Page 88 of Bridesmaid Undercover
Too bad for him, we’ve learned all his tactics throughout the years.
Just get on with it, Dad.
After a few more seconds of silence, he clears his throat. “How is this pithy co-op you’ve created?”
Going with petty today, sounds about right for him.
“Interested in investing?” Hudson asks. “Because unfortunately, we have all the investment we need at the moment.”
I catch the flare of my father’s nostrils and mentally fist-bump Hudson, knowing that slight comment cut Dad.
“I don’t tend to invest in projects that I don’t believe will succeed.”
Jesus, what a moron.
I make a note to never be so full of myself that I can’t see a good idea when it’s sitting right in front of me. Arrogance can be the death of a good businessman, and right now, it has a chokehold on my dad.
“We’re not here to prove our worth to you, Dad,” Hudson says, ignoring my dad’s insult. “If you brought us into your office to degrade us, then we have no reason to stay. If you want to be a man, and speak to us in the way we deserve, then please, tell us why we’re here.”
Thank God Hudson is leading the charge because I don’t think I would be as well-mannered as him when speaking to our father.
Dad’s lips twist to the side, and he sets his cigar down on the ashtray, letting it burn in place. When he straightens up and looks us in the eyes, he says, “I’m suing you.”
Yup.
Saw that coming.
It’s something Hudson and I mentally prepared each other for, knowing damn well our dad would not go down without a fight. It’s the kind of man he is. Luckily for us, we not only have an amazing law firm working for us, but so do the Cane brothers. They’re unmatched for what my father surely has planned.
“Thought you would say something like that,” Hudson says as he reaches into his jacket pocket. The man is fully prepared. He tosses a business card on the coffee table between us. “There’s the contact information for our lawyers. Feel free to send your baseless, frivolous lawsuit their way.” Hudson taps my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
We stand just as our father does as well, rage behind those aging eyes of his. “You realize you have broken this family,” he says, taking a different tactic. “Your mother is beside herself. She won’t get out of bed. She’s so distraught over losing her children.”
“Really?” I say, stepping in. “Because every time I call her, she’s either busy or doesn’t answer. Seems to me if she was so broken, she’d pick up the phone.”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “She’s so disgusted with you she can’t even stomach the mention of your name.”
“And whose fault is that?” Hudson asks.
“Yours,” Dad says. “I never would have done something like this to my father. Abandon him and the empire he built.”
“We’re not going through this again,” Hudson says. “We’ve talked to you about our reasoning. From your impending lawsuit, the reasoning for parting ways with you is just.” Hudson shakes his head and gestures for me to leave, but for some reason, I stay put as I look my father in the eyes.
“You are disappointing,” I say to him. “This business, this need to succeed? It’s overshadowed what’s really important in life, and that’s the relationships you build and the people around you who you love.”
“And you haven’t done the same thing?” he asks. “I distinctively remember you making a decision out of college that made you choose business over relationships.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, clearly not as composed as Hudson.
“Maple,” Dad says, letting the sound of theppop off his lips. “You had the chance to be with her, to go to Denver with her, but you chose business over her.”
“I chose family,” I say, my defenses rising.
He shakes his head. “You chose guaranteed success. Don’t try to fool me. You were lost in college. Everyone around you had a good head on their shoulders and a path for where they wanted to take their future. You were the one struggling. You were the one looking for a purpose. An opportunity was presented to you, a chance to succeed, something you hadn’t had a taste of yet, andyou took it instead of following your girl. You broke her heart for your own self-satisfaction.”
“That’s not…that’s not how that went down,” I say, even though…fuck, it sort of feels like that’s how it happened.Is that why she cut off all contact and didn’t seem to want anything to do with me?
“Let’s go,” Hudson says, his hand on my shoulder now, pushing me toward the exit.
