Page 18 of Bittersweet Legacy

I looked around the carpark and frowned.

“What?” She asked looking around curiously.

“I can’t see Archie’s grey trident car.”

“Grey trident?” she asked, amused.

“Yeah it has a trident on it I’ve never seen before.”

“Yeah. That’s because it’s a Maserati GranTurismo, Esme.”

I shrugged. “Okay, it’s just a car.”

She laughed. “Yeah, he got it for his 17thbirthday – it’s basically an extension of his manhood.”

“Tay!” I slapped her arm playfully. “Could you please not talk about my brother’s manhood?”

“I’m sure there’s not much to talk about.”

I grimaced as we stopped in front of an electric blue Ford Explorer. “Ford?” I looked around at the Ferraris, Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches… “Not what I expected,” I admitted.

“My dad wanted to buy me a Lamborghini but Mom refused. She wants me to learn the value of money.”

“Between you and me, you know that a brand-new Ford Explorer is not a hard life, right?” I chuckled. “From where I come from it means you made it.”

She laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “I couldn’t care less about the car, Esme – It’s taking me from point A to point B. It was just as low as dad was ready to go. I’m a true daddy’s girl!” she grinned. “Hop in.”

“So what’s their deal?”

“The Kings?” She rolled her eyes as I nodded. “Caleb is pretty much their leader, total sociopath if you ask me, just like his dad. He’s the worst of them.”

I thought about him – when I first saw him through my window the other day I thought he was the most beautiful boy I’d even seen, with his blond hair, icy blue eyes, lean muscles – he looked like an Angel of Light. How could appearances fool you? He was more like the demon rising from darkness and yet I couldn’t help but be aggravated at his instant hate. Was it to support his friend?

“Have they been friends long? Archie and Caleb?”

“Ah,” she seemed to ponder that for a while. “They were always in the same circle but I guess they got closer when they joined Brentwood.”

“Why is that?”

“Archibald stopped being the lovely boy he was and became a clone of Caleb and all the hateful fathers.”

I might have just met her, but I didn’t miss the longing in her voice. Had she been closer to my brother than she said? It was too early to ask.

She stopped the car in front of the iron gates. “Okay, this is where I’m stopping, I’m not going into this house.”

I chuckled. “I can’t blame you, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t go in either.”

Her joking smile turned soft. “I’m sure it’s hard to get used to it and your father and brother are certainly not making it easy for you to feel welcome, but you’ll get used to this life, I promise. It will take a while; mom still has issues now after 10 years, but you’ll be okay.”

I took her hand and squeezed it gratefully. “Thank you, it means so much more than you think.”

“Anytime.”

She stopped me before I got out of the car. “Can I give you another piece of advice?”

I nodded.

“Don’t react when the Kings push you.” The word ‘Kings’ in her voice sounded all but reverent – it was sarcastic and mocking.

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