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Chapter 6
Cash
I’msurprisedhowquicklymy attorneys are able to finalize the purchase of the club. Transfer money, sign the deed, and voilà—within two weeks I am the owner of the hottest night club in Boston. Something that would be far more suited for Chase.
Maybe it will be my apology to him whenever he decides to show his face again.
Like a burst of air, my sister breezes into my office with a scowl on her face. “Did you buy a nightclub?”
Looking her up and down, I study her outfit. What is she wearing? Cat is always dressed in stylish outfits that take some getting used to, but this is just a cowl-neck top and a high slit skirt. It’s something Grace would wear. The fact that thought even enters my brain drives me nuts. When will everything I see stop reminding me of her?
I eye her skeptically. “Yeah, I bought a club. Are you going to tell me I don’t have the power to do that now?”
Cat plops into the chair, both her legs going outward rather than her typical crossed perfection. She looks like the Raggedy Ann doll she used to carry around as a child. Her knees tight and her legs out in a triangle. Exhausted and stressed.
Or more accurately, she’s probably just tired of my shit.
“No. Of course you can buy whatever you want. I just thought maybe you would have talked to me before such a big purchase.”
I straighten my tie in an attempt to control the temper that keeps lashing out at everyone else. Clearly, something is going on with Cat. Something bigger than my buying a club. “It was a good opportunity. Besides, I need something else to focus on since you and Hanson are taking over my company.”
So much for reining in the asshole.
Cat lets out a long breath. Something must be really bothering her to let me get away with being such a jerk. “We didn’t take over the company, Cash. We’re merging. Those are two very different things. And you will still be running the liquor company.”
I laugh. “How kind of you.”
“What do you want from me? An apology? I’m sorry. I am fucking sorry that a girl I trusted screwed you over. I had no idea Vanessa was like that. I am really, really sorry, Cash.”
I slump back into my chair and kick my leg so that I roll backward until I hit the wall. Once again, I’m lashing out at my family. Lashing out at the one person who has my back. The only one who hasn’t yelled at me for letting go of Grace, who hasn’t disappeared off to who knows where, and who has signed her life away just to save all of us. I stand up and walk around the desk, kneeling in front of her.
“I’m sorry, Cat.” I loosen my tie. “I’m just so damn stressed and miserable. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
She motions to the chair next to her and I sit. “No, you should take it out on me. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t been so damn adamant that you stay away from Grace, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I don’t really see how that’s true. You were right about her. I should have listened.”
Cat sighs loudly again. “Yeah, about that, maybe I wasn’t,” she says quietly.
I push back. “Maybe you weren’t what?”
She looks at me out of the side of her eye and quietly replies, “Right about Grace.”
I growl in frustration. “Don’t you start too.”
Cat takes this as a win and perks up. “So, I’m not the only one saying you might have been wrong about her. ThatIwasdefinitelywrong about her.”
I cannot believe this woman. She’s turned my entire family against me. She’s even turned my best friend and driver against me. And now my sister. My sister who hated her. This is ridiculous.
“You know what, I’m not discussing this with you. Or Frank. Or anyone else for that matter. You can all keep your thoughts to yourself because I’m fine.” I huff out a breath and look away. Then because I can’t stop myself, I push out of my chair and move to the bar.
“You realize that drinking at two in the afternoon is a pretty good indication that you are, in fact, not fine.”
“No, Cat, I wasn’t aware that is the case. Please enlighten me.” Lifting the glass to my mouth, just the smell of the bourbon relaxes me. Once it hits my tongue, my eyes close and I feel numbness take over.
Cat stands. Her footsteps are like an alarm in the morning; you try hard to ignore it, but it’s inevitable that eventually it will shake you from your rest. She pulls the glass from my hand. She’s got bigger balls than Frank. Looking me dead in the eye, she warns, “Cash, I won’t let you throw away your life because of my error. Talk to her.Please.”
My heart pounds as the remnants of the bourbon burns my throat. I hold her stare. I won’t back down. “No.”
