AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Worse?” Brad barked. “First off,thatwouldn’t be terrible news.”
“Yes, it would,” Dave muttered. “She’s still in school.”
“College, Dave. Don’t say it like she’s still learning her math,” Brad scoffed.
“Still, it’d be a wrench.”
“If you’re quite finished discussing the outcome of something that aspires to the hypothetical…” Teagan said, shooting Dave a look that silenced him. Brad seemed immune while he was in the drink, however, taking to muttering under his breath.
“If it didn’t happen, doesn’t seem like you should care if we discuss-”
“Eric McKinnon has those photos I sent to Joshua when I was a transfer student in North Rock,” she said, causing Brad’s mouth to hang open and Dave’s face to somehow lose even more color.
There was a silence around the table that somehow was the loudest thing in the world. It took forever for someone to react.
And when he did, Brad upended his wine glass that was thankfully almost empty when he jumped up from the table. Jaxon went to place both hands on Brad’s shoulders, to hold him back from barreling through the door and stumbling in the general direction of where he perceived Eric to be.
“I’ll kill that little mongrel,” Brad hissed, attempting to shrug Jaxon’s hands off his shoulders.
“That wouldn’t do anyone any good, Brad,” Teagan said, reaching for her glass to take a sip of her own wine.
“It’d do me good,” Brad growled, stumbling in the effort to rid himself of Jaxon’s hands. “Let mego, Lawson!” He swung his arms around to dislodge his grasp. “You should be right behind me! That’s your-”
“Stop,” Jaxon said, surprising himself at the authority that belted forth. Even Shea froze in place, with what he could only imagine was Eric’s mobile balanced under the table on her lap. “There’s more.”
Brad sat back down, allowing Jaxon to go back to his seat. Dave was watching him like a hawk, and he hoped Davis wouldn’t leap over the table to strangle the life out of him after he was finished talking.
Jaxon took a deep breath. “When I was younger… when I wanted to run with Eric… I made some terrible decisions…”
Brad looked like he wanted to say something, but to his surprise, Dave silenced him before turning back to Jaxon.
He felt Teagan’s hand inch into his under the table. She squeezed it encouragingly, and he continued. “I snuck into Mr. Madden’s home office and went through his files. I found something that implied that Dave was his illegitimate son. Or so I thought… I took pictures and sent those to Eric in exchange for a place in his group.” He pressed his lips together. “Jump to today, he’s offered me an ultimatum. Reveal the information I gave him, or Teagan’s.”
The silence that followed was thick and oppressive before someone finally spoke. Surprisingly, it was Owen.
“Jaxon and I have already spoken on the topic. He knows the information he gave Eric is false, so we’re giving Eric the go-ahead to reveal the info.”
Brad spluttered. “Wait, what happened? You gave…” He frowned and cradled his head in his hands. Dave was strangely silent. “You… Jaxon, what the fuck were you thinking?”
His eyes burned, but he forced himself to look at Brad when he answered. “I wasn’t.”
“After everything we’ve done for you… after-”
“Brad,” Teagan said. “Brad?”
“I just…” He shook his head, refusing to look at either of them. “I need a moment.” He stood up and walked out to the kitchen, tripping over a couple of chair legs on the way.
Jaxon got so far as to tense his shoulders in preparation for standing to follow him, but Teagan kept him in place. “Let him go,” she murmured. “Give him time. He usually doesn’t need a lot.”
After he’d left, the strangest thing happened. Laughter. From Dave’s chair. Laughter so loud it shook his shoulders. “Fuck, that’s amazing,” he said, reaching up to wipe his eyes. “It’s untrue, but Eric doesn’t know that… God, he’s going to be pissed off when he realizes…”
“That’s the problem,” Teagan said. “He said he’d forget about the pictures, not hand them over. If his plan to annihilate Dad’s reputation falls through, what’s stopping him from releasing the photos, anyway?”
“True, so what’s the plan?” Dave asked, sobering and switching over into officer-mode.
“I got his mobile,” Teagan said, trying not to look at anyone. “Long story, I’ll tell it later…”
“You have Eric’s mobile?” Dave asked.
