Page 48 of Caught in the Axe
Instead, I’d get to face Cole after his bullshit performance and deal with the fallout from whatever tantrum he was throwing today. Finn had stepped in and bailed him out. Once that update came through, I stopped paying attention to the family text chain. I was too enraged to do anything but fume each time I thought about last night.
It figured that just as we were ready to close this chapter on our shitty family history, he’d find a way to fuck it up.
Cole had always been an entitled brat. As the result of my father’s affair with his twenty-one-year-old secretary, he had always felt like he was on the outside.
My mother had done everything in her power to make sure we all built relationships with him. His own mother had little interest in being a parent, just like our father, so he could often be found hanging around our mom’s house. And my mother, the saint that she was, had always treated him like one of her own.
The day our parents sat us down and explained that they were getting divorced was as fresh in my mind now as it was when I was nine years old, so stunned I couldn’t wrap my mind around the concept.
At the time, my life was perfect. My parents were awesome. I had four brothers and a forest for a backyard. We lived in a big house with a tire swing and a tree house.
In an instant, everything I thought I knew had been flipped upside down.
Within months, Dad married Tammi. Then Cole was born. Then Mom moved us from our cool house with the big backyard and into a little house in town.
It took years to understand that we’d gotten the better end of the deal. Seeing Dad on weekends and when he felt like it was a hell of a lot better than living with that piece of shit every day. The five of us had turned into semi-functional members of society, thank fuck, and it was all because Mom had been our primary parent.
And now she was standing, arms crossed, glaring at us in front of a needlepoint that readIt’s a Good Day to Have a Good Day.
She looked around the room where we had assembled, her lips pursed. Gus stood against one wall, looking pissed off. Jude was on the couch, perfectly silent and probably writing a song in his head and tuning the rest of us out.
Finn was sitting in an old armchair, one leg bouncing, with his phone in his hand in case Adele needed a pint of ice cream or a foot rub.
And then there was Cole. He was lying face up on the loveseat with a pillow covering his head. I had to fight the urge to stomp over there, yank him to his feet, and shake him until he developed an ounce of common sense.
“You,” Mom said sternly, “cannot press charges against your brother.”
“Half brother,” I mumbled.
“Owen,” she snapped.
Shame washed over me as I dropped my head. God, I was such an asshole. But being here in this living room with my brothers, when I could be with Lila, was driving me insane.
“It’s not up to us. That’s not how it works,” Finn explained, his tone as patient as ever. “The district attorney is an old friend of Alicia’s. She spoke to him this morning. If Cole agrees to plead guilty, they’re willing to drop the charges down to misdemeanor trespass and drunk and disorderly and sentence him to community service only.”
If it were up to me, he’d be held accountable, but I kept my mouth shut, grateful that Finn was dealing with this. His ex, Alicia, was a high-powered attorney with all kinds of connections. There was a good chance she could have this taken care of quickly, and if that was the case, then there was a chance it wouldn’t set back the sale.
Even so, anger still surged through me. “What the fuck, Cole? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” If I wasn’t concerned about upsetting my mom, I’d pick his punk ass up off the couch and punch himin the face.
Or I’d try. He was the biggest of us all. Though if anyone could take him, my money was on Finn. Or Jude, the wildcard. It was always the quiet ones.
He rolled over slowly and narrowed his bloodshot eyes. “I’m a fuckup. Haven’t you heard?”
“Cole,” Mom chided, her expression a mix of disappointment and compassion.
I tried and failed to suppress an eye roll. My mom had long mistaken Cole for an injured puppy instead of a grown man in need of a lot of therapy and a thorough ass-kicking.
“I am a piece of shit. Please, throw me in jail. At least then I won’t be sleeping in Debbie’s guest room, watchingWheel of Fortuneevery night.”
“Hey, do not bring Wheel into this,” Mom warned, planting her hands on her hips.
“I get it. I’m not one of you. I suck. Can you just leave me alone now?”
“Cole.” Gus grunted and sat on the sliver of cushion beside Cole’s legs. “We want to help you.” In true Gus form, he was ready to jump in, protect us all, and fix the situation.
“Fuck off and leave,” Cole said into the cushion.
“Yeah, not happening dude,” Finn said. “You fucked up badly, and now it’s time to face the music. Why did you do it?”
