“Come on, we’re leaving,” Coop says.
“Before you go, is daddy’s art still in the studio? Oh, you probably wouldn’t know. You don’t go in there anymore, not since his brains splattered all over the fucking five.” As she talks, I half expect to see a forked tongue and razor-sharp teeth in her mouth. I’m at the end of what I can handle, and she knows it. I’m shutting down, following every step of her plan. “Just be careful if you decide to take your chubby little fuck toy here into the studio so you can fuck her up the ass while she looks at your pathetic art. Wouldn’t want you to ruin your father’s legacy.”
“That’s enough.” I step between her and Lexi, going toe to toe with Elle. She takes a half-step back so she can look up at me again. “What the fuck do you want? What do youreallywant?”
She walks two fingers up my chest while she cackles, “The usual. You. Gone. Leaving me everything.”
“Go back to Europe, then. Go back to where you and I never see each other.”
“Oh, but that isn’t enough, and you know it. I want what I’m fucking due. I want all of it. I wantmycompany,myart, andmyhouse. I want to ruin you over and over. I want you penniless and on the fucking street.” She curls her lip. “You were born first and with a dick and now you get whatever your little heart wants? Fuck you. You don’t deserve it.”
“Elle, darling, is this man giving you trouble?” Mr. Halpine steps beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in. I glare at him. He’s got to be forty years her senior, if not more.
“No, love. In fact, I think he was just leaving. Weren’t you, James?”
“You look familiar, James. Do I know you from one of my son’s gallery showings?”
“No, you don’t.” I turn my head toward Coop but leave my eyes fixed on Elle. “Chase?”
Without missing a beat, he moves to the other side of Lexi and we turn to walk her out. She seems just as confused as me about this situation. I would never have walked in the door if I’d known Elle was here to blindside me. Now I’m hoping we’ll be able to walk out.
“Wait,” Tommy’s dad says just before we get far. He’s holding up his champagne glass toward us with a look of recognition in his eyes. “Chase Cooper. That means you’re Barton’s boy, right?”
I just stare at him, then he gestures across the room. My eyes follow his gaze and I my stomach lurches when I’m staring at an all too familiar piece on the wall.
“I really appreciate you donating that to the show tonight.” He smiles with his too white teeth. “Your father was very talented. I think he would have been honored to show here tonight with my boy. Shame he threw it all away to charity cases.”
“Jamie!” Coop whispers as I drop Lexi’s hand and rush through the crowd to the painting until I’m standing a foot in front of it. Anger is making me see red and my hands clenched into fists.
“Jamie, you didn’t donate that, did you?” Lexi asks when they catch up to me.
“No. No, I fucking didn’t,” I snarl, still staring at the canvas in front of me. “This was in his room. This was in his fucking bedroom.”
“What?” Coop looks around. “Dude, how the fuck?”
“She stole it. She’s been in my fucking house and she stole my father’s—” I close my eyes, trying to calm myself down. I storm back over to Elle and her idiot fiancé. “Why?”
“For this exact moment. Come along, dear. Let’s mingle.” She smiles and they both walk away from me.
“Let’s get out of here, Jamie. We can call the police or something,” Lexi suggests.
“We can’t. She’s too good to leave loose ends,” Coop explains as he pushes us toward the door. He knows I’m shutting down. “I guarantee she has all the documentation saying she owns it and anything else she took and no one will question how authentic those papers are.”
“But she broke into his home.”
I drop my head to my chest, “They won’t believe me, I’m nobody. She’s got power and influence. I’m just a fucking idiot loser.”
Coop turns to Lexi, “Get him home.”
“Dani came with us.”
“I’ll make sure Dani gets home and I’ll call later. Don’t let him leave.”
“What do you mean,don’t let him leave?”
“Trust me, keep him with you,” he answers her before disappearing back into the crowd. I’m glad he didn’t explain any further.
I shake my head and stride toward the door, but before I can open it, Lexi’s hand is on mine. I glare at her. This is her out. Her escape from my fucked up life. Something tells me she isn’t going to take it.
