“You know what. She’s myfriend, Ethan, and that’s not a nice look.”
“What the fuck ever,” I growl.
Back then, it was easy to ignore her.
Little Hattie didn’t have the spark she does now. The occasional flash of confidence that gives her just enough sass to grab my attention by the throat.
Not many people dare to sass me. Not to my face.
“Idiot,” Margot spits. “If you’re not careful, you’ll confuse her. Don’t make this silly wedding crap harder than it needs to be.”
“Now you’re just talking shit. I’m not making it hard on anyone. This was Gramps’ idea, after all.”
“Uh-huh.” She scowls at me suspiciously. “You’re not being nice to her.”
“I’m being me, Sis.”
“You’re being a dick,” she throws back. “This is just as hard on her as it is for you. Harder, maybe. The least you can do is be more accommodating. Getting all huffy because she has a job and a life outside you and this goofy arrangement? That’s clownish.”
“If she didn’t want to do it, she could’ve said no. She knows her obligations. The ship has sailed.”
“Yeah, because when you tell her”—she puts on a falsely macho voice—“if I’m going, you are toothat gives hersomuch room to say no.”
“It’s Hattie. She knows me.”
“She knows how much of an immature jerkwad you can be. You used to bully her so much. You can’t do it again. I won’t allow it.” Margot flicks her hair over her shoulder. “You’re my brother, so I’m kind of forced to love you, but that doesn’t mean I like you. Especially back then.”
“We all had to grow up. But I was also a kid once.”
Margot rolls her eyes, checking her makeup with her phone camera. “I heard about you going off on Cooper.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I’m not the only one. A few Boston big shots overheard you guys, too. They were laughing about it later.”
“And? So fucking what?” I scowl at her, then at my own reflection in the limo window. “Fuck them. Cooper Daley isn’t the golden boy everyone thinks he is.”
Even though he really does have everyone eating out of the palm of his hand. It’s nauseating how far a little contrived charm gets you. Just because he makes small talk and invests appalling sums in plastic surgery.
Few can look past the Hollywood grade smile and see the devil underneath.
“What makes you think he’s so awful, anyway?” Margot asks.
“He used Blackthorn’s market research to land his big breaks on Long Island. The ones that made him millions.” It stings, knowing he took advantage of Gramps like that. “They called it miracle real estate. That doesn’t happen for rookies like him with barely any capital.”
“Newsflash:you’rea rookie. Hardly a year in the game,” Margot reminds me, putting her phone away. “Why did you even come back?”
“Gramps wanted me to.”
“Yeah, but… he’s wanted you to do that foryears. Why did you decide you wanted trouble at the eleventh hour?” She sighs in exasperation. “We could’ve sold our stake in the company and done basically anything else.”
“What, like started a shoe line?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Yes!Don’t talk about it like that. I don’t even want to deal with whatever he has for me in the will. I could’ve started a shoe line and you could’ve flown off to Greece or Hawaii for a year if you wanted. You could’ve been baking under the sun sipping mai tais. Maybe it would’ve cured your bad mood.”
“Goddammit, Margot. Be serious.”
“Iambeing serious. Why did you come back?”
