Page 96 of Never Bargain with the Boss
It hurts to lose Riley by my own actions, not by some fate-decreed, out of my control loss. And while I do not, for a second, regret choosing Grace, I wish there were a way I could go back. Back to when Riley was mine and we were building something great. Back to when she didn’t tell me about the ghost haunting her. Fuck, back to when she left Austin’s house at only sixteen years old. I’d make him never follow her.
I’d keep her safe for her whole life.
But I can’t go back. There’s never been a way to do that. The only way to go is… forward.
At five o’clock, I leave, having not accomplished a fucking thing. Not that anyone notices or cares about that. They’ve all been scurrying out of my way as I stomped and snarled my way around the office all day. I’m sure there’s a warning on the grapevine again. ‘Watch out for Cameron, he’s back to being an asshole’, which is true.
If only they realized it’s gonna get worse and may never get better again.
As I pull up to Cole’s to pick up Grace, I realize it’s about to get a whole lot worse right now. Everyone’s here. There are so many cars, it looks like a block party for rich assholes. I sigh heavily and roll my eyes. I should’ve seen this coming, but I’ve been too lost in my own head to think about what anyone else might be doing.
I don’t even get the chance to knock on the door. Cole opens it as I’m walking up the driveway. Leaning against the doorframe, he looks me up and down, his frown a reflection of my own.
“If we’re doing this, let’s fucking do it.”
“Your funeral,” he tells me. And like that, I know all gloves are off. The one thing you don’t do to someone who’s grieving is make jokes about death. If they do, fine. They can cope how they need to. But you don’t do it to them, especially not first.
I push past him, into the living room. My siblings and their spouses are here. Kayla is likely the representative for Mom and Dad because there’s no way this intervention is happening without their knowledge and blessing.
“Whatever you want to say, I don’t give a single, solitary shit. This is between me and Riley and Grace and doesn’t involve any of you, so fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. And fuck off.” Each of those dismissals is directed at one of my siblings. I leave the spouses out of it… for now.
“Wow, look at you with all your fancy vocabulary and proper gentlemanly behavior. I can see why you’re the golden child,” Kyle deadpans. He’s usually the roughest, most unpolished of the Harringtons, but I might give him a run for his money at this point despite my thousand-dollar suit.
“Where’s Grace? We’re going home. I have to make dinner and she probably has homework.”
Kayla chuckles. “Nice try. We sent her out back with Dani when Cole saw you pull up. Have a seat.” She points at a dining room chair that’s already been pulled into the circle, but left vacant for me.
“Guest of honor?” I ask mockingly, pointedly ignoring both the chair and the order.
“We saw Riley yesterday,” Kayla informs me, her lips pursed into a confident smirk. She knows the effect that small statement will have on me, and when I slowly lower myself into the chair, her lips lift into a chilly, predatory smile. “I thought you’d see it my way.”
“How is she?”
“Better than you.” That dig came from an unlikely and unexpected source—Janey. The always-sweet, perpetually-happy woman is staring at me like I’ve brought dog shit in on my shoes and rubbed it all over her clean carpets.
Ironically, it makes me feel better that Riley is doing better than me. I wouldn’t want her to feel the way I do. It might sound weird, but I want her to be happy still. It just can’t be with me and Grace.
“She’s worried about you and Grace, feels guilty about what happened with Austin, and is remarkably understanding about why you kicked her to the curb like the trash she’s apparently always been told she is.”
Kayla’s clipped out, but more detailed answer is precisely crafted to hurt me as much as possible. And to make me angry. It works just as she knew it would. “She is not trash, and don’t ever call her that again,” I growl, pointing a finger at her in warning. She’s not the least bit scared of me. Not that I’d ever hurt her physically, but words can be equally damaging, and while Kayla is skilled, so am I.
“I didn’t. You did,” she informs me, her face perfectly impassive, and like that, my anger evaporates.
Fuck. She’s right. I certainly didn’t say that outright, but my actions spoke volumes. Worse, Kayla’s not done.
“When you fired her,” she finishes.
“You WHAT?!” Grace yells, blasting through the back screen door. Her eyes are wild, her hands thrown out, and her gaze is locked on me accusingly.
“Grace, honey,” I try to say, soothing her. I should’ve known she was listening at the door, but I figured Dani was keeping her busy while everyone raked me over the coals. Dani walks in behind Grace, not seeming the least bit apologetic about blowing things up even worse than they already were. In fact, she glances at Kayla, and I half-wonder if this was the plan all along, but I don’t get the chance to ask because Grace is shouting.
“What did you do, Dad? Where’s Riley? I thought she was talking to the police or something. You didn’t really fire her, did you?” Every question is hot on the heels of the last, hervoice getting higher pitched with each one as she gets closer to hysterical. “I love her!”
The last one is a plea from the depths of her soul and breaks my heart all over again.
“Grace,” I say again, “let me try to explain.”
“No, you can un-fire her or whatever. Just get her back.” She points at the ground next to her like I can make Riley magically appear there. “Things were going so good! I just need more time to make you see.” She’s rambling… no, she’s ranting at me, and I’m trying to prepare some sort of rational, calm response right up until the end, when I get really confused.