Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,98
badly we have fucked this up.”
“We?” Lars laughs. “I didn’t do shit, Cooper. And if you try to blame this on me—”
“Relax, Lars. You’re still the good son. Your future is intact and promising.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Of you?” I scoff.
“Yeah. Of me. You and Ax both. You hate that I don’t have family problems like you guys do. And you know why, Cooper?”
I side-eye him with some fierce fucking anger. “Because you’re a sellout?”
He laughs. “You want to believe that. But you know it’s not true. I’m not a sellout, Cooper. I just play the game so much better than you two do, it’s sad.”
“Sellout.”
He studies me for a moment. “Well, at least I’m not a fucking baby-killer.”
“What?”
“I know what you did to Cadee, Cooper. People have been talking about it all summer.”
“What people?”
“Everyone in the kitchen for one. Dante. Victor. Hell, even Selina came up and asked me about it. I cannot fucking believe you forced her to have an abortion without even telling me and Ax. What the fuck is wrong with you? It’s not me who’s buying in to this whole kingmaker thing. It’s you. You’re the one who fell for it. I’ve always had a way out.”
“With or without us, right?”
“My father is already working on the Judge about Ax. He’ll be out on bail after his arraignment. And he’s already offered to pay off the Legosis, because God knows, the Judge won’t do it. Even if it was just about politics, and we both know it’s not. So no, I’m not going to sit around at your pity party and put my father in the same category as the Chairman and the Judge. And even though you’ve lied to me, pushed me away so you could have Cadee for yourself, and took my rights away when you forced her to get that abortion, I’ve still got your backstabbing ass, Cooper. That could’ve been my baby.”
I laugh. So loud.
“And I’m not going to sit here and listen to you criticize me or ruin Cadee’s life any more than you have. At least I understand why she was so sad that spring. And why you wanted to kick her to the curb so fast before summer rush.”
“You don’t know shit, Lars. You have no idea what I went through with Cadee that year.”
“Because you lied about it. And I’m done here. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I’ll be taking care of her from now on. You’ve done enough.”
CHAPTER THIRTY - TWO - CADEE
Sophie was right when she called Dante a sadistic dick.
He doesn’t need to touch people to hurt them.
Dante Legosi is all about psychological warfare.
And he’s good at it.
He didn’t take me to his house after we left the Glass House. He took me out to dinner at the Rib Shack in nearby Monrovia, a family place with red-checked plastic tablecloths, cheap beer served by the pitcher, and paper napkins.
It’s packed with people. Lots of kids running around with broken crayons in their sticky fists, and parents who order the family meat plate, with a soundtrack of country music and pinball machines playing in the background.
I don’t quite know what to think about this. And he can tell. Because he hasn’t stopped smiling since we sat down in the booth.
“What’s wrong, Cadee? You don’t like ribs?”
“I like ribs.” I decided on the way over here that I wasn’t going to let him win. And I wasn’t going to be meek or pout about my situation. My bank account is insane. I have over a million dollars in there now. Because the first thing Dante did was transfer the money to my account. “Sophie doesn’t deserve this money,” he said. “You do.”
And… he paid me for the stand-in I did for Mona too. Plus, I still have the money from the Chairman.
I’m fucking rich.
And no matter what happens, no one can take it away from me. Even if I walk out right now, what is he going to do? I didn’t sign a contract. I’m not even obligated to be here in this restaurant with him.
I get it. I didn’t need to come here and play this game with them in the first place, but there is really no reason for me to be here now.
So why am I?
“So what’s the problem?” Dante asks. And he’s being so reasonable. I mean—the Rib Shack? It’s all very normal. So what is my problem? “I didn’t pay you enough?”
“My problem, Dante, is that you