Chapter 64
Sixty-Four
C ooper
I’m standing alone, eyeing the bar. I shouldn’t be, but being at Ethan and Arden’s wedding reception is testing my resolve. As if sensing my unease, my father strides over, gripping my shoulder.
“How long have you been sober?” he asks.
I turn on him, and he releases me. “How did you know?”
“I make it my business to know what my sons are up to. As far as I can tell, you haven’t had a drink in months. You also removed the bar cart from your office. I’m impressed.”
I guess I wasn’t inconspicuous, but I don’t want this to be a big deal. “Thanks. I haven’t had a drink since New Year’s Eve.”
It’s March. It’s the longest I’ve gone in a decade.
He nods slowly. “Do I want to know what happened on New Year’s Eve?”
My eyes shift to where Sybil is chatting with some friends across the room. Excusing the fact that we’re here to celebrate Ethan and Arden’s elopement, it’s obvious Sybil is responsible for this party.
“No,” I tell my father, embarrassment coloring the back of my neck. Now that I haven’t touched a drop for a few months, I realize how much alcohol controlled me. Not anymore. The only thing I want controlling me from now on is myself.
“Well, I’m proud of you,” he says, and I shouldn’t care that he’s proud of me, but I do. I’ve been programmed to seek his approval. “It takes strength to give up a vice like that.” He turns so we’re shoulder to shoulder, his gaze also flicking to Sybil. “You’ve given up two vices, it seems.”
The comment makes me pause. Doesn’t matter that I think she’s the most beautiful person I’ve seen in real life. I don’t want her anymore.
It feels good to be free of her.
Ethan and his new wife dance nearby, the two lost in their own bubble of love, and a pain of guilt twists my gut. I don’t want to use their engagement party as part of my plan, but once I let Dad in, he helped me plot the whole thing.
Tonight is, unfortunately, an important element of the story we’re creating here. The first reveal has to come publicly, with all the Kings and Laurences, so they can’t bury it with lawyers.
Ethan’s going to be pissed, and Arden will be hurt, but I don’t see another way. There are casualties in war.
“We should speak in private,” Dad says, and I follow him from the ballroom and into an empty hallway.
“This is your last chance to back out,” he warns, looking me dead in the eyes. “Once this is in motion, there’s no stopping it.”
I motion to my right pant leg. “I think I understand lasting consequences better than most.”
Dad’s face clears of any hesitation. “Okay, then.”
We stare at each other for a long moment, communicating without words.
When I went to him pissed off at the Laurences and asking how we could get revenge, he told me about Arden’s true parentage and the old contract he and Gregory had drafted years ago.
I asked him why he hadn’t brought all this up sooner, and he said he was waiting for things to align, but he wasn’t sure he was willing to put Ethan through the truth.
I wasn’t sure I was willing to, either. I thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that I needed this.
What happened with the Laurences—at Sybil—eats me up every day.
And what will Ethan care? He’s going to stay married to Arden no matter what happens. Their love won’t be shaken by this.
Besides that, Arden deserves to know who she really is.
Doesn’t mean I’m not uneasy about it.
Doesn’t mean I’m not worried.
“Are you going to make the announcement, or am I?” Dad questions me.
“You are,” I remind him. For this to work, he has to be the bad guy.
Nobody can know my involvement with any of this until it’s over.
Tonight is step one of many.
It’s going to suck to see people I care about get hurt, but it’s a necessary evil when love and hate belong to opposite edges of the same knife.
Dad encourages me to befriend Sybil again. That’s going to be the hardest part, but I can do it knowing that in six months, this will all be over.
Step one, reveal Arden’s true parentage and the marriage contract.
Step two, use the company shares to leverage Laurence into working with King.
Step three, befriend Sybil, and get her to trust me.
Step four, screw over the Laurence family, making them look incompetent in front of their board, essentially ending their rein.
That last step I’m still not sure about, but Dad has assured me he has the right contacts to make it happen.
Dad leaves, and I stay to gather myself for a moment, wondering if this is worth all the trouble. Do I really want to go through with this?
Once it’s done, Sybil will hate me. Any possibility with her will be destroyed forever.
I never saw myself as the kind of person who’d go to such lengths to hurt someone else, even if it’s someone who hurt me.
This isn’t a choice I can unmake.
There’s still time to stop Dad from the announcement. We can take the secret of Arden’s parentage to our graves.
I lean against the wall and groan.
Shit, I think I’m getting cold feet. I don’t know if I can do this.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, the perfect excuse to give me one more minute to hide in this hallway.
I quickly read a text from one of my old flings. My heart drops with each word, a sourness filling my stomach.
Roxanna: Hey, I’ve missed you. Wanna have some fun? By the way, the leg thing doesn’t bother me one bit. You’re sexy no matter what.
I stiffen, considering my options. Since the accident, I’ve tried to hook up with several women and haven’t been able to follow through.
It’s like a different person takes over, and I freeze up.
It doesn’t matter if I’m into it or if she’s the most seductive creature on the planet. I can’t seem to go there with anybody.
It’s been months and nothing.
I think of Roxanna’s sultry curves and raven hair, and my cock twitches. I’d love to try again with her, and I will, but I’m going to have to reclaim some of my masculinity first. Even if it’s the toxic-masculine part. Even if it changes who I am.
I’m permanently changed, anyway. The Laurences can feel some of this pain for once.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, slipping my phone into my pocket and striding into the party like I don’t have a care in the world.
Instead of finding my father like I had intended a minute ago, I zero in on where Sybil is dancing with Perry.
Perfect, exactly the people I wanted to see together.
Two seconds later, I tower over her with a rakish smirk and a devil-may-care attitude. “Mind if I cut in?” I ask, secure in the knowledge she would very much mind if she knew what I’ve planned for the two of us.