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“The business we’re in, secrets can be both valuable and dangerous. You spill to the wrong person, you don’t spill to the right person, and you find yourself in a tight spot that you will never get out of. Secrets have power, Holden. If you know how to use it.”
That’s the same spiel Harlow gave me not too long ago so now I know where he got it from. Not much of a surprise if you ask me. A guy like Harlow couldn’t be doing a lot of thinking on his own. He’s just a glorified minion. He acts, dresses, talks the way my father…my biological father wants him to act, dress and talk.
We have wine and the food is amazing, and Zaff and I talk for hours about normal stuff—the weather, football and presidential debates.
For a while, it’s almost normal.
Father and son having brunch.
I know I used that word, or those words, but give me a break. It’s the first time in years that I’ve seen the man I’ve only heard bad stories about from my mother. And yet, I like spending time with him more than I care to admit. Is it wrong to want normal sometimes? Is it too much to ask? But as it turns out those moments of normalcy that I was enjoying turned out to be far too fleeting.
“When are you joining the business?” Zaff asks.
“I already have,” I say. “I’m going to work every day and I’m sitting in the CEO’s seat, the same office Dad used to occupy when he was alive.”
“I’m not talking about that business, Holden.”
And with that one tiny statement, all my hopes of this being a normal father-son brunch have disappeared. I knew this was too good to be true. Zaff is on an agenda. I can smell it. But there’s nothing I can do about the fact that I still want to find out for myself. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told my mother,” I say. “I don’t want any part of Dad’s business; the Danvers Drug Empire can go to hell for all I care. I’m going to do what I went to college for: Business Management. I’m going to make sure Danvers Enterprise becomes so huge no amount of drug money will be big enough for me to worry about.”
“You really don’t know a thing about the business, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Holden,” Zaff says. “You think that’s a choice you’re allowed to make? If that’s really what you think, then I feel bad for you. But I feel worse for the man who raised you, Holden because he definitely should have done a better job of it.”
“What’s that supposed to imply?” I say. “You think my father raised some kind of pussy, is that it? That’s your mature opinion? You think your berating me about it is going to change my mind? Then you really know nothing about me, Mr. Heliot.”
Zaff tries to calm himself down. “Look Holden,” he says. “Your father may have tried his best to raise you, and maybe he never wanted you to be part of the drug business and that’s why he kept it from you, or maybe it was your mom’s decision and she thought she would protect you, I have no idea. But there’s this thing called fact, Holden. The reality. You are a drug lord’s sole heir. If you don’t accept this reality, then do so at your own peril. But don’t come running to me when you find that I was right and that your parents were both wrong to keep this from you. I was eighteen when my father told me who we were. And I hated it, Holden. I hated him. I blamed him for changing my life, for fucking it all up. But now, I see why he did it. I see it and I’m trying to do the same for you because you’re my son, and regardless of how many times you call me Zaff or Mr. Heliot, I will remain your fathe
r. I want to protect you.”
He gets up and places the money for the bill on the table.
“Because in case you haven’t noticed Holden, we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Monsters Without a Clue
TEAGUE
My fingers are itching to dial Mia’s number and my ears are dying to hear her voice. But I’ve barely picked up my phone when Sebastian snatches it from me. “Not so fast!” he says. “Have you decided what you’re going to tell her first?”
“I don’t care!” I yell. “I’ll just tell her the truth!”
“That you almost killed someone last night and then your cousin helped cover it up?”
Oh my God, when he puts it like that…I’m a monster. How do you even begin telling someone that? I feel a knot inside my chest that has nothing to do with the physical pain because I’ve taken enough painkillers since waking up to silence the physical shit.
“Teague,” Sebastian says. “You lied to her. About where you were going. Now if you tell one more to save your ass, and save Mia from hurt, I don’t think that’s such a bad idea.”
“Last night,” I say. “It was the first time I ever lied to her. I don’t even know what came over me. I just…I was addicted. And I wanted to feel that rush…that I felt last time in the cage…I wanted to…fuck…and I knew she wasn’t going to let me go if I told her. I knew that, so I had no choice but to lie!”
“You did have a choice. You chose to go there, Teague. If you hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”
“Fuck. How do I fix this, Sebastian?”
“Well,” Sebastian says. “First, we have to come up with a solid excuse for where you are for the next…I don’t know…however long it’s going to take for you to look less like something Victor Frankenstein created in his lab.”
At this time, I would usually be pacing about the room but I can’t even do that. My leg is fucked up. I know I almost killed him last night, but Bob did some serious damage last night. But that’s why I chose Bob. Because he was a challenge. Because I had gotten sick of winning every fight ever since I started this, and I wanted more. Everyone said it was a bad idea because they knew what Bob was capable of. Apparently, no one was counting on my homicidal tendencies. No one, including me. I still can’t believe everything that happened, actually happened, it all seems like a dream. One minute I was in the cage and the next, Bob was on the floor and I had beaten the shit out of him, literally.
