I peered past her and to my other two family members. Dad stood quietly, as he always did when it came to Mom, nodding as though he agreed with everything she said, but Brea shifted nervously in the background, her face twisted in misery. It looked like she wanted to say something, but the training of being a Kalinski stopped her from doing it.
“I think that’s enough from you—”
I laid my hand on JP’s chest and his mouth immediately snapped closed. Smiling, I kissed him gently on the lips before I turned fully toward my family. “Did you know I have OCD, Mom?”
“Do not be silly, Maxwell. You are a Kalinski. You do not have imaginary mental illnesses. Is that what you’ve become while working in city hall? Maybe Midberry isn’t as good as I expected and I will need to pull my funding—and fast.” She was talking to herself by the end of her diatribe, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of allowing her to hold power over me. She always did this kind of thing to gain control, to pretend as though I hadn’t said a word and she was realizing I was a failure all by herself.
“No, Mom, this is who I am. I’m Max Kalinski, not Maxwell Arnold Kalinski. I’m gay, OCD, and fucking good at my job. I don’t want to be anything like you. I tried that, and I was a bastard. I blackmailed people to get what I wanted.”
She made a small noise. “Blackmail is part of the game, Maxwell. It’s always been in politics.”
I shook my head and straightened, taking a few steps closer to her. JP held my hand, not letting me go, so he ended up walking with me. “It doesn’t have to be, and if it does, maybe I don’t want to be a politician.”
“You are a Kalinski—”
“I’mMaxfirst—”
The slap came out of nowhere, and no one expected it—not me, JP, Dad, Brea, and especially not Mom, because she gasped and stumbled away from me. She covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide.
The sting throbbed in my cheek and tears prickled my eyes. I’d never been hit before, and she’d certainly never physically hurt me. Words were what we chose to batter people with at my house. JP shot forward, but I grabbed him, burying myself into his warmth and strength.
“Don’t,” I whispered, discreetly wiping my eyes on his coat. I wouldn’t let her see me cry. “She’s not worth it.”
Mom’s deep breathing filled the silence, and JP was strung so tightly against me I thought he’d shatter.
“It’s time for you to leave,” he finally said, voice holding anger I’d never heard from him, not even when Mr. Elwood first took me on as an assistant. “Get the fuck off my property or I’ll call the police.”
“Maxwell, you are a Kalinski. Youcannotdo this. You do not have OCD, and you are not gay.” Her breaths came out short and sharp, and I knew she was ramping up for a bitch session. “If you do this, you cannot take it back. Gay politicians go nowhere on the national level, Son.”
“Then maybe I don’t want to be a politician. Maybe I want to help the mayor make this city a better place.” I kissed JP’s shoulder through his coat, even though he wouldn’t feel it, and spun on my heel. Standing straight again, I raised my chin. “I am better than you, Mom. I don’t need your help anymore. I can take care of myself.”
“And what about the life I’ve given you, hm? That car, for starters.” She jabbed a finger at the Lexus and a livid expression crossed her face. “If you stay with this”—she waved a hand at JP—“man, you will no longer be my son.”
I smiled, the sting on my cheek reminding me of what kind of mother she really was. “I was never your son. You have two others. You don’t need me. So go.”
Her face fell, mouth twisting and opening as though she was ready for another fight, but Dad cut in. “Enough. Let’s go.” Apparently he had some balls somewhere. He touched her arm and glared at me.
“Yes. Go.” I crossed my arms, blinking away more tears that threatened. I was done with them. “Leave.”
JP placed his hand on my shoulder and stepped to my side, showing his own strength. It was his way of telling my parents he had my back, and by the expressions on their faces, they understood the message loud and clear.
Mom glared daggers at me, but I smiled as Dad guided her back to the Beast. Brea took the opportunity to dart forward, and JP looked ready to fight her when she got close to me, but I shook my head at him.
Brea threw herself at me for a hug, and even though I was stunned by the abruptness of it—she barely ever hugged—I folded her in my arms and kissed her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled in my ear. “You know what she’s like, Max. She knew I’d talked to that Jaxson and wanted answers. I couldn’t not tell her or she’d disown me. I need her connections to make it anywhere in this city with my job.”
I could have argued with Brea about it, but I chose not to. Brea was the type of person who relied on our name to get her places. One smooth mention of Mom’s or Dad’s name and she was treated as though she was a celebrity. Their connections were an interweaving web around New Gothenburg and she used it to her advantage. She’d always been good at that game.
I smiled sadly and nodded because I knew this was the last time I’d talk to her properly. After this my parents wouldn’t want anything to do with me, and they’d make it clear to all my siblings I was the black sheep, the deserter, and that they weren’t to talk to me ever again. The Kalinski family never did anything by halves.
“Go.”
She touched the cheek Mom had slapped and kissed me on the temple before she hurried away toward the Beast, Mom already snapping at her out of the passenger-side window.
I watched them go, unable to look away as the truck did a U-turn in the slushy snow, leaving behind tire tracks and me—the Kalinski who left the family.
“Are you okay, boy?” JP’s breath caressed my ear, and my stomach warmed. I’d thought I’d feel regret watching them drive away, the bed of the Beast flashing one last time in the weak sunlight before it disappeared along the snowy road, but it felt more like relief.
