Page 10 of Cruelest Contract
“Fucker,” Fort growls and dumps the bowl of grated cheese on Getty’s head.
Getty’s face reddens with rage. He looks like he got caught in a snowstorm. He’ll smell like cheese for a fucking week. Wait till Mel sees what’s become of the pricey shit she has to order from New York.
Meanwhile, my father’s expression constricts with disgust, expecting me to monitor the pack while Tye cackles like a demented carnival clown.
“Asshole.” Getty gives Fort another kick.
Fort grimaces and stomps on Getty’s knee.
“What the FUCK?” Getty seethes. “Did you wake up this morning with a death wish?”
The guard who was in here dropping off food earlier pokes his head into the room, blinks, and instantly retreats. Good thinking.
“HEY!” I smack the table before blood is drawn. “Knock it off. Save the fight for the rest of the world. It’s over. Sit down, both of you.”
Fort settles down first and accepts the extra napkin I toss at him to mop up the water on his pants.
Tye quits laughing and reaches for the platter of sausage and peppers. “I’ll just do everyone a favor and finish this off.”
Getty finds dignity tough to come by while there’s tiny flecks of cheese sprinkled in his hair. He plunks down in his chair and continues to look homicidal.
I send him a peace offering by handing the phone over. He glares, grumpy as a rabid dog, but he still takes a look.
“Damn.” He releases a low whistle and holds the screen closer to his face. “The skinny little Grimaldi girl had some kind of fucking glow up.”
Fort gets curious enough to risk his life by leaning into Getty’s space so he can see Cecilia Grimaldi for himself. Lucky for him, Getty is too preoccupied to notice.
A slow grin spreads across Fort’s face. “If she needs a place to sleep, I can sacrifice some room in my bed.”
Now that my brothers are all drooling over Cecilia, jealousy squeezes my chest. You’d think no one but me has the right to have dirty thoughts about some girl I haven’t seen in twelve years.
I’m still stewing over this inner drama when I notice that my father is watching me. His anger over the dining room scuffle has already faded. Now he’s simply thoughtful. I wonder if he’ll notice that I’ve already air dropped Cecilia’s photo to my phone, just in case I need to refer back to it again later.
“Mancini is waiting on my answer,” he says. “Care to weigh in?”
“The answer is a hard no,” I say. “I’ve got a much better idea how to solve the Grimaldis’ problem.”
My father, without a trace of surprise, nods. “I thought you might.”
3
CECILIA
My car’s check engine light just blinked on, I was fired an hour ago, and the only living creature awaiting my homecoming is the sullen cat I’ve recently adopted.
Happy Birthday to ME!
At least I’ll be eating cupcakes for dinner. This isn’t much of a consolation but when you’re grasping at straws, you’ll take what you can get.
Tomorrow’s chore is to figure out how to stretch my meager savings and dive into job hunting. Tonight my plan is to binge on buttercream frosting and cry over the Keira Knightly film version ofPride and Prejudice.
“You weren’t fired.” Alice, often an excessive optimist, points this out via speaker phone while I inch through freeway traffic. “There’s no shame in being laid off.”
“A technicality. Still jobless.” A pickup truck comes to a hard stop in front of me and I slam on the brake pedal.
“I’m really sorry, sweetie. But it’s not like they singled you out. Didn’t you say half the office staff was laid off?” She uses a tone of gentle patience that’s likely effective on her students. If only I was a fifth grader.
“Closer to two thirds,” I admit, feeling a pang for my former colleagues, many of whom have more dependents than a cranky cat. “The cost of labor and raw materials rose too fast and eviscerated the budgets. Every project for the past eighteen months ended up deep in the red. I bet they won’t be able to make payroll by the end of the summer.”
