Page 6 of Absinthe Dreams
"I sent the messages to his wife and quit."
"Good. I hope she rips his balls off," Jade snaps. "What a jerk!"
"That's not the word I'd use for him."
"I can pick a few others, if you prefer. Asshat, maybe? Disgusting pig? Creep? Complete asshole? Sexually harassing dirtbag? Incel?"
I smile despite myself. "Maybe all of the above."
"Hard agree," she says. "That's so fucked up. What did Dad say?"
"I didn't tell him."
"Chloe." I hear the chastisement in her voice.
"Donny isn't worth a prison sentence, Jade. And you know exactly how Dad will react," I remind her. Our father is wildly overprotective when it comes to us and our mom. No one crosses him unless they want to suffer the consequences.
In high school, one of the football players slapped Mia's ass in the hallway. Dad raised so much hell that the guy ended up getting booted from the team and suspended. He transferred to a different school just to avoid ever crossing paths with our dad again.
Jade hesitates and then sighs. "Yeah, you're right. So Mom and Dad don't know?"
"Donny called Dad and said that I quit for no reason."
"Jesus. What an asshole!" She huffs an offended breath. "Are we burning down his house or what?"
"Nah, I think we'll leave it for Madeline in the divorce. She deserves it for putting up with his shit. But I'mnotgoing back to work there. I'd rather starve first." Not that I will or anything. My parents won't let that happen.
"Uh, definitely not," Jade agrees. "I will strangle you if you even think about going back to work for him."
"Gee, thanks."
"Just saying."
"You can't tell Dad."
"Obviously. I mean, he could probably get away with murdering Donny, but it's best not to risk it. I doubt he'd let us come visit him in prison. What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I was going to stay here for a few days…" I glance toward the door. "But Trystan is here."
"Oh."
I roll my eyes at her tone. It's that smug, knowing tone I hate, the one that conveys so much while saying so little. "He's already trying to tell me what to do. I swear, he gets off on trying to boss people around. It's a kink for him. It has to be."
Jade laughs softly. "You know that's not it, Clo."
"It's something. He's unbearable."
"You're the only one he ever tries to boss around."
"Whatever. Am not." Except…she's not entirely wrong. He's never been an overbearing asshole to her, Mia, or Catherine. He's not even an overbearing asshole to his sister, Avery, or any of his cousins. Everyone else gets the laid-back, fun Trystan. I get the despotic, pain in the ass version.
Rude.
"Maybe he likes you."
"Oh, so I see we're living in the land of delusion today," I say. "I guess that means you still don't want to talk about how Jax is in love with you?"
"What? He is not!" she practically shrieks, loud enough for Thanos to lift his head, one eye cracked. He huffs and then closes it again, settling in for another nap. I swear, he's the calmest Malinois I've ever met in my life. The poor guy just wants to enjoy his retirement in peace, but the whole world stresses him out.
