“We’re going to Dad and Mom’s for dinner on Sunday, and you’re coming.” Drew stretches out his legs.
“And if I refuse?”
“Don’t be a dick. They hardly ever see you,” Drew says.
“I visited them two weeks ago.”
“You stopping by for ten minutes after work isn’t exactly visiting,” Jensen scoffs. “Please, for our mother.”
“I’ll be there,” I sullenly agree.
“One more thing,” Jensen says.
“What now?” I want them gone ASAP so I can go in search of Pepper.
“I’m planning a weekend getaway for brotherly bonding at Lake Arrowhead.”
“I won’t be available.”
“How do you know? I didn’t mention a date,” Jensen counters.
“Come on, we haven’t been to the cabin together in ages. It’ll be fun. We can do a little fishing and swimming,” Drew says.
I have plenty of good memories there of drunken nights filled with good food. “I could rearrange my schedule.”
“Great, I’ll plan for the second weekend in July,” Jensen states.
“Fine. Now if you don’t mind, I have a very important business matter to attend to.”
“Business?” Jensen snorts.
Drew starts that damn laughing again. “Does your pressing engagement include a sexy intern with a shapely derriere and huge boobs?”
I stalk over to him to deliver another blow, but he gets up and bolts out the door. “Meet you at the car, Jensen,” he yells.
“You’ve always been a jerk, even as a kid, for some unexplained reason. Truth be told, you were that way from birth, ruining the whole nurture versus nature argument. I threw you in the garbage can when you were a baby, determined to get rid of you.” He chuckles. “Mom found you screaming at the top of your lungs. Boy was she livid, but not as much as me when she took you out. I pleaded with her to put you back.”
“There you have it. I was destined to be a schmuck.”
“The older you got, the worse your attitude became, and then after Lauren—”
“Do you enjoy pissing me off?”
“Just wondering when your vendetta against the world will end.”
“I’ll see you on Sunday.”
“Bringing that girl into your sordid universe is selfish. She’ll get lost in the darkness.”
“Too late. She already accepted the first-class ticket, and I have a no-refund policy. It’s not my fault if she didn’t read the fine print,” I respond, exiting my office.
Pepper passed the point of no return the moment I laid my eyes on her. Call me a monster, hurl every bad name at me in existence, I couldn’t care less. Nothing is going to stop me from fucking her.
Pepper’s cubicle is empty. Despite the curious glances, I hover for five minutes before proceeding to Lloyd’s office. I stand in the open doorway.
“Where’s Pepper?”
He peers up from his task. “She’s ill, so I gave her permission to go home.”
