Page 50 of Steel & Jenna
Mr. Scanlon’s eyes darkened. “Fifteen thousand is plenty generous for a kid your age.”
“Fifteen billion is even more generous.”
“Son, you’re getting on my last nerve.”
“Must be the morphine. You know, from when yourwifehad her bodyguards beat the shit out of me.”
Mr. Scanlon crossed his arms over his chest. “You do not want me as your enemy, son. Better you take the deal now before you walk away with nothing.”
“Wrong,” Jack told him. “I’ll be walking away with Jenna—and she’s worth more than any bribe you couldtryto hand me.”
“You forget, son, that Jenna ismydaughter.Icontrol her life.”
“Legally, yes.” Jack couldn’t argue that fact any more today than he could yesterday. The only difference today brought was that it was one day closer to Jenna’s eighteenth birthday. “But you will never controlher, Mr. Scanlon. And if you loved her at all you wouldn’t try.”
“I am doing thisbecauseI love her!” the man shouted.
Jack didn’t doubt that. But he was also sure that Mr. Scanlon loved the power he had over his children too much to truly understand that love. It was why he and Carolyn had problems too. “Were that true, Mr. Scanlon, you would be stopping to ask yourself what Jenna wants and not what you think she wants.”
“And you think that’syou? You think that a white trash lowlife like yourself could possibly be what my daughter wants? There is a chandelier in her bedroom that costs more than your friend,” he waved a hand at Mr. Zarin dismissively, “ever made while serving in the Marines. Which of the two of us do you think Jenna would choose if really given the choice?”
“Well, since you’re here trying to bribe me to stay away from her, I’m guessingme.” Jack couldn’t keep the pride or the humor from his voice.
“Wrong. She’s chosen to leave Port Townsend. She no longer wishes to be in this small town and I, frankly, support her decision. She’s leaving for boarding school in two days, Mr. Duncan.”
Jack’s heart hammered in his chest. The monitor started to beep frantically beside his bed. Mr. Zarin put a gentle hand on his shoulder, but it did not calm him. “What do you mean she’s leaving?”
“Imean,” Mr. Scanlon repeated, drawing out the word, “that Jenna has decided her future does not include you. I warned you, Mr. Duncan, to take my deal or walk away with nothing.” Mr. Scanlon tipped his head forward, his face smug. “Now, you havenothing.”
Jack shook his head. “You’re lying!” Jenna wouldn’t leave. She wouldn’t! Not after accepting his proposal the day before.
“Am I? Well, regardless of whether you believe me or not, Jennaisleaving.” He slapped the edge of the bed with his palm. “I wish you a speedy recovery, Mr. Duncan. Too bad your stubbornness kept you from providing a good life for your sister.”
Mr. Scanlon headed towards the door.
“You’re forcing her to go!” Jack shouted after him. “She doesn’t want to go but you’re forcing her to go!”
Mr. Scanlon spun around, walking backward out of the room. “Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better, Mr. Duncan. Either way, you’ll never see her again.”
Jenna saton her bed as her mom and two maids were tearing her entire life apart. Suitcases lined the wall by her door. They were packing up her room like she wasn’t coming back. Well, screw this! It was clothes and knickknacks. There was absolutelynothinggoing into those suitcases that Jenna couldn’t live without. Let them pack!
She still wasn’t going.
Jenna didn’t care what it took. She wasnotleaving Port Townsend.
As soon as she stood up off of the bed, her mom was right in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To see Carolyn,” Jenna snapped, forgetting her determination to ignore her mom. She’d already been informed she was not allowed to leave the house. “Or is she someone I’m also not allowed to see?”
Her mom’s eyes narrowed. “Do not try to sneak out of the house again. I’ve already posted a guard at every door. Theywillstop you.”
Jenna had learnedthatthe hard way that morning when she’d tried to leave out of the front door to get to the hospital to see Jack. That was also when she learned her father had already left for the hospital. Jenna had been a worried wreck ever since. What was her dad saying to Jack? What was Jack saying to her dad? Was her dad going to hurt Jack? Before yesterday, Jenna would have been the first to say that no one in her family would physically hurt another person.
Her mom had called her a naïve little girl—and she’d been right. Just not on what she thought Jenna was naïve about. No, Jenna’s eyes had been opened to just how cruel her family could be and how they really treated those they felt were beneath them.
Jenna stormed out of her bedroom, down the hall, and into Carolyn’s room without knocking. Her sister’s room was pitch black, aided by the fact that she’d painted her walls black, had blackout curtains on her windows, and all her furniture was black. Her sister’ssnores told her that she hadn’t even woken up yet that day. Then again, she probably hadn’t gone to bed until the morning.
Jenna turned on the overhead light, not caring if it woke her sister. She went straight over to Carolyn’s nightstand where her private phone sat in its cradle. No surprise, it too was black.
