She’s putting it together. Her dream is in reach, but she knows it probably comes with a large price tag attached.
“The Art Institute of Chicago,” she murmurs, and Brock nods, his lips pressed together. “Why would you help me?”
“I’m not—unless you help me.” He sets the laptop in her lap, and her eyes scan the screen, the light reflected in her pupils.
Her brows rise and then furrow. She looks back at the beginning, reading through the information Brock has now, and then her eyes snap up. She finds mine and holds the stare. Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. She licks her lips and tries again.
“You knew?” she asks me.
Brock’s expression goes stormy.
“Wrong answer,” he says, slamming the laptop closed.
20
Landry
Why is this all happening now? Did I invoke some bad Karma, and it’s all crashing down at once?
I need a long nap. Hopefully, when I wake up, it will be morning again, and I’ll realize none of this happened.
I didn’t think I would find out that my mom was a thieving gold digger or that my stepbrothers knew about it or that Corbin knew and didn’t think he should, oh, you know, let me in on the secret.
I leap up from the chair, hands on my hips, anger thrumming through my veins. I know I look irrational right now, but I have a right to be. All these fucking secrets swarming around me are making me crazy.
“Okay.” I blow out a breath. “Okay, I didn’t know. Not before today.” I deflate, curving in on myself as I can feel their eyes on me. “Fuck, why didn’t you tell me?”
“How do we know you aren’t involved? You expect us to give you the upper hand by letting you know that we are onto you and your mom?”
“Well, isn’t that what you are doing now?”
“Now, we want answers. We have enough to take you and your mom down if you don’t cooperate.”
I search Brock’s face, finding nothing but a stone-cold facade staring back at me.
“I don’t know anything else. Only what you know.”
“You are telling me, you aren’t involved at all?” Brock stalks toward me, and my legs hit the chair, forcing me to sit again. He leans over, planting his hands on the armrests, blocking me in. His face hovers close to mine, so close that I can feel his harsh breaths on my face.
“Hey, back off,” Corbin says, moving forward. He hits at Brock’s arm, who lurches up to glare at him. There’re a few moments of tense silence before Brock backs away. “Look, I get that you are upset at her and her mom, but maybe now, you need to entertain the idea that she isn’t involved.”
“You think I’m in on this?” I shriek, looking between the three. “Is this why you’ve been tormenting me, why you hate me and my mom?” I try to lower my voice, but it still comes out strangled.
“We don’t hate you,” Corbin says.
Bodhi looks away, blowing smoke out the window, and Brock pins me with a glare, saying nothing.
“I don’t hate you,” Corbin corrects.
“We know that your bitch of a mother—”
“She might not be doing what is good right now, but she’s still my mom.” I seethe. I can’t help the anger coursing through me.
Maybe my mom is right about one thing. We are blood, and we help each other.
“We know that Linda is stealing from us, and we aren’t happy about it. Our dad refuses to listen to reason, so we are the only ones who can put a stop to this.”
I blow out a breath and nod. “Yes, you are right. She’s stealing.”
You’re going to out your mom like this?
Well, it’s not like they don’t know.
“Glad to hear you finally admit it.”
“I swear I didn’t know until she told me today.”
“Damn, we should have gotten to you quicker. You could have recorded it.” Bodhi’s usually cheerful voice is glossed over by a growl, showing he might not always be all sunshine and happiness.
“I wouldn’t have recorded it,” I snap at him. “That’s my mom.”
“And he’s our dad. What gives you the right to protect her illegal doings against our family?”
“You haven’t given me any reason to want to be on your side. You have shamed me, made me an outcast, and treated me like scum at every turn. And you!” I stand up and whirl around, poking Corbin in the chest, driving my finger into the hard flesh on top of his sternum.
Damn, I’ve missed touching him.
“You are more to blame than either of them.” I bristle. “You acted like you liked me. Oh, what a fool I am. What a damn fool to fall for your act. Was it only to get information out of me?” I watch his face fall before he quickly covers it again with his mask of cool indifference. “It was? It was?” I’m heated now. “I can’t believe I’m such an idiot. I hate you, and you, and especially you.” I end my rant, staring at Corbin, breathing hard and struggling to calm myself.
Bodhi breaks the silence with a slow clap, still seated in the window, his cocky grin back in place as he winks at me. “Damn, there’s the fire we need.”
I swallow and clench my hands and then unclench. I would give my right tit for a punching bag just about now; my need to hit something is so strong. I stare at Corbin’s chest in front of me and contemplate it, but I know I can’t touch him again because it weakens my resolve.
“I’ve got plenty of fire,” I say.
“Then, use it,” Corbin says, surprising me.
My eyes snap to his. “What do you mean?”
“You can make this right. You have the control here.”
“Don’t talk to me about control. You and these two asshats have had the control the whole time. You probably sit in your room at night and cackle loudly with each other.” I watch Corbin’s lip quirk up in a quick smile before he straightens it out.
“I can assure you that I’ve never cackled with Brock and Bodhi before.”
“You know what I fucking mean,” I groan, planting my hands on my hips.
“As much as we’d love for you to continue your lovers’ spat, we have a plan to implement and carry out,” Brock cuts into our arguing.
I turn, about to lay into him and let him know that Corbin is not my lover, but his words sink in. “Plan?”
“That’s right, Panda Bear,” he says with a smirk, and I want to reach out and throttle him. “We want to know what your mother told you, so we can decide how we want to use you. She’s not getting away with this even if my dad refuses to acknowledge what’s happening under his nose.”
I nod and relent, realizing that as much as I love my mom, I can’t be okay with what she’s doing, and I should help get her the best deal possible.
“Before I tell you anything, I want your word that you won’t get authorities involved. That everything will be taken care of out of the public and governmental eyes.” I stand tall, displaying confidence I don’t think I feel.
“Aw, that’s precious that you want to protect mommy dearest. But let me remind you, your name is attached. If you don’t help, we can take you down as well.”