stopped you from doing what you’ve wanted before,” I growl, glancing at Liv and Chase. Both of them look a bit shell-shocked at Dad’s display, and I realize he usually saves his harshest criticisms of my character flaws for when it’s just the two of us. They’ve never heard him talk to me like this. I do what I always do . . . take the pain, transform it, and turn it into something useful.
Dad huffs at my outburst, turning to face the window again, rudely dismissing me the same way he always does.
Usually this is the point where I walk away, but today, I can’t. “You’re wrong,” I say flatly.
Dad turns around from his window view, eyeing me incredulously. “Excuse me?”
“I said you’re wrong. The board is considering my plan. Hell, they’re considering them all, but we all know my plan is the one that’s intriguing them. That’s why they’re having closed-door discussions without you. You can’t control this and it’s driving you crazy. You’re such a narcissist that you don’t realize you’ve already lost,” I say, stepping forward. “The fact is, the whole gala was just an excuse to stroke your own ego. You’re behind the times and out of touch.”
My father is fuming, literal beads of sweat popping on his forehead as the heat of his anger enflames him from the inside. “No matter which way the board goes on this, it’s still not a clear-cut decision on who will take the reins when I retire. That’s a separate vote and one I will be heard on again before ballots are cast. So watch yourself, Son. This old dog still has bark, but more importantly, he still has bite.”
He gets up, passing me as he walks to the door, and I hold my breath, literally unsure what he’s going to do. But he simply bypasses me without incident before stopping in the doorway. He looks back, making eye contact with each of us before settling his eyes on mine. “Scott, of all my children, you are the most like me. A chip off the old block.” He says it with a smile, like it’s a compliment. It’s the worst thing he’s ever said to me and my stomach rolls as he strides off down the hall.
I collapse into the white leather chair nearest me, stunned and questioning whether I’m really like him. He’s been the villain in my story all along . . . the absentee father, the harshest critic, the self-important narcissist. Could he be right about me?
Liv comes over, sitting daintily in the chair nearest me like the lady she mostly is. “Scott, he’s wrong.” My eyes click to hers, and I know I’m silently begging her for more. “Dad is an asshole, always has been and always will be, with issues we can’t begin to decipher or cure. You’re ambitious and driven, with a hard outer shell. But you’re not him. None of us are. We’re affected by him, but we’re not broken like he is.”
I lay my hand over hers and realize it’s the first time in years that I’ve touched my own sister other than handshakes and poses for pictures at events. “Thanks, Liv.”
There’s a beat of silence, then Chase speaks but never looks away from the view out the windows. “Is he always that cruelly critical with you?”
I huff a humorless laugh. “That? Other than telling me I’m like him, that was a fucking rah-rah pep talk compared to our usual rehash of my faults.”
Chase’s eyes cut to mine, and I can see the disgust. “I had no idea. His talks with me are usually about how I’m destined for greatness but have to fight and earn every accolade lest you steal them from me.”
Ours eyes lock on each other, flashes of our past playing out between us in the tense air. The competitions, the fights, the hatred, but also the hard work, the accomplishments, and the empire we’ve helped sustain. It hasn’t been pretty, but it’s gotten us pretty damn far. Although I’m not sure the benefit has been worth the cost.
Chase’s eyes drop first and he takes a breath, but I don’t let him say anything else, don’t want to dwell on what has been. Maddie is in my ear, telling me that there’s another way, or there could be. “Chase, I’m sorry. About the fight, about the . . . well, about a lot of things. I’m sorry.” Maddie was right. Saying it does feel good, releases a