Nathan, unable to look away at the chilling look in his eyes.
“Now you hold on just a minute,” Courtney starts, her voice a low seethe, taking several steps until she’s in Nathan’s face. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but I think I do, and you know it. Your sons did something to my daughter. They found blood stains in that car, a busted-out window, the trunk was open and her shoes were scattered about the scene. What the fuck does that show you, your highness, Courtney?”
It shows that she put up one hell of a fight. But against who?
“It shows us nothing! My sons had nothing to do with this,” Courtney fires back.
“Really? You better pray to whichever god will hear your shit, Courtney, because mark my fucking words, your days are numbered.”
“Get out!” Dad shouts now, the vicious look on his face registering somewhere in my mind, but I don’t dwell on that.
They found her car abandoned on Route 66.
Stains of blood.
A busted-out window.
She put up one hell of a fight.
Who would do that? Fuck, it could be anyone.
“Matthews,” Cole mutters and I snap my head up to look at him. Liam also heard him, but he doesn’t react the way I thought he would. He knows something.
“Get out of my house and the next time you set foot on my property, Nathan I swear to God, I will blow your life up,” Courtney seethes.
“Are you going to stand there, defending this imbecile?” Nathan says with a scoff, then he throws his head back and starts laughing, hard. “He never loved you. He was only using you!”
“Get out!” Courtney demands.
“You should want more out of life, Courtney!” Nathans taunts. “You were just a contract, a piece of expensive, yet still cheap, paper. And now, look where that got you. How pathetic.”
Liam and Cole stare at Nathan with wide eyes. Shit, I haven’t told them what I know. But admitting to them that Courtney and John’s marriage was a contract thing will reveal another thing that will hurt my brother.
I need to first find a way to stop that shit from happening, before telling him.
“That’s enough of your drunken rants!” Dad says and marches over to Nathan, grabs him by the collar and starts dragging him down the hall, toward the front door.
“If you know what’s good for you, John, you’d let me go right now,” Nathan shouts.
“No, you and me are way past that shit,” dad growls, throwing the door open with one hand. Then he faces Nathan, a thunderous look on his face. “Remember what I told you? Ruining your stupid career? That was child’s play to what I can fucking do, and you know it?”
“You think I don’t know about your illegal shit?” Nathan spits, his face covered in blood. “I know all the shit you do.”
“Do you, now?” Dad counters, his voice so damn low and threatening, I can see Nathan’s eyes widening.
“You’re going down! I’ve already taken shit from you and I’ll keep winning.”
“Yeah well, when you finally realize that you’re nothing to me, that you’re not my brother, that everything I am is because of me, that my mother was good and that your vermin killed her, you’ll fucking realize that you are nothing to me,” Dad growls. “Your threats mean nothing to me. You are nothing.”
And with that, he literally throws Nathan out like yesterday’s trash and shuts the door behind him with a loud bang that reverberates through the house.
We all stand there looking at him when he turns around, with a murderous look on his face. He’s breathing hard, his temple is bleeding and as I look at him, a single thought crosses my mind.
My father is a broken man.
I glance at Cole and he quirks an eyebrow. I’m not the only one who feels like there’s something more going on here.
Dad turns around and looks at Nicky then at his not so ex-wife. I step back and watch the silent tense exchange between them, then without another word, John walks back down the hall and into his office, slamming the door shut behind him.
Then we hear the lock next.
Courtney is tense and silent for a minute, just standing there and we watch her. She looks between us then notices Nicky standing in the corner, her body trembling and she walks over to her with a narrowed gaze.
“I have no idea what game you’re playing here,” she mutters, her voice deliberately low but it’s fucking pointless, genius. We’re