect and comfortable. Just what I needed right now.
I kicked off my nice high heels and turned in my seat. I climbed into the back and had never been more thankful for tinted windows in my life as my wet dress clung to my ass that was aimed at the windshield as I slid into the backseat. Nobody needed to see that particular view, thank you very much.
Uncaring if Franklin was looking or not, I whipped my dress off and flung the sopping wet mess down to the mat on the floor. Franklin cranked up the heat and it blasted back at me as I dressed in the clothes he’d given me.
When I was properly dressed and all covered up, I climbed back into the passenger seat, leaving my dress on the floor back there and my bag on the seat. I picked my shoes up from the floor and tossed them in the back as well. They landed on the seat beside my bag.
“Jesus,” Franks grunted. “You’re totally trashing my ride.”
I wasn’t even going to argue with him because he was kind of right, but it was not like I planned on leaving it that way. I never left a mess he’d have to clean up. I wasn’t that kind of friend and he damn well knew it. Likely that’d been his attempt to lighten the mood. He’d failed.
The drive to my father’s house took a few hours, and the rest of the ride was silent. Both small blessings that left me locked inside my mind where my thoughts kept returning to a soaking wet Riley, which was exactly where my mind did not need to go.
Son of a bitch, but I was tired and I had a long day, week, month ahead of me with no relief or end in sight with that shit. And knowing my mother, she’d drag that shit out for as long as possible simply because she could and it would make me miserable.
Like after Gin’s funeral, I closed my eyes and trusted Franks to take care of me for the time being.
Like usual, he didn’t disappoint. He never did.
Chapter Five
Kick Them To The Curb
Gem
The nannies were at it again with their godawful crying. They’d been crying ever since the funeral over a week ago, and I’d been forced to hide in my own home in order to avoid them. Twice I had been cornered, and both times had felt a lot like torture.
Now, the lawyers had just left, and we were all sitting around the massive table in the formal dining room shocked. Well, I wasn’t shocked, but I had been quite surprised.
My mother, who sat directly across the long table from my father’s chair, well, she looked close to collapsing in a fit of rage. I couldn’t be more pleased with her reaction.
I would likely never know what had come over the man, but between the day of Gin’s death and his own, my father had been a very, very busy man.
He’d made sure my mother could get her hands on absolutely nothing, including, to my utter delight and her great displeasure, me. She did not speak a single word throughout the meeting, but I could see the rage boiling there just below the surface waiting to be unleashed. It was glorious.
My father had already had his lawyer draw up the paperwork for my emancipation, and he’d signed off on it himself. The papers had already been signed by all the right parties, and the original copies were filed away for safekeeping. I didn’t even blink when I’d been presented with the copies that somehow had my signature on them when I knew damn well I had not actually signed them myself.
I was free and clear, and my mother had no hold over me whatsoever. She could try to fight it, but she’d actually signed her parental rights away when I was eight and didn’t have a leg to stand on. My father had done the same with Gin when we were eight as well. I didn’t allow myself to think about that because it made me sad. I knew with Gin being dead, I’d likely be sad for a very long time, if not forever, and I didn’t need to make things worse for myself than it already was.
My father had left me almost everything, which was where my surprise came in. He’d bequeathed large sums of money to his three bastard children to receive upon their twenty-fifth birthdays. The money was to be set up in trusts for them, earning interest until they came of age. There were stipulations in place in case they needed the money early for any type of educational purpose before then, but they needed approval from myself, my father’s business associate, and one of the lawyers.
Of course they’d been referred to by name, and there’d been no mention of them being his actual children, but everyone in the room knew exactly who they were. My father had actually referred to them as beloved children of family friends. My mother snickered at hearing this.
That was when the nannies started to cry again because reality had begun to sink in. They got absolutely nothing.
Outside of the lawyers, my mother and I appeared to be the only people in the room who’d seen that one coming. This, of course, had made my mother incredibly smug.
As soon as they’d delivered this news, the lawyers had gotten out of there as if the hounds of hell were chasing after them and snapping at their feet.
I couldn’t blame them and longed to chase after them, because I was smart enough to know the real hard part was just about to begin.
My mother sat back in her chair as if it were a throne and we were all peasants seated before her. Even though she’d clearly lost the upper hand and no longer had a leg to stand on, she still thought she was better than anyone else in the room with her.
The nerve of this woman was positively astounding.
My mother looked me right in the eye and demanded, “I want them out of this house. All of them. Immediately. They’ve already claimed a portion of your fortune, Gem, you don’t need them in your home attempting to take any more of it from you. You’d do well to listen to your mother this time, I know what I’m talking about.”
Two of the nannies gasped in outrage. Those two being the ones with children. But the third nanny, well, she was eyeing my mother up as if she was about to launch herself across the table and wrestle my mother to the ground so she could rip her hair out. If she did, I’d make sure she got the same amount as those children did, and I’d pay her now even, instead of making her wait years to get it. As it stood right now, she had no children, no longer even had the pretense of a job, and she hadn’t even been mentioned in the will of the man she loved.
One could argue as to why she was seated here at this table at all, but I’d asked her to be here for me and she had not hesitated to comply.
“Maxine,” I called out to her, hoping to get her attention off of my vicious mother. As much as I wanted to witness a brawl and my mother receiving a much needed beatdown, I knew it would end in Maxine being handcuffed and placed behind bars. Then I’d just have to go and bail her ass out, and I didn’t need that headache on top of everything else.
