Page 52 of Positively Pricked
Chapter 17
Silently, we all watched as the reporter gave us a virtual tour of some of the most famous Bennington properties.
This included a stunning parade of hotels, along with restaurants, mansions, a horse farm in Kentucky, plus a ranch out West, along with a villa in Tuscany, and a penthouse suite in New York.
The whirlwind tour ended with some exterior shots of the estate right here in Indianapolis, where Zane's grandfather had apparently been living until he died.
It was strange to think I'd just been there, chewing out the property's new owner, for all the goodthatdid.
When the show ended, I hated Zane even more – not because I was jealous, but because the guy was such an ass. In fact, the show's final scene was a long slow-motion shot of Zane, flipping the camera the double-bird.
He'd been standing on the same front porch where I'd visited him today. But unlike earlier, he'd been perfectly groomed and dressed in a pricey suit and tie. He would've looked every inch the billionaire, if only he weren't making such an immature, obscene gesture.
The thought had barely crossed my mind when I recalled something that made me a teeny bit uncomfortable. I'd been making thatsamegesture at him, less than two hours ago.
But that was totally different, I reasoned, because in my case, Zane totally had it coming.
To no one in particular, I said, "You know, he's gonna run that company straight into the ground."
Charlotte said, "I dunno. They went through a really rough patch a couple years ago, but the company's doing great now."
I turned and gave her a perplexed look. "How do you know?"
She glanced toward her cell phone, sitting on a side table. "I had to dosomethingwhile you were gone."
I couldn’t resist asking, "So, did you learn anything else? Like about his dad?"
"Oh yeah," Charlotte said. "Get this. The guy's like some mountain man or something."
I felt my eyebrows furrow. "Mountain man?"
Charlotte nodded. "Totally. He lives in a cabin in the U.P."
I asked, "What's the U.P.?"
"The upper peninsula of Michigan. Didn't you know?"
I wasn't familiar with the abbreviation, but I did know that northern Michigan was sparsely populated and known for producing people a lot tougher than I was.
I said, "So the U.P. has mountains?"
Charlotte gave it some thought. "I dunno. Maybe. But you don't need a mountain to be a mountain man."
On this, I decided she had a point. I asked, "What about his Mom?"
"Oh, she died forever ago."
For the first time, I felt a twinge of sympathy for the horrible Zane Bennington. "Really? How?"
"A car accident," she said. "The way it sounds, Zane was just a baby."
And there it was – another annoying twinge of sympathy. The guy hadn't even known his mom? Wasthatwhy he was such a jackass? It didn't excuse his behavior, but it might explain some of it, if only a little.
Damn it.I didn’t want to feel sympathy for him. After all, plenty of people had horrible things happen to them, andtheydidn't all turn into raging jackasses. And besides, Zane was loaded. On top ofthat, he had a job, with the best job title of all – C.E.O. It didn't get any better than that.
In contrast, I had no job, no title, and no idea how I'd be paying the rent.
With that in mind, I followed after Paisley when she stood and began heading alone toward the kitchen.
