Chapter Twenty Seven
Leighton
I'd just finished a sparring session with Joey and was stripping down to shower when I decided I needed to slake my thirst first. Not bothering to cover my nudity with a towel, I pulled open my bedroom door and stopped in my tracks. My parents were standing in the middle of the open-concept layout where the kitchen met the living room.
"Fuck." I hissed, hearing the word echoed by Az to my right on the stairs and Rich behind my parents. Glancing over their shoulders, I caught sight of Rich, covered in soil, standing just inside the entryway, the front door open wide.
"Leighton." My father drawled, looking down his nose at me in the way he always did.
"Father." I bit out, not bothering to cover myself.
"I hear we have another Angelica situation." My mother spoke, her shrill voice nearly causing me to wince.
Before I could respond, Az glided down the stairs and intercepted my parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Laurent, we weren't expecting you."
"Yes, well. It seems you boys had something to do with our cabin burning to the ground. It was only proper we came to speak with our son about the matter in person." My mother answered.
"Make yourself presentable, son. We have much that needs to be discussed." My father's tone was cold. Not like it had ever been warm in my lifetime. The man was an empty shell of a person, with less feeling than even me.
"Why don't you two have a seat? I'll bring you a drink." Az said, gesturing toward the couch. "Scotch, neat, Alistair and Rosé for your Cicely?"
"That would be lovely, darling." My mother cooed, her mask sliding back into place seamlessly.
I turned back to my room, tuning out Az's schmoozing of my parents, and slammed the door, my mood immediately more sour than it had been in a long time. I started picking through the clothes on the floor, trying to figure out where I'd tossed my workout clothes. Fuck them, I wasn't going to dress for the occasion. Took a little bit of searching, but I found what I was after, dressed myself, and took a deep breath before heading back out into the house proper.
By the time I stepped out of my bedroom, Victoria was seated opposite my parents in the living area. My heart plummeted into my stomach, and I struggled against the urge to snatch her from the loveseat and stash her away somewhere until they went away. If not permanently. Forcing myself to close the distance at a normal pace, I didn't miss the tightness of her smile and the rage burning in her eyes. I'd have to pat myself on the back later for my new emotion recognition skills.
"What do you need to cover the cost of the cabin?" I said without preamble as I eased myself onto the loveseat beside Victoria, noting the drinks Az had grabbed for them sat untouched on the coffee table.
My mother wasn't bothering to hide her disdain about my chosen seat, all pretense of normalcy wiped from her face. I could practically hear the gears in her head turning as she plotted Victoria's murder.
"It's time for you to return home, Leighton. You need to return to the fold and take your place as the Laurent heir."
"Pretty sure Lacey is doing that just fine." I shrugged.
"That role wasn't meant for Lacey, you're the eldest son, it is yours. And it's time you stop playing with your little toys and come home to take it." My father said, sounding bored.
"That's not misogynistic at all." I replied, my tone dripping with sarcasm as I rolled my eyes. "You're the ones who put me out. I've built a life and legacy of my own that you can't control. Deal with it."
"Oh, don't be so childish, Leighton. That's not what happened. You just needed a little time to learn to control your urges ." My mother waved a hand dismissively. "Don't make it out to be more than it was."
I let out a sardonic laugh causing Victoria to tense beside me. "I was seventeen."
"It was a lesson we thought you needed, Leighton." My father replied without an ounce of emotion behind his words. "With recent events, it's clear we need to take another tact with you. We have arranged a marriage for you. You will return home by the end of the week to meet your bride."
I stared at my father for several long moments, trying to keep my composure. Eventually it came rushing out of me as hysterical laughter that had me throwing my head back and my eyes watering.
"I didn't know you had jokes, old man." I wheezed out between cackles. "You guys hear this shit?"
"Alistair, surely you can see how this isn't the right course of action." Rich's steady voice cut through my laughter as he moved from the stairs. It was obvious he'd quickly showered and dressed. All hints of soil were gone from his body, and he was dressed in a smart suit, only his wet curls standing out from his put-together appearance. "Surely we can pay for the cost of restoring the cabin and let this matter go."
My father looked Rich over like he was assessing a bit of crust on the bottom of his shoe, his lip curled up slightly before turning back to me.
"Your father never jokes about matters of business, son. We're quite serious. We've selected a good match for you in station, and she comes from good stock. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement." She said snidely.
"And Victoria Bristol isn't those things?" I challenged, arching a brow.
My father turned his attention to Victoria for the first time since I'd entered the room. "No. Her father may have been of good stock, but she has that unfortunate stain of a mother."
Victoria shifted next to me, curling her hands into fists in her lap. Rich and Az both stiffened, and I was sure the red creeping up Az's neck and face meant he was about two seconds away from strangling my father. I hoped he'd do it. I'd have paid good money to see Alistair Laurent at the end of a blade.
My mother rose from her seat, gently indicating for my father to follow suit. "Next week, Leighton. If you do not return home, there will be consequences." her eyes flitted to Victoria, letting me know just what sort of consequences she had in mind.
I sneered in her direction but didn't respond since anything I said might mean they'd choose to darken our home with their presence even longer. They swept out of the house, and as my father closed the door behind them, it felt like the whole room released a breath we hadn't realized we'd been holding.
"Could have let us know your parents were coming, L." Az snapped, picking up the scotch he'd poured for my father and downing it.
"How would I have done that when I didn't even know they were coming?" I said, scrubbing my hand through my hair. "How the fuck did they just walk up in here? I don't see either one of them picking locks."
Rich coughed softly, and we all turned to look at him. I noted that Victoria looked away after a second. He was scrubbing his hand over the back of his neck, looking strangely sheepish.
"That's… probably on me. I was out tending my garden. I'd had to come in a couple of times and figured it'd just be easier to leave the door open…"
"Jesus fucking– Are you serious?! After all your harping, and you just leave the door open to where anyone can walk in?!" Az snapped.
"I was right there ! It's not my fault Leighton's parents move like fucking ghosts in formal wear!" Rich tossed back.
"They're about as lively as the dead too." Victoria snorted before seeming to catch herself and shifting so her body faced away from Rich.
Joey appeared on the stairs at that moment, glancing at each of us in confusion as he strolled toward the living area. "Who died?"
"Leighton's bachelorhood, apparently." Az chuckled. At least someone found the situation as humorous as I had.
Joey's eyes got as wide around as dinner plates as he looked between me and Victoria. "Damn, dude! You told her already?! I'm proud of you, man."
"Told w–" pounding on the front door cut off Victoria as I mimed zipping my lips angrily at Joey.
"Richard Innocenti, I know you're in there. Open this fucking door right now!" Tiffany's voice called out, all hints of her party girl persona lacking.
Victoria stood, making a motion as if she'd rush the door for a moment before she stopped herself. She shook her head and turned back to us, a sad sort of expression on her face.
"I don't want to see her. Not after…" Her lip trembled slightly as she moved back toward the kitchen. Az caught her around the shoulders and pulled her close, murmuring something in her ear, and moved her toward the stairs.
Tiffany continued to pound on the door, screaming threats and obscenities loud enough I was glad we didn't have neighbors. I waited long enough for Az and Victoria to disappear from sight before painting on a manic grin and bounding toward the door.
"Malibu Barbie," I widened my grin as I pulled the door open. "What are you doing here?"
"I know she's here," Tiffany seethed, pushing past me and storming into the house. "Victoria!" she screamed before narrowing her eyes at Rich and closing the distance to jab him in the chest with one perfectly manicured nail. "What the fuck have you done with her?"
"She's not here," Rich lied smoothly. "Though, I am curious to know how you knew we were."
"How the fuck do you think, Innocenti?"
I closed the door and leaned my back against it, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched them.
"Get that info from your friends with matching golden tattoos?" He said, quirking a brow up.
"I told you the night of the shooting at Temptat!on Innocenti, if anything happened to Victoria, there would be hell to pay. And I have just the devils for the job. Now tell me what the fuck you've done with her, to her, before I make sure you burn."
"Well, that's enough of that." I chuckled, taking a step toward them, intending to remove Tiffany from the house myself.
"Maybe you should be asking your friends instead of us, honey. " Rich drawled.
Tiffany jerked back like he'd slapped her. "You have no idea what you're fucking talking about." She spat, looking like she was about to claw his eyes out. "You can't see the forest for the fucking trees."
"Well, plan on cluing me in?" Rich narrowed his eyes on her, waiting a moment. Tiffany sneered at him but said nothing. "Leighton, the door." He stalked toward the petite blonde and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her up over his shoulder like she was nothing. I pulled open the door with a flourish, waving at Tiffany as Rich stalked past me.
A few steps from the door, he shrugged her off his shoulder and dropped her on her ass at his feet.
"You bastard, that's going to bruise." She shrieked as she scrambled upright.
"I could have thrown you, I chose not to." Rich shrugged, his voice dripping venom.
"Oh, he definitely wanted to throw you Traitor Barbie." I snickered as Rich strolled past me back inside the house. "You should just be happy it was him and not me."
I shut the door, pulling out my phone to text someone to make sure she left our territory without giving her a chance to respond. As soon as the text was sent, I looked up to find Rich moving toward the liquor cabinet.
"I guess if we had any doubts before, we know the way she rolled with that double speak like a champ, Tiffany Humphrey's is a player in the game."
"Yeah, but is she the one moving the pieces?" Joey sighed, causing me to do a double take because I'd forgotten he was in the room.
"Fuck, maybe you're the ghost, Joey. But I don't know, but if the Devils know we're back, we need to get moving on plugging up the hole before they sink our battleship." I replied. "Until we figure that bit out, I'm heading back to the gym. I've got some shit to sort out."
Joey just chuckled and shook his head. "You'd be surprised what you hear when you're the quiet one." He shrugged. "Come on, I'll kick your ass a few rounds if it'll help you feel better. A punching bag isn't gonna stand up to all that childhood trauma."