“You did all that to us, too, remember? Dropped us in the middle of the woods and left us to fend for ourselves.”
He looks like he’s tasted something foul. “God, no, those were merely survival camps.”
I scoff. I can’t help it. He’s delusional.
“What about the times we were forced to watch killings from a young age?”
“What you need to understand, son, is that the world is more dangerous now than it’s ever been. We need all of the founding sons to be ready to take over someday. Death is the least of the horrors you’ll call an old friend when you’re my age.”
When he heads back to his minibar to refill his drink, I let out a breath. With his back turned to us, he uncaps a whiskey bottle. “Villainise me if that makes you sleep better at night, boys. After all, I did the same with my old man at your age. But the truth remains unchanged.”
Ice clicks against the sides as he pours some into a glass. Everything he does feels deliberate and precise.
Slowly spinning on his heel, swirling his drink, he locks eyes with Cash first and then me.
“What truth?” Cash asks, taking the bait.
Shut up, dammit.
Father snaps his gaze to my brother. “Empathy has no place in our world. If you can’t kill without remorse or watch a man die in cold blood, you’ll never survive. In fact, your brother here”—he tilts the glass in my direction—“is quite the efficient killing machine.”
A twisted smirk flickers across his lips, then vanishes. A flash of something dark.
He takes a sip of his drink and walks closer, lost in thought.When he reaches me, he drags his eyes over my face, as if he finds me lacking. “I’ve been nothing but good to you, boys. Always acted in your best interest. But you’re always going to be ungrateful, whiny brats, aren’t you? While I was locked in a pitch-black room for days without food or water at your age, shivering with cold, you get to fuck a beautiful woman. Yet you whine and complain.” His voice rises steadily, laced with fury, until he all but roars, “like it’s a fucking chore?!”
In my peripheral vision, Cash falls eerily silent. He’s not as skilled at hiding his fiery emotions as I am, and if I look at him now, I know exactly what I’ll see.
A clenched jaw…fisted hands…expressive eyes.
But our father isn’t paying attention to him because he’s easy to break, easy to rattle. No, the sick man in front of me—the man I share half my DNA with—he’s someone who enjoys breaking horses, especially ones with strong spirits.
The ones he can chip away at until they crumble.
Father speaks to Cash over his shoulder. “If the senator’s wife propositions you, I expect you to say yes without hesitation and without complaint. Is that understood?”
Silence. Thick fucking silence.
“Is that understood?” My father’s low voice cuts through the tense air like a sharp blade.
Cash’s chest pumps erratically. His nostrils flare with a harsh exhale. His lips thin. He despises our father just as much as I do but knows better than to talk back. Whatever he says will be used against him.
He flicks his eyes to me, and I see the fire simmering there. The urge to bite back or lash out. But this isn’t the time or place to challenge him. Not with Jessica in the living room. No, we need to be smart. We need to come up with a plan.
Subtly, I shake my head. He eventually concedes. “I understand,” he says, tense and stiff.
“Good.” My dad takes a sip, a flicker of satisfaction flashing back at me. “You can leave,” he says to my brother.
Cash hesitates for a moment, reluctant to leave me here with our dad. I don’t blame him. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t want to leave him with this sick asshole either.
I hold my chin up, refusing to cower or show weakness.
If the man smells blood, he’ll attack without hesitation.
Cash eventually leaves, and the door clicks shut behind him. With his cold eyes on me, my father sips his drink.
We study each other like you’d examine an opponent before a fight. His look is unreadable, save for the deep creases under his eyes that only appear when he’s amused. Mine is all steel jaw and a pounding heart.
Fuck him if he thinks he can psyche me out. He can’t because I won’t let him.
