Page 132 of Bad Influence
“A line has been drawn, Beckett, and you’ve lost the game. Learn to accept defeat.”
I almost laugh since he’s the one who always taught us never to accept defeat. The only reason he’s doing it now is because he doesn’t want photos of Beckett and his assistant splatteredacross social media and the family’s name to be fodder for gossip.
I look at Caroline and she’s watching me with a small smile and unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.
“Anything you want to add, butterfly?”
“I’m good.” Caroline shakes her head. Turning to Gran, she whispers, “Thank you,fate.”
Gran grins, reaching out to hug Caroline and then me. “I’ll be back soon,” she promises.
“Caroline, you can’t be serious about this,” Elaine cries. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”
“Mom, I’m not running off to join a cult,” Caroline says. “I’m living my life my way. I have a job at a top law firm and I’m in a relationship with a man who loves me. Maybe you need to ask yourself why you think that’s not the life I should live.”
I take Caroline out of the room before our families can say anything else. Caroline is quiet as we make our back down to the lobby. Just as we’re about to walk out of the hotel, someone yells out for us.
“Wait!”
We both turn around to see Carter jogging towards us. I immediately step in front of Caroline because she doesn’t need to hear any more of their shit. Carter stops in front of her, his hands raised in surrender.
“I just want to talk to my sister for a minute,” he says.
Caroline places a hand on my back. “It’s okay.”
Stepping around me, she looks up at her brother. “If you’re here to talk some sense into me, it’s not going to happen because I’m not making a mistake.”
“I didn’t know about Beckett,” he says.
I scoff at that, but don’t say anything else. Carter gives me a look.
“I’m serious. I didn’t fucking know that Beckett cheated. All they told me was that you two had a disagreement and you left,”he says. “Honestly, Caroline, I thought you wanted all this, that's why I never said anything.”
Caroline laughs dryly. “You think I wanted this? What would you have done anyway? You’re the perfect child.”
“Care-bear, I’m not the perfect child. I just don’t give a fuck and just because I work at the firm doesn’t mean I let them control my life. I show up to play pretend and then I go no contact.”
Caroline opens and closes her mouth. “Are you serious? I thought you liked being their perfect son.”
“Hell no, who can live under those expectations?” Sighing, he places his hands on her shoulders. “Promise me you’ll call if you need anything. Just between you and me, okay? It has nothing to do with them. I know I’ve been a horrible brother, and I’d like to fix it.”
I can tell Caroline is getting overwhelmed by the emotions because she just nods, her eyes glassy. She hugs Carter tightly and he kisses the top of her head before he returns to the suite. I grab her hand, kissing the back of it.
We start walking down Fifth Ave, hand in hand. Caroline is quiet, lost in her thoughts.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
“Do you really have evidence of Beckett with his assistant?” She looks up at me in question.
“Yeah, I wasn’t walking in there without backup.”
“How?”
“Wes,” I say with a smirk. Sometimes his less than…sanitary activities really come in handy.
“What the hell does he do exactly?” Caroline asks.
“He works in cyber security.”
