Teacher's Pet Complete Series (26 page)

Simon spoke up first. “So is it true or not? I need to know for the sake of my sanity, and excuse me, Father, I mean no disrespect, but this shit has gotten way out of hand.”

Cornelius stood up straight out of his chair. He stood at least a hulking six three. “I think it is best that we wait for your mother. We should have this discussion at a more appropriate time, once the party is over and the house is empty of guests.”

“Wait, what?” Simon scoffed. “Mother knows?”

I had to speak up, as Simon’s face was turning colors: red, purple, blue and for a moment a mix of all three. “Simon, can I speak to you outside in the hall?”

Simon threw a stern glare my way. “Absolutely not!”

Dane snickered. “What do you two have to talk about that you can’t say in the presence of family?”

“Shut up, Dane!” I snapped. “He’s obviously upset, and this is not how I was told this would go. I owe him an explanation.”

“You don’t owe him anything. He dumped you, remember?”

“Because of you!” I paused. “So just give us a minute, will you?” I looked to Mr. Foster for his approval to be excused. He nodded and sat back in his chair, interlacing his fingers on the desk. I grabbed Simon by the arm, coaxing him to walk me outside. He wouldn’t budge at first, and held a stone-cold look until he saw my soft, pleading look.

Simon sighed, opened the door, walked through and closed it gently behind him, although he clearly wanted to slam it shut. The muscles in his face were edgy and tense, protruding along his jaw line in tiny, pebbled knots. He flipped his wrist to glance at his watch. “All right, you’ve got a minute and only a minute. Say what you have to say so I can get out of here. This is a goddamn circus.” His face was absurdly pale and sprinkled with angry crimson.

I studied Simon’s eyes as they were looking everywhere but in mine. He darted them left and right, avoiding looking me straight in the face. I tried to move with them but… it was hopeless. “Okay, let’s get this out the way. I know you hate me right now. I—”

“Right now? Ha! That’s a joke!”

“Fine, you’ll hate me forever, Simon. Is that better? Are we all clear now?”

He shrugged with indifference.

My patience was reaching its limits. I knew Simon had every right to be upset, but there was only so much I could take before I lost it. “Can we just have a conversation without us acting like a couple of children? Is that too much to ask?”

“With one of us being an untrustworthy liar?” he scoffed. “I’d say the odds were very slim to none. But I’m here now, so speak your piece while you have my attention.” He flipped his wrist to look at his watch. “You’ve got less than thirty seconds.”

“Simon, I—”

“What exactly is going on here?” A sharp voice startled me from behind. I’d heard it once before, when it lashed across my face, causing wounds of burning embarrassment that had taken days to heal.

Without thinking, I whipped around. My anger flared up and my frustration let go. I just wanted to tell Simon I was sorry. “Can’t you see we’re having a conversation here?” I said it a lot louder than I needed to. It was a knee-jerk reaction to all the madness going on. I couldn’t help myself. I let it out. “I mean, how rude can you be?”

“Pretty damn rude, actually!” the voice barked. “Especially when you’re yelling in my house!” Once I fully turned around, I realized the voice belonged to Caroline Foster. Next to her was an Amazon of a woman that had four inches on me, if not more, dressed in an all-white, hot and strappy ensemble with nude-colored mesh around her midriff.

She stepped next to Simon, twisted her arm around his and leaned in until her ear was resting on his face. I felt my stomach slip from a great height and fail to stick the landing.

Caroline gave me a cold and unappreciative stare. “I don’t recall ever inviting you to this event, Lynora. I’d like to know how you got in without my knowledge.”

“Wait!” Simon said, unraveling his arms from the girls. “You two know each other.”

“We’ve met,” Caroline said. “I wasn’t impressed.”

Simon folded his arms across his chest and loosened his stance. A sign he was emotionally shutting down. “It seems like secrets are your forte, Lynn.”

“But they’re not.” I pointed. Another mistake I made. “And that’s really funny coming from you. Your mother just showed up at my dorm room unannounced. I wasn’t expecting her or anything. It’s not like it was planned. She surprised me as much as my being here surprised you. Part of the reason I came here was to talk to her and smooth things out, because it seems like we got off on the wrong foot.”

“It was the right foot, dear, I assure you, and it’s the only foot that matters. I’m still trying to figure out how you squirmed your way into my home.”

Squirmed?

“I invited them,” Cornelius boomed, coming out of his office, Dane in tow, all in black and definitely out of place.

Caroline’s eyes became saucers. “What is
he
doing here, Cornelius?” Her face contorted with anger. She peeked over her shoulder to see if any of her guests were standing in the hall to witness the drama that was unfolding.

“I thought it was time, Caroline,” Cornelius responded. “I wanted to talk to you about it, but I knew how you’d react, so I thought if I invited them to the party you would be less likely to make a scene. Not in front of all your guests. And I knew if I did it in private you’d just walk out.”

“Well, you were right.” Caroline turned to walk away. The tall Amazon girl didn’t know which way to turn. She looked at Simon, stepped to follow Caroline and then seemed to change her mind at the last minute.

“Simon, what is going on?” Amazon said.

“Katelyn Turner, I’d like you to meet my new brother Dane, and his date, who happens to be my ex, Lynora Minnelli. Lynn, this is my girlfriend Katelyn Turner.”

Girlfriend? What?

We waited until everyone left. Guests piled out the doors in groups of threes and more, with the richest being the last ones to leave. I was sitting on the tan leather couch in the reading room down the end of the main hall. Katelyn was sitting next to me, glaring at Lynn, and Lynn was glaring at her; I thought I heard a hiss from Katelyn's lips.

I had little to no motivation to party, so instead I drank whatever I could. I was pouring my second straight Macallan on the rocks when I realized Dane was leaning in the doorway watching me, with that sideways grin I’d come to hate.

His arms were folded across his chest, with his hands tucked deep in the corners. He looked like he was posing for a magazine photo: calm looking, sleek and darkly profiled. This wasn't helping matters as far as I was concerned. Dane was good looking, heavily favoring my father. I kept getting flashes of him having sex with Lynn, on top of her with that stupid sly grin, fucking her and making her cream on his dick, screaming in the throes of desire, her clawing his back and lifting her hips to deepen the penetration. The more I thought about it, the faster I drank. The more out of my mind I wanted to get.

Lynn was standing in the doorway near Dane, with an expression on her face that looked similar to pity. Neither Dane nor her dared to enter the reading room fully. They just skirted around the edges of the wall like insects trying to avoid the web of a spider. I assumed it was because I looked like I would snap, and I was not the type of man to disappoint. “You’ve got two seconds to get the hell out of here, Dane, before I smash this bottle of scotch across your face.”

“You know, Dad described you as a more serene and level-headed type, so I’m willing to bet a large wad of money you wouldn’t do it. And if you did happen to get the balls, I’d be forced to defend myself, and that could turn out to be messy. Trust me, you don’t want that. So let’s be civilized, shall we? Anything else would be uncouth.” He grinned.

I jumped straight up with the bottle in my hand, held by the neck like a bat. Dane shifted his stance and feet. He was ready. Before I could reach him, Lynn got in between us. Katelyn started pulling on my coat.

“Look, you guys,” Lynn said, with her arms between Dane and I spread out like she was stopping traffic. “This is a very awkward situation. We all are very aware of that. A lot of this is my fault. I know that, but at the end of the day you two are brothers. Now, you may not have had a lifetime of bonding like most brothers do, but this is your opportunity, right?” She took a deep breath. “You can start right here. Dane, when you talked to me about Simon, you seemed to hold some admiration for him. Although you tried to hide it with your snarky remarks, I could tell that you did from your tone. And Simon, as much of a loner as you are, you have a strong sense of responsibility to your family. And like it or not, Dane
is
your family. You two have got to find a way to get along.”

The bottle soared through the air. I didn’t remember releasing it or throwing with intent; it just seemed to have left my hand with a thought and an action it took upon itself. Part of it was seeing Lynn in that tight white dress that I was sure cost more than she could afford.

It was strapless, hugged her form, cupped perfectly under her ass, and she looked as good as I’d ever seen her. I’m sure Dane bought it for her, happily dressed her up like a doll, like he had done the same night that everything changed for her and I.

So the bottle flew; a subconsciously guided missile ready to take the target out with extreme prejudice. It flew over Lynn’s head, Dane sidestepped and the bottle hit the far wall, exploding into jagged pieces.

“Now who’s going to clean that up?” shouted my mother as she and my father walked in with Selene tagging along looking frantic, eyes wide and head darting around, ducking like she was under fire in a war-torn country.

Dane relaxed his stance and I finally let Katelyn pull me back to the couch. I didn’t believe I’d ever been so angry. I had a hard time controlling myself and I needed some answers. I was going to get them even if it took all night. “So, in what way is this asshole my brother? Why wasn’t I ever told?” I was raising my voice, something I didn’t have a lot of practice with. It was startling me how I was losing it in front of anyone, let alone in front of my parents.

It was my mom that spoke first. “Dane is your father’s child. I didn’t think it was my place to tell you. I’ve only just recently found out myself.” She cut a sour look at my father, but from the way she talked about it, it was like old news to her. She was calm, and delivered her speech in a matter-of-fact tone. Although I suspected the version my father had told her was far from the absolute truth.

He chimed in after clearing his throat, like he always did when he addressed his employees during business. “Dane’s been working with me for quite some time now. I didn’t know how to tell you, son. It was wrong of me, but it’s that simple. As far as anything else that has happened between you two, I’m sure it was just a case of brotherly competition, nothing more. Dane went looking for you without my knowledge or consent. I wasn’t aware until you mentioned something to your mother and she came to discuss it with me. I thought it was about time that you all met, anyway, so the timing wasn’t the worst.”

I watched the reactions of my mother as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and closed off herself with her body language. Her hands were clasped into one another, and when not there, they were folded across her chest.

“Well, who is his mother?” Selene asked, looking bright cherry red and angry in the face.

“It was a woman he met at one of our events a long time ago,” my mother said. “She’s long gone now; not involved with us at all.” Dane clenched his hands into a fist. “Your father paid support, and she kept her distance. That was the deal, and that’s all you need to know about her. Now, honey”—she turned to my father and laid her hand on his chest—“why don’t we let the children… and the other one talk? Your father and I will be in our room down the hall if you need us. I’d advise you all to stay over, as you’ve all been drinking, I’m sure. And boys, please don’t fight I’m not looking forward to having to call an ambulance tonight, so you two behave. Madelyn will come and clean up this mess.”

I found it odd that my parents were able to walk away without arguing, but they’d always been good at displaying a united front. My father reached for my mother’s hand. It was a subtle bit of rejection, but she avoided being touched by bringing her hands up to her prized diamond necklace and unclasping it.

Selene chewed the inside of her cheek, pondering. “We have very odd parents.” She shook her head, and so did Dane, Katelyn and Lynn. Selene got up from her seat. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I’m going to take the high road on this one. Welcome to the family, Dane. Now I have another big brother to watch over me so I don’t fall into seedy traps as a young, naïve beauty trying to find her way through life.” After she gave Dane a hug and kissed him on the cheek, she sashayed out the room. “Good night. A girl needs her beauty rest.”

When I made eye contact with Dane, I needed him to know what I felt. I needed him to know I was a threat, no matter what judo, boxing or jiu-jitsu training he’d had in the past. I was out to do him harm, and I meant it. So what if he was my brother.

I didn’t feel any connection to him at all. I could definitely see his resemblance to my father in his face, around the jaw line and the dark, wavy hair, whereas Selene and I were blonde, like our mother. I also looked like my father in regards to my features; therefore Dane and I shared some similarities: the strong, square jaw line and our height, plus we had similar builds, Dane being the heftier.

It sickened me to think about it. I had a secret sibling, and just how long had my father been working with him and grooming him for a position in his company? What position was he grooming him for, and would he one day inherit and run the company like I was supposed to do? There were so many questions, so many pieces to this puzzle, most of them missing, to my frustration.