And Maddox immediately bristles. “Funny how I’ve seen you grin and bear it through a dozen difficult negotiations, but you can’t hold it together enough to be polite to your future daughter-in-law for two minutes at a public event.”
From Blaine’s twisted expression, I guess Maddox hadn’t previously told him of our engagement and I’m glad. The farther away from his brand of parental poison, the better. I jut my chin, readying myself for another verbal blow.
“Negotiations have the chance to be beneficial.” He gives me a lewd wink and I notice he’s off balance, eyes shot with red.Drunk and not just today. From the looks of him, he’s on the wrong side of a week-long bender.
I hate this man. Not just for what he did to Addie or to me, but for the misery he’s inflicted on the boy I love. The one who represents so much of my future.
Along with their destructive habits, my father and brother also gave me so much joy, so much love even in the darkest times. Always my favourite people, always so warm; a family I delighted in coming home to.
But Maddox gets nothing from his dad. Addie might have loved him, but she twisted that affection into something monstrous, exactly the way she’d been taught, adding to his burden.
His grief is shot through with the same complexity. His connection to his father a bond doused with hate.
I give Maddox’s arm a squeeze. “Maybe we should move onto the balcony, get some fresh air.”
Blaine sniggers, voice growing louder. “Here’s another idea. Why don’t you fuck off to whatever hovel you crawled out of, instead?”
“That’s enough,” Maddox growls, encroaching on his father’s space and forcing him back a step. “If you can’t be civil, get out.”
“Be civil,” his father mocks. “You know it’s me who’s funding this little soiree every year. You’re the ones who aren’t welcome.”
My temper shreds, sick of his bullying. Sick to think what his children went through, growing up inside the horrors of his overpriced home. “Pity you sold us tickets then, isn’t it?”
But he’s turning, giving up the game and moving to greet a couple of men around the same age, both looking far more welcome of his presence than we are.
Maddox shakes with rage beside me, and I glance at the lobby, wondering if we should just give up and go. He still struggles daily with a gamut of emotions. To stand here inthe presence of the man who curdled his childhood, who should have protected him and Addie but didn’t is unbearable. Especially when, instead of an apology, he’s doubling down on his nastiness.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Maddox asks in a tight voice, his hand trembling as he steps into position beside his father. He boldly meets the curious gazes of the men before him, then his face relaxes into a smile. “Sometimes, I think you forget you have a son.”
Blaine bristles as the men shake Maddox’s hand, then his brow creases in fury as they shake mine.
“What’s the matter?” Maddox asks, laughing as his father’s face descends further into anger. “These are the people you prioritised above your daughter, aren’t they? These men who you’ll use until they can’t earn you another cent. Whose friendship you’ll then throw away.”
He spins on his heel, grinning broadly as the objects of conversation shift nervously, gaze moving from Blaine to his son and back again. One speaks, “Perhaps we’ll catch up later,” but Maddox steps in front of them, blocking their attempted retreat.
His voice climbs in volume, staring at his father as he says, “Maybe they deserve to hear what happened when Addie—your teenage daughter—told you how your middle-aged friend abused her.”
There are curious glances coming our way from around the room. Ant comes to stand slightly behind us, lending support, and Wilder, Dahlia, and Zane soon follow suit. Blaine’s friends and business associates gravitate towards him. Soon we’re facing off against each other like rival gangs about to go to war.
I squeeze Maddox’s fingers and he returns the pressure, the shaking leaving his limbs as he relaxes, giving voice to the words that must have danced for so long inside his head.
“Why don’t you explain to everyone why, instead of calling the police or getting Addie into treatment, you exiled her to a boarding school in another city. How you chose a morally bankrupt man over your flesh and blood.”
Blaine’s voice rises, too, drawing more attention from those gathered. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Everything you have is down to me.”
“It’s down to my mother, another woman in our family you drove to suicide. The person who funded your first business, remember? Or are you still pretending you’re a self-made man?”
Blaine lunges for him, immediately stumbling as his alcohol-soaked brain feeds him the wrong directions. The people closest to him step back rather than moving forward to help, leaving him to recover his faulty balance alone.
“You don’t know anything about it. Be careful how you speak to the only family member you’ve got left.”
“You’re not myfamily.” Maddox waves a hand across me, my brother, his friends standing valiantly in support behind him. “This is my family. You’re a sperm donor at best.”
Again, Blaine lunges, this time tipping so far forward his balance goes, spilling him onto the floor.
Maddox stares at him, lip curling in disgust. “I’m ashamed I ever listened to a word you said. I don’t want a single thing to do with you. You absolutely revolt me.”
He towers above his father, crawling like a worm on the floor. I can feel his urge to physically hurt him, but he drops back a step, shaking his head. “You’re not even worth the bruises I’d get from hitting you.”
