Page 10 of Endgame

“We do? Where?” Rourke asked mockingly. “From where I’m sitting, we’ve got a life-size version of Barbie and her brat.” Turning to his sister, he added, “No offense, Mills.”

“None taken,” she whispered, red-faced.

“As opposed to you?” I snarled, unable to hold my tongue.

Now he looked at me. Rourke’s eyes were hard and cold as he stared me down. “Did you say something,Six?”

Six?

“Yeah.” I sat forward. “You compared my mother to a Barbie doll and I said as opposed to you; a spoiled, entitled, littleprick.”

“Mercy,” Mom hissed in an appalled tone. “That’s enough!”

“Yeah, Six,” he sneered. “Listen to your momma. That’s enough.”

“Would you like me to stick my foot up your ass?” I asked in a sickly-sweet voice, glaring daggers at the boy sitting across from me.

“Mercedes James,” Mom growled. “That’s quite enough!”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it,” Rourke shot back, ignoring my mother. He leaned forward and smirked at me. “Would you like to suck my dick?”

“Rourke!” Gabe roared, banging his fist against the hard surface of the table. “Don’t you dare speak to your sister like that.”

Reluctantly, Rourke tore his gaze off me and looked at his father. “She isnotmy sister.”

“Apologize,” his father gritted out. “Now.”

“Fine.” Rourke waved a hand in the air. “I apologize for offering to let you suck my dick.”

“Your name is quite unusual, Mercedes,” Amelia squeezed out, obviously trying to simmer down the tension in the room by changing the subject. “And really pretty.”

“Thank you,” my mother exclaimed over enthusiastically. “Her father drove a Mercedes when we were in high school.”

“Mom.” I cringed in shame. Like she evenknew. Mom was clutching at straws with that bold statement. “Please.”Shut the hell up…

“You’re named after the car?” Amelia chirped up excitedly. “That’s so cool.”

“That’s so fucking tacky,” Rourke sneered, observing me with a disapproving gaze. “What’s your middle name – the condom broke?”

“No, but I know yours,” I shot back heatedly. “Rourke – I should’ve been swallowed!”

“What’s the matter with you two?” Gabe snarled, slamming his fist down on the table. “We’re supposed to be having a nice family meal here.”

“Family meal?” Rourke sneered, still focused on me.

Our eyes were locked in a heated battle.

I would ratherdiethan be the first one to look away.

“We’re not a fucking family, Dad,” he continued to say. “We’re collateral damage in an affair gone wrong.”

“Rourke, please don’t speak to your father like that,” Mom began to say, but she was quickly cut off when he tore his eyes off my face and unleashed his death gaze on her.

“Don’t even go there,” he warned, tone almost soft, eyes full of unrestrained anger. “You’re not my mother. In fact, you’re nothing to me. You’re just one more in a long line of poor fucking substitutes. So, you go right ahead and do what you want with him.” He cast a glance towards his father and sneered. “Fuck him. Repopulate the earth for all I care. But don’teverthink you’re gonna have a damn thing to do with me.”

“Jesus Christ, Rourke,” his father groaned, rubbing his face with his hand. “Can’t you control yourself for one night?”

“I don’t know, Dad,” Rourke shot back sarcastically. “I guess it runs in the family.” He cast a disgusted glance at my mother’s stomach and shook his head. “The wholelack of controlthing.”

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