“I’m not being smart,” I said, keeping my voice as even as possible. “You told me you wanted me to follow the rules and I said I would.”
“But you didn’t mean it.”
Well, he had me there.
“You will have nothing to do with that whore omega ever again,” Dad went on, sitting up straighter and issuing the order as he stared down his nose at me. He was a master of the art of making himself look bigger than someone even though he was seated and they were standing.
“My personal life is my own,” I said, not contradicting him explicitly while absolutely giving him the finger.
“Your personal life is mine!” Dad shouted, shocking me enough that I jumped. “Everything this family does is mine! It is my image, my reputation, my future. I plan to be governor of this state and maybe even more someday. You will toe the line and present the picture that I want the world to see or you will pay the price.”
His demands were so cliché for our class that I would have laughed…if I didn’t feel like strangling him.
I fought back by saying nothing.
Dad continued to glare at me, as if willing me to buckle.
“Is that all?” I asked, as deadpan as I could manage.
“You will take this seriously, Junior, or you will feel the consequences,” Dad went on as if I’d flipped him the bird.
“What consequences?” I asked, again without a drop of facial expression.
Dad gaped at me like I was either obtuse or making fun of him. “Haven’t you taken a look at your bank accounts in the last twenty-four hours?”
An exciting flicker of hope reverberated through my belly. He didn’t know that I had looked, that I’d tried to buy Quincy lunch and failed. Which meant he didn’t know I’d spoken to Quincy yesterday. It was possible that he didn’t know I had Quincy’s phone number or that we’d been texting and talking since the day of our RV adventure.
That could only be a good thing.
“I haven’t had reason to look,” I said, still frozen and giving away nothing. “Why? Have you cancelled all my cards and withheld my allowance?”
The entire room seemed to hold still as I waited to see whether the believed me or knew I was bluffing.
“I’ve cut you off,” he said at last, eyes narrowing even more.
He didn’t know that I knew.
A kernel of hope seeded itself in my chest.
“Why?” I demanded, trying to look a little surprised, but still stoic.
“To teach you a lesson,” he said. “Everything you are and everything you have is mine. You will fulfill the role I have chosen for you or you will get nothing. You will be as destitute as that cheap omega you should have just fucked and discarded.”
It was nearly impossible for me to maintain a cool façade when he insulted Quincy like that. But I felt so close to beating him that I put everything I had into holding it together.
Again, I said nothing in response to his statement, so Dad went on.
“You will represent the goals of the family and the firm by fighting for our interests, in court and in the boardroom,” he said.
“That’s my job,” I told him.
“You will stand by my side at any and all campaign events, smiling and showing the world how worthy of ruling them I am.”
I had to swallow my reaction to the gall he showed in implying he should rule the world.
“You will be seen with the omegas your mother and I choose at the events we choose,” Dad continued. “You will listen to the sort of music we tell you to listen to and support the causes that best benefit me.”
None of it was new and none of it came as a surprise.
