Page 116 of Breakaway

“Gin,” he snarls. “That was always your favorite, wasn’t it?”

“Richard, honey,” Mom says, glancing around. Her smile is all wobbly again. “Please don’t make a scene.”

“Oh, I’ll make a fucking scene.” He glances at me for half a second before grabbing my uncle by the shoulder and practically dragging him to the nearest door. “You’ve always been good at worming your way into places you don’t belong, Blake, I’ll give you that.”

“Dad!” I shout. My voice rings through the room, and I know I’m drawing too much attention, but right now, I don’t fucking care. I take a step forward, but someone grabs me around the waist.

“Don’t,” James says into my ear. “Let him handle it.”

I elbow him hard, and I must startle him, because he breaks away with a curse. “Cooper.”

“Fuck you,” I say. “You don’t understand.”

James grabs me by the elbow and hustles me to the wall. I can see Penny hovering; she puts her hand on Mom’s arm. The band is still playing, so I doubt the guests milling around can hear us, but they sure as hell can see us.

“Listen to me,” he says. “Uncle Blake is using you.”

I laugh. “You’re just like Dad. He says jump, you ask how fucking high. I thought maybe when you fought for Bex, you were finally getting a backbone, but I was wrong.”

His mouth tightens. “Don’t say shit you don’t mean.”

I reach for the door Dad and Uncle Blake went through and yank it open. We’re in some sort of dressing room; judging by the vanity in the corner, this is where a bride might get ready before she walks down the aisle. My uncle has his hands up, in the middle of a sentence. The moment he sees me, though, he stops.

“Cooper,” he says. “Go back to the party. We’ve got this handled.”

“Don’t listen to him,” I say, glaring at Dad. “Whatever he’s saying, know I don’t believe it.”

Dad has a piece of paper in his hand. He thrusts it at me. “Fine. If you won’t believe me, look at the proof.”

It’s a flight confirmation. JFK to LAX. Passenger name Blake Callahan. I stare down at it, then crumple it up and toss it aside. “What’s it supposed to be proof of? So he’s going back to California, whatever.”

“He’s not sober. He’s not clean. That was a gin tonic in his fucking hand, and I’m sure he has coke on him somewhere.” My dad’s voice is like solid ice. “He’s been using you this whole time, son. You want to know the reason I keep my own fucking brother at a distance? It’s not because I hate him for being an addict. It’s because he nearly killed you!”

The door clicks shut as Dad’s words echo in the air.

Penny stands with her hands on her hips, a stricken but determined look on her face. “Cooper,” she says. “Your mom just told me that your uncle—when you were seven, you ... you got into a car accident.”

“I told you that. It’s how I got the scar by my ear.” I look over my shoulder at my uncle, who drags his teeth across his lower lip. “Someone hit our car on the way to practice.”

“He was drunk and high.” She tries and fails to hold back a sob. “You got a concussion and broke your arm.”

“I remember. But he wasn’t—it wasn’t—” I look at my uncle again. He meets my gaze, but there’s sadness in his eyes. My stomach clenches tightly. “It was just an accident.”

“Instead of pressing charges, I paid for his rehab,” Dad says. “Only he took the money and ran off to California.” He turns on my uncle once more. “You could have killed my fucking son, and instead of putting you in prison, where you belonged—”

“Stop,” I interrupt. He tries to keep going, so I shout the word instead. “Just—stop! Fucking stop.” I walk to my uncle. I’m trembling so hard I can practically feel my teeth chatter. “I don’t care about the past.”

“It’s not the past,” Dad says. “He manipulated us then, and he tried again when you were a teenager, but I kept him away. I tried to this time, but he knew what buttons to press, son. He knew how to turn you against me. Against the family.”

“He’s our fucking family!”

Dad shakes his head. “How much did you give him, Cooper?”

“I don’t—”

“How much, damnit?”

I bite back a curse. “Just—what he asked for. Right, Uncle Blake? For the rehab?”

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