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“Oh, I’m sorry. Reign, is it?” my father asks.
Reign narrows his eyes, turning toward my father as he nods.
He knows Reign’s name. He’s always known it.
“You weren’t here last year. Are you aware of any of the accusations they are pinning on my daughter?”
Reign watches my father, his eyes empty. “I’m very much aware.”
My father tilts his head to the side. “Of course, you aren’t the least bit concerned. You have your own list of crimes, which is about a mile long. Is that what you’ve come back for? You want to team up with my daughter, be criminals together? You want to corrupt her even more?” he growls.
My eyes widen. “Reign wasn’t even here last year to corrupt me! Quit putting the blame on him!” I scream, wanting to tear my hair out.
“Barnett…” my mother warns.
I grab my knife and fork, leaning forward as I cut into my salmon, just for something to do. Shoving a bite into my mouth, it’s completely flavorless, but it’s this or stab my father in the eye.
My hold on my anger is thin as a sheet of paper at this point.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter. I’ve made it fairly clear to law enforcement that you do not get charged. But there was a condition to this, Lakyn,” my father says after a moment.
My knife and fork drop from my hands, clanking against the expensive china.
Of course. He didn’t want to have dinner with me. He wanted to fucking proposition me. To warn me.
My eyes lift to his. “What do you want?” I ask him quietly.
He brings his hand up, running his fingers along his bare jaw. “You aren’t to get involved in any criminal activity this year, otherwise you will be serving jail time.” He grabs his fork, taking another bite before he looks at me with a smug smirk. “You can also kick your trust fund goodbye.”
Wait, what?
“What?!” I shriek.
I am an adult. That trust fund was mine once I turned eighteen.
“It’s already mine!” I snap.
He smiles. “A quick signature put that account right back into my name.” He cocks his head to the side. “I’m done with your bad behavior, Lakyn. I’m through with it. And no daughter of mine is getting a penny of my money with a bloody stain on her record.”
My hands drop to the chair, and I dig my fingers into the wood, scoring it with my nails. My breaths come out in small pants, and I feel the spiral hitting me, ripping away my sanity.
I turn to my mom, eyes wide.
She shakes her head at me slowly.
I turn back to my dad, my blood humming, my heart thumping in my ears. “You wouldn’t.”
He smirks. “I already have. It’s written in the trust.”
I stand up so quickly, the edge of my plate catches on my legs, tipping onto the table.
My father stands up, grabbing the napkin on his lap and slapping it onto his plate. “Lakyn!”
I clench my jaw as I stare at him, so done with his bullshit. “You call me here to accuse me of murder and threaten to cut me off? Are you serious right now?” My skin feels hot to the touch, and my barely contained rage roars to the surface. I’m usually good at remaining calm, and keeping the beast at bay, but when my father fucks with my life, when he intentionally wants to ruin me, it will never end up well, and he knows it.
“We’re getting out of here,” Archer says, as if he can sense my rising anger. He pushes his chair back and stands up. The rest of the guys do the same, and my mother mirrors them, a sigh breaking from her throat as her face twists in distress.
“But you just got here, Lakyn,” she sighs.
