AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fuck you.” I pulled out my keys and threw them at him. My apartment was within walking distance anyway.
“I’ll be working on finding a better place for you to live as well. You need to save your money.”
“This is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with my apartment.” He was taking this conservatorship thing way too far. “I have a period of time to appeal this, you know. So, until that happens, I’m not moving.”
“You are. Either an apartment of my choosing or home.”
I flipped him off and walked out. Without even getting the key to my apartment off my keychain. Fuck him. If he wanted me to move, he could do the moving. I was done with all of it.
His accountant added, “You’ll be given an allowance. Here.” I turned to see him stretch out a card to me. “All your other accounts are now frozen. This will give you enough for living expenses.”
“You moved awfully fast. Too fast. You think I’m stupid? You’ve gone too far. Father.”
Then his expression did change, but not for the better. The smirk on his face said all I needed to know. I’d been railroaded. He’d called in favors, maybe paid some people off, and maybe this whole thing was illegal, but I’d never be able to unravel it alone. And that’s exactly what he thought I was—alone. He was wrong.
I snatched the card out of the accountant’s hand.
“I’ll need your cell phone, too.”
I shook my head. “Did you already turn it off?”
The man’s mouth dropped. No. They wanted my contacts. Not going to happen.
“Listen. Have it turned off, but you’re not getting my actual phone unless it’s by prying it out of my cold, dead hand.” I nodded and walked off. Fuck them all. I had a list of things I needed to do now. If they thought I hadn’t started preparing for this eventuality, they were wrong.
I left the courthouse, walking out into the overly bright Florida sunshine. I pulled my aviator sunglasses from where I’d had the arm tucked inside my shirt and put them over my eyes. I kept walking, but not toward the parking garage. That was a waste of time. No, I moved toward the Channel District. And I tapped one particular number in my contact list. One I’d purposefully mislabeled—just in case.
Jax.
“Hey, how’d it go? What happened?” he asked. Jax was my best friend in the whole world. If anyone could understand me, it would be him. His parents weren’t nearly as controlling as mine, obviously. Still, he did have that living under a trust fund experience. And we practically grew up together. My father hated him. Jax was too effeminate, too dainty, and he didn’t apologize for anything. And he was also co-owner with me and Chris in our Tam-PAH group. PAH, which stood for Pups and Handlers. Yep. Pups. And that’s what set this whole thing off. Dad had been spying on me and my finances. He presented pictures from our mosh with me and Jax wrestling, dressed as pups. I could feel Boone, my pup, growling within me. Father didn’t understand. So, like most big, powerful white, uninformed, males, he attacked.
“They won.” I wasn’t sure how I managed to squeak the words out of my mouth.
“What? How?”
“You know how. Whatever. Doesn’t matter now.”
“Fuck. We need to meet with Drew.” I should have done that to begin with, apparently, but I didn’t know him that well until after this had started. Drew owned one of the few law firms in the city that wasn’t on my father’s payroll and was good friends with Ward, Jax’s boyfriend. If I’d known all of that sooner, I would have called him, but I also thought I’d picked someone neutral with Powell. I doubted that decision now. My father’s roots went deep in this city, and I should have known better. Jax was right.
“First, I have to figure basic things out.” I flipped the offensive card the accountant gave me over in my hand. “They’ve already cut me off. I have nothing. They took my car. Cut off all my accounts. He’s even making me move.”
“Yeah, somewhere he can better keep an eye on you, I’m sure. But damn. That was extremely fast.”
“They had to have had everything ready to go, waiting for a quick phone call. And Bam! I’m totally reliant on him.” I wanted to cry. I felt betrayed. My mother couldn’t even look at me. Fuck them all. I wouldn’t linger on it. “Plan B goes into play as of right now.”
“Where are you?”
“Walking toward Channelside. First, I’m going to La La’s. I have enough cash for a couple of drinks. Can you pick me up there?”
“Yeah, uh, I can be there in about forty-five minutes. Don’t get sloshed before then, yeah?”
“We’ll see.” If ever there was a time to get fucked up, this was it. But I was more practical than that. I was now on the warpath. “Nah, seriously, Jax. Just one or two to take the edge off. Then, I’m going to continue planning.”
“Okay, pup. On my way.”
Chapter four
The Aftermath
