Page 63 of Dirty Heirs

The last time my dad looked this bad, he found out my younger brother got a girl pregnant. To my father’s relief, she had a miscarriage after only a few weeks. Crisis averted.

“Shane.” He rose from the couch and beckoned me with his finger. “Get in here, son.”

I stomped into the room like a rotten child and stood before him, arms crossed over my chest. “I already know what you’re going to say. So spare me the lecture.”

“You tried to use your credit card at The Waterford this morning.” He sipped from the glass like it was customary to drink scotch for breakfast. “I’m sure you’re aware it was declined.”

“Yeah, Dad. And that was fucking embarrassing.”

“If you pursue a relationship with Ella Doyle, I’m cutting off your access to your trust fund. No more yachts. No fancy cars. No credit cards. Nothing. You will live like everyone else.”

“I don’t care,” I shot back to see how he would respond. “Go ahead. Keep your fucking money. See if I care.”

I would not have lasted a week without the luxuries of being a Cormac. From the day I took my first breath, I lived a charmed life. Money. Houses. Yachts. Jets. Helicopters. Vacations from Madrid to Hong Kong. I never wanted anything because I had it all.

“You better get in line and do it fast.” Dad clenched his jaw. “I’ll send you away this time. I mean it, Shane.”

No one ever called me Shane.

I rolled my shoulders and squared up to him. We were the same height, but I had more muscle. “So what? Maybe boarding school will do me some good.”

If I couldn’t have Ella and Aiden, what was the point in staying in Devil’s Creek? I wanted to be as far away from them as possible. No reminders of what we shared all last night until this morning. They were burned into my brain and imprinted on my skin. I could still smell both of them, even after a long, hot bath and a big breakfast that still weighed heavy on my stomach.

My dad shook his head, smirking. “Not boarding school. Let’s see how long you last living on your Aunt Mae’s ranch in Colorado.”

“Gross,” I spit back, disgusted by the idea of shoveling hay and horse shit. “I’m not living there. Send me anywhere you want… but not Colorado. I would rather die.”

“Is she worth it, son?” Dad leveled me with a nasty glare. “You can get pussy any time you want. She’s nothing special.”

“It’s not just Ella,” I confessed.

He downed the contents of his glass and sighed. “Aiden Wellington?”

I nodded to confirm. “This all started because of him.”

“Son.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and breathed through his nose as he chose his following words carefully. “You can fuck men behind closed doors, but when you become CEO of Mac Corp, this shit has to stop. No more fooling around with men, you understand me?”

“No, I don’t.” I stepped back, letting his hand drop from my shoulder. “I’m not going to change. I like men and women. This is who I am. Deal with it.”

“No one will take you seriously,” he fired back, his cheeks flushed. “Mac Corp is a publicly traded company, which means the board of directors can have you removed with one vote. Our company would fall into the hands of an outsider. Do you want that?”

“Then don’t make me CEO.” I raised my palms and shrugged. “Problem solved.”

“We have shareholders and other people to think about than ourselves,” he snapped, breathing scotch in my face. “This company is your future. It’s been in our family for over a century.”

“Dad, I haven’t even graduated from high school yet. Would you get off my ass about Mac Corp?”

I turned to leave the room, and he grabbed my wrist.

“You will do as I say, or the money dries up.”

I spun around to face him, teeth gritted. “You wouldn’t.”

“I already have,” he fired back. “Do you want to test your luck?”

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I glared at the bastard controlling my life. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to stop seeing Aiden and Ella. They graduate in a few months and will leave for college. You will still be here. Consider your future.”

---