“Funny, Zoey always told me she was attracted to me because I reminded her of someone. I assumed it was the football star, but maybe it was just my long, lost bigbrother.”
He stops playing to glare at me with a hard scowl. “No. Just… Don’t say that again.”
I start to respond when the doorbell rings. My eyes narrow in suspicion. I have no idea who’s at that door, but my skin begins to tingle with the sudden awareness that I’m being set up.
Bastian leaves to answer the door, so I sit at the piano to distract myself from whatever is going on. My fingers fly across the keys, playing a song I wrote long, long ago. A song with no words but with the deep sorrow of a kid lost in his own mind.
I close my eyes as each chord and note reverberates through the room, echoing off the walls and the high ceilings. Someone sits beside me,and tension leaves my body as I absorb the warmth radiating from them. For a minute, the anger subsides, and the chaos settles.
When I finish the song, I look over to see beautiful eyes staring at me, full of tears. “That was beautiful,” she whispers.
“Didn’t know the rock star had it in him, did ya,cher?”
“I did,” a deep voice booms across the room. “You’ve always had so much talent.”
I turn to see my dad standing in the entryway of the room, staring at me with respect and admiration. It’s a foreign look I don’t think I’ve ever seen on him.
I take in his dark hair, now heavily peppered with gray, the lines on his face more prominent. When I was a kid, he seemed so formidable. He’s aged a lot over the years. Time is funny that way. But I’m a little stunned at how much he’s aged since I last saw him two years ago.
“What are you doing here?” I growl. Our relationship always seemed so tenuous, but it’s practically been mercurial the last several years at best.
He lets out a long, weary sigh. “Bastian called me. I think it’s time we talked, son.”
“I think it’s past time,” Bastian barks as he follows his father into the room. The sight of Paul Delrie incites a murderous rage I’ve only felt a handful of times. I stand from the piano, in the man’s face in two long strides. Bastian is quick,though. He puts himself between us, ready to defend his father.
“Sit down,” he commands, pointing at the piano bench where Quinn sits, looking at me with worry and fear.
“I can sit when I’m dead,” I grind, my eyes boring into Delrie's.
“You can sit now. I will fucking make you, Maddox. Don’t try me.” Bastian’s warning is clear, but he seems to forget I am not afraid of him or his threats.
“Then make me,” I dare, never taking my eyes from his father’s, who is looking at me with remorse, guilt, and shame. Expressions I am all too familiar with. But they mean nothing from him.
A small hand wraps around mine, pulling gently back to the bench. “Just hear them out,” she whispers. “Then you can leave.”
I look into her pleading eyes and nod. I’ll sit. I’ll even listen. But when they finish saying what they need, I’ll do what I need.
“Maddox, why didn’t you come to me? I never knew you overheard. Is that why you went crazy that night?” Dad’s eyes plead with me to help him understand. Except he doesn’t make any sense.
“We’ve barely had a full conversation in twenty-nine years except for when you tell me to suck it up because I’m a Masters. In fact, if I remember correctly, the last conversation we had, you told me I was wasting my life on music, and I wouldn’t ever amount to anything.”
“That’s not what I said, Maddox. I only meant that you were too brilliant to throw it all away on chance.”
“No, you meant you needed me to take over your company since apparently only a Masters by blood can, and Chris isn’t yours either. Nice to be reminded you didn’t take me from Jewel out of love or a sense of duty but for that fucking company.”
“You know that’s not what I did. Maddox, you were always the best at everything you did, but I didn’t want you to take that risk and be disappointed if it didn’t work out.”
“So, let me get this straight. I’m the best, but being the best means nothing since I was doomed to fail?”
“You are the best, son. But you are also the most self-sabotaging man I’ve ever met.”
“Yep. That’s me. The fuck up.”
“Maddox, shut up,” Bastian snaps at me. “You know that's not what he meant.”
“Do I? Because most of my life, he avoided me. He shipped me off, pretending I didn’t exist, until the day I went to college, then suddenly,he was invested. I didn’t know why then, but damn if he didn’t let me know on graduation day.”
“Maddox,” he lets out a long, heavy sigh, “I messed up with you, but I was just trying to protect you. If I’d known you’d heard what I said, I would have—”
