Empire High Betrayal(79)
“I couldn’t agree more,” my dad said. “It won’t happen again. But in regards to what she wrote on the wall…I’m almost certain that she was talking about Brooklyn and not your son, so you don’t need to be so alarmed.”
“So alarmed? If that’s true, Isabella threatened your other daughter. And that in no way comforts me when we’ve extended the invitation for Brooklyn to stay at our house.”
“I can guarantee that Isabella will stay off your property.”
“Not just our property,” Mr. Caldwell said. “She’ll no longer be invited to any events hosted by our family either, no matter the location. Or the circumstances. Including the wedding this December.”
Oh fuck.
Chapter 32
Saturday
“What wedding?” my dad asked.
“Matthew and Brooklyn’s of course,” Mr. Caldwell said.
“This December?” My dad shook his head and then looked over at me. “You’ll have to cancel the plans, Max. There’s no way my daughter is marrying your son this winter. They’re sixteen years old. And I won’t let you push your agenda on my kid. Have you lost your damned mind?”
“Do not insult me in my own home, Richard.”
“Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.
My dad cleared his throat and walked away from the Caldwells without another word. “Not a chance in hell, Brooklyn,” he said as he made his way to the front door.
I grabbed his arm. “It’s what I want.”
“You can’t be serious. They’re clearly pushing the wedding date up so that they’re not housing someone with my last name.”
Honestly, I’d thought the same thing. But it made no difference what Matt’s parents’ motivations were. I knew Matt didn’t care about any of that. I’d asked him flat out. “It’s what I want,” I said again.
“You’re not old enough to know what you want. An engagement? Fine. I humored it. But you can’t marry that boy.”
That boy? The way he said it made me want to slap him. Matt wasn’t just some boy. He meant everything to me. “Why?”
“Because I said so.”
That wasn’t a good enough reason. “Do you have any idea how scared I was tonight? Matt’s the only one that makes me feel safe. I need him. He helps me breathe through my panic attacks. Which I’m still getting because I’m terrified all the time. And that’s not going to change. Isabella’s never going to stop. And if his parents want us to get married so they feel better about my staying here, who cares? I don’t see what’s so terrible about me having a last name that’s not associated with a mobster.”
For just a second my dad looked angry. The way he looked when Isabella and his wife upset him at our first family dinner. If there was a glass of wine nearby, it 100 percent would have been thrown against a wall. But the anger was gone in a flash. He just looked…defeated.
“Is that what the Caldwells have been telling you while you’re living here?” he asked.
“No.” It was Miller. “I just put two and two together.”
He took a step closer to me and lowered his voice. “Don’t throw that term around lightly, Brooklyn. And a new last name isn’t going to make you safer. Or change what you are. As soon as everyone found out I had another daughter, you were put in harm’s way.”
“Who do you mean by everyone?”
“There’s been unrest amongst the families these past few months.” He looked over at the Caldwells. “Rumors have been swirling.”
“What rumors?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Actually, it kind of did. But I was more focused on what it seemed like he was confessing to me. “So it is true? You are a mobster?”
He sighed. “I married into it. And I don’t fault you for trying to marry out.”
Wait, Isabella’s mother was the real mobster? Suddenly it made sense why my dad had needed my mom to leave the city. If Mrs. Pruitt was anything like her daughter, she probably would have had my mom killed.
“But make no mistake, Brooklyn,” my dad said. “You’re part of my family no matter what your last name is. There’s no way out. And it’s not Matthew keeping you safe. It’s me.”
There’s no out. I swallowed hard. It’s exactly what Miller had said.
“But if you feel safer marrying Matthew so that he’ll be by your side at all times…” he raised his eyebrow at me. “It didn’t elude me that you were in his bed this evening.”
I could feel my face turning red.
“But given the circumstance, I’ll let it pass. This time.”
I felt like I was sinking under his harsh gaze.
“I assumed you’d want to get married after college.” He shook his head. “This seems all a bit fast. Is this really what you want, princess?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll allow you to marry him. Or Mason. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather tie the knot with him?”
God, when would he let this go? Probably when I walk down the aisle. “I love Matt.” And only Matt. I’d dated enough men in the past two months to know who my heart was with.