Beck shrugs. “Why not? What’s the point in waiting? Graduation is only a few weeks away. Don’t you want to be free of all of this by then?”
Hawk thinks on it for a moment. “Alright, what are you thinking for tonight then?”
“Leave it to me, I’ll make sure we get his portion of the shares.”
“No.” I pin Beck with a look. “I need to be the one to do this.” He opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “I’m the one he’s been using to threaten all of you. I’m the one that was belittled by him. Told I was never man enough, never tough enough, but I’m not the weak kid he thinks I am.”
He must be able to see the adamant look in my eyes as, after a moment, he reluctantly nods his head in agreement. “Alright, fine, but I’m coming with you.” He holds his hands up before I can protest. “Just as back-up, in case you need it.”
“Alright, fine, but only if I need you.”
***
It’s late by the time the two of us leave to make the journey to our father’s house.
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”
I glance away from the road to look briefly at Beck. “I do. You have no idea what it was like growing up in that house, always hearing you’re never enough. He was always signing me up for sports teams, then giving me a hard time when I sat on the bench for the whole game. He constantly compared me to the other guys, wanting to know why I wasn’t stronger, tougher, more outgoing. In his mind, that’s the definition of a man—which is fucking ironic, given what a fat fuck he is.”
I can feel Beck’s gaze on me, but I don’t look away from the road, not needing to see the pity in his eyes. My childhood might have been shitty, but in comparison to his, or Mason’s, or Hadley’s, it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
“What about your mom?”
“She couldn’t handle having a cheating manwhore for a husband.” I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, hesitating before continuing. “Finding out he had another son was the final straw for her. She fucked off to Europe when I was six, and I haven’t seen her since. There’s the obligatory Merry Christmas email, but that’s about all I hear from her.”
“I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve that.”
I shrug, not sure what to say to that.
“You have a good family with the guys, though.”
“Yeah. We’ve only ever been able to count on each other. Our parents were too self-centered to provide all of us with the families we needed, so we made a family for ourselves—one we wanted.” I pull my gaze from the road once again to look at him. “They’re your family now too…if you want them. I have no idea what your plans are after all of this is over.”
“My plans are wherever you, Hadley, and the others are. I already lost one family, I’m not about to lose another.”
Our conversation is put on hold as I pull up to the gate into our father’s residential estate and type in the code. Once it’s opened, I drive through and pull into the driveway, parking the car and turning off the lights.
Moving quietly and carefully, the two of us slip out of the car and silently close the doors before we sneak up to the house. It’s the early hours of the morning, and my father should have long since passed out. The dark windows peering out at us confirms that assumption.
Inserting the key in the door, we let ourselves in, and I quickly turn off the alarm and jerk my head toward the stairs, indicating for Beck to follow me.
Keeping our steps soft and light, we climb up the stairs and along the hall to my father’s suite. I can hear the snoring coming from his room before I’ve even opened the door, and Beck snorts softly behind me when I open it and the sound becomes deafening. The sound of his snoring is followed by the whirring noise of a machine placed on his bedside table that has a tube running from it, attached to a mask covering Wilbert’s face.
“What the fuck?” Beck whispers.
“Sleep apnea.”
“He looks like he’s on a ventilator.”
The two of us share a look, not entirely sure what to do next, but true to his word, Beck lets me take the reins, and gestures for me to go ahead. I hadn’t exactly thought about what I’d do or say once I was here. I just knew I had to be the one to confront him. Taking a moment, I think about Hawk’s deadly anger, Mason’s stoicism, Cam’s flippancy, Beck’s steeliness, and Hadley’s strength, and channel each of them.
Stepping up to the side of his bed, I stare apathetically down at him before reaching out and poking his arm. He doesn’t stir, so I poke him harder. When that still doesn’t get his attention, I slap my hand down on his large, protruding belly, and the idiot jolts awake, staring up at me with wide eyes.
“Ah, you’re awake.” I smile spitefully down at him. “Good, we need to have a chat.”
It takes him a few minutes to prop himself upright and remove the mask from his face, turning off the machine so we can all hear one another without yelling.
“What is the meaning of this?” he eventually splutters, breathless just from trying to sit himself upright. His gaze focuses behind me, and I know he’s finally spotted Beck.
“I just wanted to stop by and have a quick chat,” I tell him, garnering his attention once again.
“A—what? It’s the middle of the night, West. Go back to school.”
“Yeah, I can’t do that. See, you have something we need.”
I watch as my father’s cheeks redden in anger. “What are you talking about?”
“We want your shares,” I state bluntly, getting straight to it. No point in beating around the bush after all.
My father stares at me incredulously, before huffing out a laugh. “Are you high? I’m not giving you my shares.”
I sigh and shake my head as though I’m disappointed in him, although it’s not like I expected him to just hand them over anyway. I tilt my head, feigning a thoughtful expression. “Did you ever wonder what happened to Frank?”
His brows tug together in confusion. “The idiot got caught murdering his mistress, what does that have to do with anything?”
“How did he get caught, though? Don’t you have private security in your houses? No one should have had access to that…unless someone hacked into your system.”
His mouth opens and closes speechlessly before he finds his words again. “Th-that was you?”
“What about Lawrence?” I question, neither confirming nor denying my involvement in Frank’s demise.
My father has the audacity to scoff. “Now I know you had nothing to do with that. Hiding behind your computers and hacking into cameras is one thing, but outright killing someone is something you’re not capable of.”
He says it like murder is the making of a man. He’s got no idea what I’m capable of, though; what I’m willing to do for the people I love. I definitely don’t feel like more of a man for killing that guard. I did what was necessary, and that’s it.