“Yeah well,” he cracks his neck and then grabs the back of it, “we all have our breaking points. He had so much fucking pressure on him his whole life.”
I stare at Linc in astonishment. “Are you seriously defending him?”
“No. I’m not. It was shitty, but he’s not fucking here to yell at.”
“I don’t believe it, Linc. He would never do that.” Would he? No. This is Colt. He never lost control. Not ever. Not even with me. Not even when I begged him to. I feel sick and wrap my arms around my waist.
“She’s willing to do a DNA test. And the kid looks just like his baby pictures.”
I shake my head, gripping my stomach and trying not to get physically ill, my eyes lifting to meet his as I lash out, “Are you the father? Are you putting this off on Colt because you don’t want to face it? I mean, you two looked an awful lot alike.”
He doesn’t entertain my outburst. “No. I’ve never fucked her, but my brother did.”
“Fuck you, Linc. You’re lying.”
“No. I’m not.” He takes a step closer to me, his head dipping down to look me directly in the eyes. “And you know I’m not.”
I start to walk away from him, dropping my hands to the side, fury swelling up inside of me. When he grabs for my hand, I yank it away and pull back, smacking him across the face. “Don’t touch me.”
He looks hurt, but not physically, his eyes registering all the pain I’ve caused him as I struggle to breathe, standing there panting. Linc never backs down from me, but this time he walks down the stairs and climbs into his car, driving away.
I sink down to the wooden porch and hold onto my stomach, sobbing and hating the world.
How could he do this to me?
I push through the doors of the building and start toward the location of my dad’s office. It’s been a long time, and when I reach the door where his office was, it has someone else’s name on it.
“Linc?”
I turn at the sound of my sister’s voice and look at her as she stares in shock.
“What are you doing here?”
“When did Dad move offices?”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “When they remodeled around four years ago.
“Oh. Where is his office now?”
Of course, she won’t let me off that easily. Lola is a real pain in the ass sometimes. “Why are you here?”
“I need to talk to Dad.”
Luckily, she doesn’t fight me. “Go up one floor and go all the way down the hall.”
I nod curtly and don’t say another word as I make my way to the stairs, nearly running up them. I can’t tell her yet.
When I reach his office door, I don’t knock. I just push it open and glare at my father, who’s sitting at his desk looking up at me, not with fear like most parents would when their kid shows up out of nowhere looking upset. No, he just looks pissed off.
That’s dear ole Dad for you, never happy, always angry. Life handed him literally everything and still nothing satisfies him. Not ever.
“Lincoln, what the hell are you doing here? And why are you barging in like a fucking barbarian?”
I ignore every question, giving him no respect because he doesn’t deserve any. “Did you know?”
“Know what? Did you have some sort of mental breakdown like your mother.”
I fly over to his desk, slamming both fists on the solid oak in front of him and leaning down to get into his face. He belittled her every single chance he got, made sure she never felt good enough my whole life. “Don’t ever talk about my mother.”
No remorse. Not anything. “What are you talking about then?”
“Colt. You and he had a fight before he died. What was it about? Because the last thing I knew, he never fought you.”
He leans back casually in his chair, and I want to strangle the fucker. “What does it matter? He’s dead.”
“Yeah. He is. But because of that fight, he has a baby.”
He sits up slightly now. “What are you talking about? Your sister said nothing about Penelope being pregnant.”
I lean forward a little closer, my eyes dark and angry. “That’s because she wasn’t the one he knocked up. What did you say to him?”
I know he fucked with Colt’s head. He did his whole life. “Nothing.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me. Tell me.”
“He came here wanting to ask Penelope to marry him.”
Fuck! What did this asshole do? I round the desk and stand directly in front of him as he stands and buttons the bottom button on his suit jacket. “And what did you say?”
“I told him how ridiculous that was. I reminded him who he was, for Christ’s sake, Lincoln.”
Don’t kill him. “You motherfucker.”
“I wasn’t wrong, Lincoln. It was fine when they were in young, puppy love, but to make her his wife? Have children with her?”
“Her name is Penelope and stop fucking saying ‘her’ like she’s something you stepped in.”
“She might as well be.”
I grip his collar, my rage too strong. “You told him she wasn’t good enough?”
He tolerated P when we were growing up, but I always saw the way he looked down at her. Mom loved her. We all did. But for my father, she was a minor inconvenience in his home, something he hoped we would all tire of. And I’ve always hated him for it, but he’s never come right out and said this. “She’s not, for any of my boys. My God, you saw where she grew up. And her mother, an actual junkie. Her father, in prison.”
“You did a background check on her?”
He shoves my hand away. “We were her foster parents because your fucking mother and you and Colt insisted. Of course, I found out about her background, and it’s disgusting.”
“The only thing that’s disgusting is you, the way you treat people. He loved her.”
“He was a fool. I told him he could use her for exactly what she was.”
I get in his face, seething. “And what was that?”
His head lifts, not showing a second of fear. “A whore.”
My fist draws back, and I punch him square in the nose with a quick jab that sends his head back and blood pouring from his nose.
“Get out.”
“Gladly. I never want to see you again.”
I turn and start for the door. “You know, he was the only good one, the only one worth a damn! And when he died, I would have taken all of your trust funds away.”
I look back over my shoulder. “So why the fuck didn’t you?”
“Your goddamn mother and her bleeding heart.”
That’s what finally pushed her over the edge? Him wanting to take our trust funds away?
“I’ll make sure to use the money for something you really fucking hate.”
I turn and yank open the door, managing to avoid Lola before I climb in my car and make the long drive back to my house.
When I get there, I’m instantly annoyed by all the cars parked outside.
This is definitely not fucking good.
I climb out of my car and walk up the stairs, infuriated by the loud music I could hear from the driveway. When I walk in, I see P in full destructive mode.