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“Oh, it’s so nice to have all my boys together again.” Mal claps her hands together and makes the rounds hugging the guys.
I sit back down at the table, feeling completely out of place. There’s a weird tension in the air, then I kick myself.No shit, Rory. You’re being held prisoner by these people, and now you’re about to sit down to some fucked up dinner with them like it’s no big deal.I zone out while they all greet each other and have familiar conversations together. A chair slides out next to me, and Mal drops into it with a glass of wine in hand.
“Care to join me? You might need it.” She tips her head at her glass.
“Wine would be fucking great right about now. Shit. Sorry.” She smiles at me and gestures at Eddie.
He walks over and puts the bottle between us and hands me a glass before promptly moving away from me again. What the fuck is his problem? It’s not like I’m the one holding him hostage. Asshole. I let out a little snort at his behavior, and Mal carefully watches the interaction with a blank face.
“Don’t be too hard on him, Rory. He’s got some anger issues, and I think he was nervous about meeting you face-to-face.” Mal pats my hand in an overly familiar gesture.
I glance over at Eddie, and he’s talking to Wade but stealing glances at me. They don’t look like nervous glances at all. It seems more like he’s making sure I don’t try something shady or try to rush him with a knife.
“He doesn’t seem nervous to me.” I take a generous sip of wine and meet Mal’s eyes.
“Well, he’s only ever seen pictures of you, and I must say, your family resemblance is much more striking in person.”
I half choke and half spew wine all over the table. “E-excuse me?”
Mal grabs a napkin and dabs at her face where I must have gotten her with wine before handing me a napkin of my own.
“You and my Edmund are half-siblings. Your father got me pregnant twenty-five years ago and left us. Well, that’s being a little too generous. What he did was much worse, which is why you’re here now.”
I’m struggling to get air in, and Wade moves to my side. “Do you want some water? Try to take a slow deep breath for me.” I try to follow along with him, and it helps a little. “That’s it.
Good job, you’re doing great.“ He looks over at Mal with a frown.
“What? She’s going to learn the truth tonight.”
“Yeah, I know. I thought we could at least make it through the first course though. Fuck,
Mal.”
“Oh, yes. I am starving. Let’s eat before we get into all that nasty business.” Mal lays a new napkin in her lap and sits up straight.
Wade makes sure I’m breathing before he gets up to move the food to the table.
Everyone bustles around, preparing to eat, and I slam my glass of wine before filling it up again. This is going to be a long fucking night.
Rory
It’sclearfromMal’sswift attitude change that we won’t be discussing this further until she’s ready. I hope she’s a quick eater. Naturally, that hope diminishes as Wade brings all the food out and everyone starts to eat and slowly savors their food. Dicks. I can’t deny that this fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, asparagus, and salad are fucking delicious, but I can’t eat very much with the bombshell that was dropped on me.
Everyone pleasantly talks amongst themselves while I sit taking tiny bites of food and stare at my brother.What?It can’t be true. There’s just no way. Why would my father have a child with this woman and abandon her and the baby? He would never do that. Henry Cole isn’t a perfect man, but he isn’t a bad person. He’s always loved Mom and me and taken care of us. I can’t recall a time when he’s ever even yelled at me. These people just want to turn me against him, and I won’t let them.
With a renewed sense of who I am and where I come from, I dig into my food. I’m going to need my strength to deal with these people, and at least right now, I can be reasonably sure this food isn’t drugged, so I should take my fill. A small sigh of appreciation leaves my lips as I chew on a mouthful of chicken and mashed potatoes. I thought it was quiet enough to go unnoticed, but Wade’s eyes are on me, and my skin flushes at the way he stares.
Of course, this is also the moment that Eddie looks over at me, and he scoffs before shaking his head in disgust and looking away. I guess my dear older brother has a fucking stick up his ass. Whatever. I’m not interested in why he hates me for no reason. As far as I’m concerned, we don’t need to know each other any more than we do right now either. I look away from him and promise to not spare him another glance the rest of the night.
After what feels like an eternity, everyone is done with their food. However, the torture doesn’t end because there’s also cake. And this cake is apparently so delicious we can’t possibly sully its presence by talking about any unpleasantness until we’ve all consumed a slice. When Wade places a piece in front of me, I glare at him, and he smiles before moving along to the next piece. I hate him more for the fact that this tastes so good. I make sure not to let any noises or sighs slip out while I eat my dessert and quickly push my plate away as soon as I’m done.
I’m on my third glass of wine now, but I’m not worried. I just ate so much food it’s going to take more than that to really affect me. Mal pours herself another glass as well before clearing her throat. This better be fucking story time, or I swear to god I’m going to scream and throw mashed potatoes at everyone. The guys take this as a sign to quickly clear the table, and within a minute, they have everything moved and are seated with drinks in hand. I guess we’re all going to need some liquid courage to get through this.
“Rory, I’m sure you’re anxious to get started. I’m not going to keep anything from you, and I’ll answer any questions you may have. I want to caution you that you’re not going to like everything you hear. You’ll probably hate most of it actually, but it is the truth, whether you want to believe it or not.” Mal gives me a small smile, but she’s practically vibrating with excitement.
“Why should I believe anything you tell me? You casually drop a bomb that I have a brother and that my father is a terrible person with no explanation and expect that I’ll just take your word for whatever else is going to come out of your mouth? I don’t think so. The credibility of kidnappers is kind of shot to shit.” I lean back in my chair with my arms crossed while everyone stares at me.
“We told you she was feisty, Mal.” Hayes looks pleased by my behavior as he beams at Mal.
