My hands form tight fists beneath the table, and god do I want to dive across it and slap that fucking smirk off her face.
I notice the annoyed tick in Hawk’s jaw, but it’s the only tell of how pissed off he is. “It appears you’ve forgotten you have no mercenaries, no compound, and”—he glances at the two empty seats on their side of the table—“you’re missing two board members. Would be a shame if that number became three.”
“Are you threatening us, boy?” my father snarls, his double chin wobbling. Hawk barely spares him a glance, dismissing him as the non-threat he is.
Maria throws her head back and laughs, this high-pitched tinkling sound that lacks any humor. When she fixes her steely gaze on Hawk again, the corner of her lip curls up in a cruel smirk. “You think you can threaten us?” Her smirk morphs into a sneer and the look she sears each of us with is one of pure disgust. “You’re nothing but spoiled little children. You have no idea what it takes to thrive in this world. All of you should go back to school and we’ll pretend this little…visit never happened. We’ll call you when we need you.”
She goes to stand, but Barton speaks up, surprising me, “If they don’t want to be involved, we should just let them be. We don’t need them anyway.”
Maria freezes in place, and the look she gives her husband is pure malevolence. It’s like nothing I have ever seen on her face before, and it makes me reconsider every moment I’ve seen them together. They always looked so happy—was all of it for show? Surely not.
Her lips pinch and she pins him with a look that would slay weaker men. “I always knew you were fucking pathetic,” she spits, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one gaping slack-jawed at her hostile tone. “You know as well as I do that’s not possible.” She glowers at each of us. “I have had enough of this nonsense. You’ll go back to school and await our call, or there will be consequences.”
Having said her piece, she gracefully gets to her feet, quickly followed by my father and Barton, and strides out of the room. My dad is right behind her, but Barton hesitates, looking between his son and daughter. He looks like he’s about to say something, but after a second, he closes his mouth and follows after his wife.
After they’ve all gone, all six of us share a look, no one willing to say anything in case we’re overheard, before we get to our feet and quickly make our exit.
Chapter 13
I’m still stunned by what went down in our parents’ office by the time we make it back to the dorm.
“Dude, did you see the way your mom turned on your dad?” Cam exclaims as we all walk into the apartment.
“Have you ever heard her talk to him like that?” West questions.
“Never. Sure, they’ve argued over the years, but for the most part, they seem to get along—at least, I thought they did.”
Hawk grabs a six pack of beers while the rest of us spread out across the chairs, getting comfy.
“It’s pretty clear your mom only cares about the company, but is it possible your dad was telling the truth the other day?” I can see West mulling over all the possibilities.
“That he gives a shit about us?” Hawk scoffs, running his hand through his hair. He drops into an empty chair, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Fuck if I know.”
Silence settles over us as we each process this afternoon's events. My mother couldn’t have looked more indifferent when she looked at Hawk and I. She may as well have not been looking at her own children at all. And the casual way she threatened West. Anger flares, and I feel the sting as my nails dig into my palm.
“What are we going to do now?” I snarl angrily. “We can’t continue to let them threaten West.”
“We won’t,” Hawk promises, and the sharp edge to his tone, giving away how pissed off he is, has me looking his way.
“My dad cares more about his cushy life than the company,” West pipes up, and I can see the wheels churning in his head as he thinks.
“We could scare him into disappearing,” I say, thinking aloud. “Show Maria that we’re making good on our threat.” A wicked grin lifts one side of my lips. “I’ve found a knife to the hand or thigh is an excellent way to get people to listen to you.”
“You’re going nowhere near him!” Hawk growls aggressively, making me roll my eyes.
“What if Maria then makes good on her threat to send a mercenary after us?” West interjects before I can snark back.
“Once we’ve scared Dad off, we go back and spell it out for her,” Beck says thoughtfully. “Make it clear to her that we are the ones that got Frank arrested and killed Lawrence, and tell her if she doesn’t let us go, we’ll come for her next.”
There’s a moment of silence as everyone thinks it over.
“That could work,” West muses. “We’d have to watch our backs, though. I don’t trust her not to send someone after us, even if she agrees to let us walk away.”
“Let’s sleep on it,” Hawk suggests. “It’s getting late.”
Murmured agreements go up from everyone, and we all get up to call it a night. Beck says goodnight to the guys and kisses me before he leaves, and as I’m heading to my room, Cam wraps his arms around me, burying his nose in my hair.
“I could keep you company tonight,” he murmurs against my skin. Damn, does that sound good, but I shake my head.
“Not tonight. I still have a bunch of school work to do before I can get some sleep. I don’t want to keep you awake.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Raincheck?”
Something I can’t decipher flashes across his eyes before it disappears as quickly as it came, and he plasters on a smile. “Sure.” He gives me a quick peck on the lips before slipping away from me and into his room.
Mason and West have already entered their rooms, not even trying their luck. I’ve been turning them away all week, and I know they’re starting to worry.
Sighing heavily, I let myself into my room and lock the door behind me. I strip out of my clothes, and begin my new nightly routine. A set of press-ups, followed by sit-ups, finishing with a round of lunges, then I repeat the three moves until I’m drenched in sweat and I feel like I might finally be able to sleep.
Wiping the sweat off me, I pull on a pair of sleep shorts and a top, and climb between the sheets, but the second my head hits the pillow, sleep evades me as unwanted memories creep in. I can practically smell the dampness in the air, feel the cold breeze as it blows over my bare skin.