AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stood, feeling a sudden spike of negative energy at the reminder of Summer Cavendish, my mother’s prized pet and the next victim who would marry one of her sons.
“Summer,” I seethed through my teeth, “will be more unhappy than me if our mother has her fucking way with things. They forced me to resign from my job and leave my career by threatening damn near everything I care about, but what they won’t get me to do is bend the fucking knee and marry someone they have chosen to be the right fit for their family.”
“Why do you always fight it so much?” Sebastian asked.
I looked over at him, wanting to punch him in his perfect teeth and end the conversation before it could begin, but his genuine curiosity stopped me. He honestly didn’t know any other way than to simply obey. He thought I was the crazy one for wanting autonomy.
“You’re a poor bastard, you know that?” I said honestly.
He humored me with a grin, taking a sip of his bourbon. “How so?”
“Oldest son,” I chuckled in disgust. “You never stood a fucking chance.”
“What if I didn’t want to stand a fucking chance?” he mocked.
“Well, Seb, knowing you and how far your nose is shoved up our father’s ass, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Seb’s dark eyes grew as cold. “You’re acting like a little bitch about all of this, you know that?”
“I’m not the bitch, brother,” I eyed him, “you are. You’ve been Mom and Dad’s bitch since the day you were born. I’ve always felt sorry for you. Since we were born, you’ve only ever cared about being Dad’s favorite son. The almighty heir, named after the big man himself. The one who assumes the patriarchal role once the old man is gone, right? But you were always jealous of me and Mark.”
“Jealous?” he laughed. “Hardly. What is there to be jealous of, John, you both being fuck-ups? Or is it that you two are a constant burden for our parents, forever doing shit to stress them out? I never behaved as recklessly as either of you—especially you—because I know what this family stands for, what our father expects, and I honor that, you asshole.”
“Honor that my ass,” I said. “This family is so fucked up, and you know it.”
“You’re so goddamn dramatic. You don’t get what you want, so you turn into Mommy’s little baby.”
I narrowed my eyes at my brother, who was the biggest dick this side of my father, “When’s the last time Dad told you he was proud of you?”
It was a low blow, but I didn’t care.
“Shut the hell up,” he snapped.
I smiled.
“Come on, Sebastian. You were named after the man. Surely, he’s told you how proud he is of his namesake.”
He stayed quiet because this was a wound that always reopened and bled for my eldest brother. It was sad, but with the frame of mind I was in these days, I didn’t feel sorry for anyone else.
“You stay quiet because he will never say the words to you, and even if the son of a bitch does, you will always wonder if he means it. The inability to say it is Father’s greatest weakness, and your,” I pointed my glass of scotch toward him, “biggest demon.”
“You have no idea what you’re saying,” he said, knitting his brows together in reproach. “You’re drunk, and you’re?—”
“Save it,” I interrupted. “I know exactly what I’m saying. You live to impress an asshole who will never show you he’s impressed. Our mother insists that you are babied and well-taken care of while you whine to her about him, and then she bitches to you about him, too.”
“Shut the hell up, John.”
“Then, after you sit together in your bitch sessions, you both go to him and kiss his ass.”
“Typical of you to talk like this, baby brother,” he stood to try and gain superiority over me. “You’ve never appreciated what this family was or has always done and provided for you. You don’t care about the work our father does—night and day—being the backbone of this family. And our mother? All you’ve ever done is take advantage of her generosity to you. You’ll never understand their love for their sons or this family because you are too busy rebelling.”
I rolled my eyes. “Rebelling? You call going to med school, becoming a doctor, and getting a job in Los Angeles a rebellious act?”
“I call all of it shit that wouldn’t have happened without our parents’ money and help.”
Fuck, I thought, knowing the bastard had me on that truth, and if I wasn’t half-drunk, I could’ve been sharper in countering him.
“Your silence speaks volumes,” he said with disgust. “Now, grow the fuck up, get over the girlfriend of three months you’re always crying about, and understand that your job at Saint John’s was an educational lesson for the real job you have ahead of you within the family.”
