23. Liam
Chapter 23
Liam
L ater that night.
“Do not get crumbs in my car.” I grumbled as Neil paused his action of stuffing a burrito down his throat.
“We just finished a game; I need to refuel the body man.” He panned out before he threw me a cold look.
Silence.
“Listen, you need to chill out.” He continued.
I took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Neil was right, I’ve lately been snapping at so many people. I’ve been snapping at coaches, professors, and even some teammates.
I haven’t thought straight ever since I found out about my stepfather’s embezzlement.
I had no clue what the fuck those two girls’ problem with Margo was. And the fact that I haven’t had sex since I had been with Margo.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I apologized.
Neil smiled back at me, I often forgot that wasn’t his normal personality when he talked to other people. He was always cold and mean.
When in reality he was a soft baby who just indulged in so much food on the daily.
“Besides, we both know Grayson and Cassian are probably spending the night together, Chris and the Du Pont girl are starting to hang out as friends. We are the only two bachelors left, it’s so obvious that Hamilton doesn’t give two shits about you anymore man.” He finished off his burrito.
For a man who was eating a stuffed ass burrito he sure had a lot to say.
“What do you mean Chris and Verina are hanging out?” I asked, quite shocked.
“Well, you know she was trying to pursue him and he like straight up rejected her. You know how he is.” Neil rambled on.
Chris didn’t believe in true love. Sure, he believed in caring for someone and loving family and friends, but he doesn’t believe in the act of falling in love.
He’s always made it clear; he didn’t trust easily and ultimately, I understood that you need to trust in order to love.
“How has Chris been doing in the fights?” I turned my car and drove into the driveway of my old Philadelphia mansion.
Neil took a second to respond, “He hasn’t lost any yet, the prize money has gone up to six hundred thousand right now and it isn’t even close to finals.”
“Yeah well, rich crooks and stupid people will pay for anything just for some enjoyment. You think that’s enough for Finn’s treatment?” I turned off the ignition and got out of the car.
Neil slammed the passenger door, “I just don’t understand why Chris won’t let us give him money. Finn is our brother too at this point, I say we get a say in how he gets the money for his treatment.”
Deep down, Neil and I also knew that it still wasn’t our place to tell Chris how to raise his brother. He had every right to, he was the one who changed Finn’s diapers, fed him, clothed him, and took care of him when he was sick.
As Neil and I both approached the large double doors, Neil gave the door one push and they both opened without a hassle or a lock.
My stepfather sat on the tall chair in front of the fireplace, he was smoking a cigar, and he looked like shit.
“William!” He greeted me.
“Killian.” I addressed as Neil closed the door behind us.
“So glad to know that you look cozy in a house that you probably paid for, by embezzling money.”
My stepfather stood up, pulling a bottle of scotch out of the cabinet, and took a large swig of the alcohol.
“When is your mother coming home?” He had the nerve to ask as I stomped over to his body quickly, before Neil pulled me back from causing some major damage.
Thank God, I did bring him; we both knew if I didn’t, I would’ve committed some type of murder. My stepfather wasn’t a good man, I knew he wasn’t a truthful businessman, neither was he a truthful husband or father.
He brought countless of women home every night when my mother was on trips around the world to launch her jewels. While he was acting the supportive role, he was having countless affairs.
I couldn’t even say anything because my mouth would meet with his fists, and my body would be met by his belt. It didn’t take long until I knew I could fight back.
“We both know she isn’t coming home, Killian.” I muttered while throwing a file front of him, “Sign those divorce papers and I won’t turn you in for embezzlement.” I mustered off as he gave a vicious look at Neil who guarded the door.
He grabbed the pen that I rolled over to his hand, I looked at his menacing smirk.
I halted, as he read over the words on paper.
“Funny how she sends you as the guinea pig to get these papers signed.” He lazily signed the papers.
“If you pull more illegal shit Killian, trust me when I say I will watch you rot in prison.” I seethed; while placing my pointed finger on his chest, I gave him a slight push which set him back for a little.
“I’m very flattered you want to watch me, but don’t forget William. When I go down, you and your mother go down with me. You are still my family, and you are associated that way.”
I threw a sappy look at Neil before he turned around. That was when I let my anger seeped through me, I clenched both my knuckles so tight I saw my veins popped up more than ever.
Next thing I knew, my fist came in contact with his nose, and his body made contact with the hard floor.
“Looks like I did teach you something well.” He spat back.
Harsh memories of Killian snapped into my brain. I envisioned a time back then when he damn near snapped my neck. A day after he lifted me up by my throat and slammed me down on the cold concrete floor.
He always took pride on giving me a great education, but he continuously failed to talk about how he would stab my hand with a pencil when I got an equation wrong.
And he wondered why the fuck I moved out so quickly.
“Did your speech get inspired by the Hunger Games or something?” Neil gave a contemplating look as we watched my stepfather’s nose, bleed out on the ground.
“What are you talking about?” I turned to Neil with confusion as he shrugged.
“You know Katniss’s speech to President Snow. If we burn, you burn with us.” He recited with passion as my father, and I gave him a dumb founded look.
We stayed silent for a second before my stepfather speaks up again, “You can hit me all you want William, but it isn’t going to change the fact that you still need me to keep being relevant in our high society.”
I gave him a second to catch his breath before I pulled him back up by the neck.
“My mother and I don’t need you Killian. We are better off without you, and if you do some more illegal shit, since you signed those divorce papers… we couldn’t care less what you fucking do.” I threw him back on the ground.
Killian laid there and stayed down. He was never a father to me in anyway, only ever a man who would bully the fuck out of me and claimed it was because he wanted me to be better than him.
I knew I was better than him, because I had never laid a hand on a woman who didn’t want it. I would never willingly and repeatedly abuse a child who did nothing to deserve it.
I would spend my life making sure I was better than him, but a piece of me lost that when I intentionally hurt Margo when I knew she didn’t deserve it.
“Are we done here?” Killian gritted out as he tried to stand but failed.
“Where are my hockey sticks?” I muttered before I spotted them on the other side of the house.
“You don’t get to have them.” He snarled at me as I maneuvered past him to grab all of them.
“You said I could have them when I turned twenty, well guess what, my real father’s property is now mine.” I pulled a few of the hockey pucks from the unlabeled boxes as well.
Neil opened the door and threw me the car keys before he slammed the door shut, which left my stepfather with a distained frown.
“I’m surprised you’ve been so cool tonight.” Neil muttered as he got into the car, and I dumped all the hockey equipment in the trunk.
I slammed the trunk closed to look at him, “What are you talking about?” I got in casually as he threw a confused glance.
“You know… it’s getting late, I don’t think you’ll make it on time.” He rubbed the back of his neck with an anxious laugh as I grew more confused than ever.
“What are you talking about, we don’t have a curfew Vanderbilt.” I start the engine as he narrowed his eyes at the note in my cup holder.
“I just thought you were adamant in getting Margo back so I thought you would do the list.” He stated as I tilted my head.
“I am going to do the list.” I said plainly as he looked even more horrified to break some awful news to me.
“It’s 11:46 p.m. Liam.” He acknowledged as I looked at my watch, “Way to state the obvious.” I threw back as his lips thinned.
“Neil, what the fuck is it?” I slammed on my brakes as he handed the note Margo gave me earlier today.
“You didn’t read the whole note, did you?” He looked absolutely petrified to continue speaking as my hands frantically opened the note and flipped it around to the back.
“She wrote that you needed to meet her tonight before Monday at her parent’s guest house to agree or she’ll close her heart to you forever.” Neil explained as I reread the note over and over again.
It felt like I was having some sort of breakdown where I didn’t even know what to do, I didn’t know what to think. The only thing I knew was that I had about fifteen minutes to get to Margo’s house and I was in butt fuck Philadelphia.
“Fuck, we gotta go.” I backed out of the driveway so fast and stepped on the gas when we hit the road.
“Liam we can’t get to New York in fourteen minutes.” Neil sounded adamant in making me slow down. He knew it was impossible; he was always the logical speaker in the group.
I kinda wished I brought Grayson. He would be hyping me up and feeding into my delusions that I could’ve made it. Even when I knew I wouldn’t.
“We have to try.” I breathed out as my speedometer read ninety-eight miles per hour.
I didn’t care about whether I would receive speeding tickets or if I would be getting pulled over.
I had one destination, and it was to Margo fucking Hamilton.