My gaze sweeps nervously over the room as I loiter in the doorway. Mom is planted near the oversized fireplace with her arms crossed tightly against her chest. Concern flickers in her eyes as her teeth sink into her bottom lip.
“You all but pressured us into it! We weren’t given enough time to look for other options!”
Dad stands unnaturally erect next to her. His face is bright red as he stabs a finger in Keaton’s direction. A fine sweat beads his brow as he continues to bellow. A rush of concern floods through me. Rarely have I witnessed Dad lose his temper. Even under the direst of circumstances, he always maintains an unflappable control.
“This is exactly what I expected from you, Hawthorne.” Malevolence glitters in Keaton’s dark eyes as if he’s pleased by the sudden turn of events. As if this is what he wanted all along. Perhaps the end goal was never for me to marry his son. He was looking to inflict as much pain as possible.
A movement catches the corner of my eye and I turn my head until my gaze collides with the fourth person in the room.
Kingsley.
He watches me from where he’s taken up sentinel near the window. His narrowed, mahogany-colored eyes drill into mine. The coldness swirling in them slaps at me, and I almost take a hasty step in retreat. Even after Kingsley discovered I was a Hawthorne, he never stared at me with so much ill-concealed contempt or hatred.
Panic careens down my spine. I had spent all day obsessing about what was wrong, and now I know. Somehow, he discovered what my parents were up to. It’s obvious from the animosity wafting off him in heavy suffocating waves that the fragile bond we had painstakingly built has been destroyed.
My attention jerks from Kingsley to Keaton as he takes a step toward my father. I gasp when he plows both hands into Dad’s chest, knocking him back a couple of steps.
“Tell me when the Hawthornes have ever done what’s right?” A vicious smile stretches across his thin lips. “Which is precisely why I had everything in place to take the company from you. My lawyers will have you tied up in litigation for years. Death will seem like a preferable option when I’m done with you. You’ve got my promise on that!”
When Keaton reaches out again, Dad slaps his hand away. “Go ahead and try it, Rothchild! I wouldn’t hang everything you have on the affidavit you’ve been waving around for all to see. My mother was eighty years old. I have two doctors willing to testify that she wasn’t in her right mind the last couple months of her life. Whatever she said is nothing more than the ramblings of a sad, lonely woman who regretted the choices she’d made.”
“You son of a bitch!” A flush steals across Keaton’s cheeks as his eyes flash with rage. “Your family stole from me and I’ll be damned if I allow you to do it again!”
Mom and I both scream when Keaton yanks back his arm and swings at Dad, who barely manages to sidestep the attack.
“Stop it!” Mom shouts. “Both of you!”
Neither take their gazes from the other as they circle around the small space like caged animals.
“You damn well know what happened all those years ago,” Keaton growls. “You know what your family did to mine.”
“Well, that’s the thing, no one knows for sure what really transpired,” Dad says stiffly. “It’s nothing more than speculation on your part. And after this stunt, that’s the way it’ll remain. I was willing to be reasonable, but no longer.”
“Not only will I ruin you,” Keaton vows, “I’ll destroy the little whelps you spawned. I won’t be happy until I wipe every last Hawthorne off the face of the earth.”
“Leave the children out of it,” Dad roars, spittle flying from his mouth. “I told you before that we could settle this like civilized adults, but you refused to listen. There’s no reason to drag Summer into your half-cocked schemes. Do you think this is what she wants for her life? To be forced into a marriage with your son? She wants nothing to do with him.”
Oh, God. That’s not true!
My wide eyes cut to Kingsley. Pain flashes across his expression before it’s quickly shuttered away, almost as if it had never been there. His attention remains focused on the two older men.
That’s not how I feel, and I don’t want Kingsley to think it is. My tongue darts out to moisten my lips. “Dad—”
“Not now, Summer!” He swipes a hand in my direction, cutting me off.
This is all my fault.
When Mom admitted to what they were planning, I should have immediately shut it down. Now it’s too late. The wheels have been set in motion and there’s no stopping them. It’s like a runaway train barreling down the tracks.