Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
"Old old money," I said, shaking my head. "How do you know him? Did he just show up at a party or something once?"
"Not exactly. I jacked his car. With him passed out in the backseat. Fucking bombed. Soon as we saw him, we got out of there. But he sobered up, tracked us down, and blackmailed us into letting him into our world. He used to give us tips on cars to chop back when that was our thing. Probably cars of people he hated, now that I think of it."
"You have led a very interesting life," I declared just as we were making our way in front of Teddy.
"Oh, get the fuck out of here," Teddy said, smiling at us as we approached. "What? Did Remy's dog make it all the way to Miami?" he asked, surprising me that he remembered who I was. But, then again, I guess I had made a spectacle of myself with the whole seizure and nearly drowning thing, bringing the party to a screeching halt.
"Not exactly. This is my grandmother's house. My step-grandmother."
"Oh," he started, smile falling. "I'm so sorry to hear that," he told me, making a snorting laugh bubble up and burst out.
"Thank you!" I said, throwing a hand up. "I have been trying to explain to him that they are, well..."
"The coldest assholes south of Connecticut?" Teddy supplied.
"Yes, exactly. Why are you here if you hate them so much?"
"You have to rub elbows with all sorts of undesirables if you want to keep your business running. So, if you are the granddaughter, then your brother is..."
"The family disappointment?" Jones asked, coming in out of nowhere.
While he made no move to cover his ink or take out his piercings for family events, he did leave all the gel out of his hair, which made it fall long to one side, making the other side appear to be the only one shaved.
"Oh, please," I said, snorting as I took the champagne out of Huck's hand. "We all know that is my title."
"True," Jones said, giving me a smirk. "But they hate me more because they can't hate me," he said, shrugging.
"He means," I clarified to Huck who was looking at us with furrowed brows, "that all of my many shortcomings can be blamed on the fact that I am not one of them, that my step-father was so gracious to take in his new wife's bastard daughter when they married. They don't get to blame all of this," I said, waving at Jones's face, "on breeding."
"Well, they try," Jones reminded me, giving me a little kick to the gut as he and I shared a look.
"Your mother," Huck guessed.
"Yes. The only reason I am here," I said, feeling my shoulders slump a little, not sure I was prepared to see her, to see what they had done to her since I'd seen her last. It seemed that every year, she got smaller, frailer, like she had stopped eating, like she was trying to disappear. I would want to disappear, too, if I had to deal with her husband day in and day out.
"Why not just see her alone?" Huck asked.
"Because my stepfather moved her up to Connecticut." I let the rest of it hang, knowing Huck could pick it up. And it makes it impossible for me to visit. And he knows that. It was part of the reason he did it.
"She looks thin," Teddy said, confirming my fears.
"I bet," I agreed.
"He's a dick, huh? Teddy asked, meaning my step-father.
"Yeah."
"Kind of a shame he got the use of his legs back then, huh?" Teddy said, giving me a humorless smile.
I could feel Huck's gaze on the side of my head, knowing I would have to give him more of the story.
After I found my mom and told her I loved her, I missed her, I would give her a place to stay if she ever left. I knew it was pointless, that she was in too deep, she was too far gone, but I had to say it. Just in case there was some small part of her that was considering leaving. After all this time, I knew the chances were slim, but I had to hold onto a little bit of hope.
"Oh, this fuckwad," Teddy said under his breath, making us glance over to a man who was waving as he approached. "He fucked his third wife's eighteen-year-old daughter and thinks no one else knows about it. The pig. Hey, Mitchum! Long time no see. How have you been?" Teddy asked, moving away.
"Okay, if I thought you were impressive, Teddy takes the cake," I decided, watching him slip from complete derision to sycophancy in a blink.
"Mitchum owns a company Teddy is planning a hostile takeover of," Jones told us, "No one is supposed to know that."