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“You've never been quiet about anything in your entire life,” Letta jokes. “I doubt you are about to start. Does the man know what he's getting himself into?”
Despite everything, despite my uncertainty and my fear, I find myself laughing at my sister's joke. “I doubt it. But he'll learn fast enough.”
“This will be hard on both of you. Try to keep that in mind before you gut him.” There is noise in the background, the sound of a voice. Michael's. “I have to go, Leelee. Joking aside, if he isn't good to you, I'll destroy him and his family.”
It's an empty threat. Letta doesn't have it in her to act that way. She never has. Of all my siblings, Letta is probably the most level-headed. She is also the one with the kindest heart. She wouldn't hurt anyone, and it pisses me off that her stupid husband has taken advantage of that good nature.
“I love you.”
I can't help but smile at her words. She means them, from the depths of her soul. Letta has always loved me. “I love you too.”
The phone goes dead, and I slide it back onto my bedside table. I want to stay in bed for days, avoid my life, but that's not possible. If I don't get up soon, Margaret will come looking for me. My stepmother has set ideas on how ladies should behave.
After a shower, I pull on my favourite skinny jeans and a flowing band T-shirt that I know my father will hate. I pair it with my favourite calf-length boots and a leather jacket I picked up from some retro clothes store I found tucked away in a London side street. I make my way downstairs, and as I pass the living room, my father calls out to me.
I consider pretending I haven't heard him, but it's easier to just get things over with quickly. As I step into the room, I see my stepmother sitting next to him. That may temper him a little. Margaret doesn't like violence and Hamish doesn't like anything that upsets Margaret.
My father's eyes crawl over my body as he takes in what I'm wearing. The downturn of his lips tells me he doesn't approve. “You look like a streetwalker.”
Margaret's smacks his arm. “Hamish! You shouldn't talk like that to your daughter.”
“I buy her a wardrobe full of garments that cost more than the average person makes in a year, and she dresses like…” he waves an annoyed hand in my direction, “this?”
“I'm not a doll,” I tell my father. “You don't get to play dress up with me. I like what I'm wearing and don't care if you don't.”
His teeth clamp together, and I can see he's barely keeping his anger contained. If we were alone, he would have already struck me. “I'm not sure Kane knows what he's getting himself into in this marriage. You're the most disagreeable woman I have ever met in my life. That's saying a lot because I married your fucking mother.”
His disparaging of my mother hits a nerve. I curl my hands into fists and lean towards him, hissing, “She was better than you will ever be!”
Margaret shifts in her seat, her lips pulling into a displeased frown. “Please don't say things in the heat of the moment that you can't take back.”
Her words are aimed at me, not at my father. She would never publicly chastise Hamish.
My father grabs his wife's hand and gives her a gentle squeeze. All the anger drains from his eyes. “I'm sorry, my darling.”
I have no idea how my father can be this soft and gentle towards Margaret and act like a crazed lunatic towards me and my siblings. What a hold she has over him!
“Was there a reason you called me in?” I demand after a moment of watching him soothe her. It’s not jealousy I feel at the scene, but anger. He would never be this way with me, Dex, or Letta.
My father’s mouth pulls into a tight line as he takes me in. “Charlotte Fraser called this morning.”
Unease spreads through me. I get the impression Kane's mother is a meddling bitch. There were rumours she tugs the strings of the Fraser syndicate, rumours I didn’t believe until last night. Marrying his son off should have been a monumental event for Anthony Fraser. It is the start of a new legacy, yet it wasn’t Anthony who attended the engagement party.
It was his wife.
So yes, I don’t doubt Charlotte Fraser’s power in that organisation. If I want to get details on their family, she is my best bet. Keeping my new mother-in-law on side will be important for my future survival within that family, though I get the impression she will crush me into the dirt if I threaten what she’s built.
“What did she want?” I ask.
“She thought it might be a good idea for you to get to know your in-laws before the wedding.”
Fuck no.
I make a grunting sound in the back of my throat that shows my displeasure at this idea. “Surely it would be better to get to know my husband first.”
“I don't think Kane is agreeable to that. But his sister and his sisters-in-law are keen to meet you.” My heart starts to beat at an exceptional rate. I'm not the kind of person that has a lot of girlfriends. The women in my life have always been bitches, after one thing—usually getting my brother’s attention, since he will one day take over from my father.
I don't imagine Kane's female relatives are any different.
