Insolent (Crimson Elite 4)

His eyes close for a fraction of a second. “I sometimes forget that. That I had to share her. She was mine for so long.” Dad never moved on after she died. He keeps himself busy with his farm, and I wonder if he even has much human interaction anymore. It’s been so long since I’ve been back home that I’ve forgotten the smallest details of the place. “You had Ma, so I didn’t see the point.”

I sit back in my seat, angry at his words, and cross my arms over my chest. “She wasn’t my mother, Father, and you know that. She was just a fill-in. Fuck! She still is. But you should have told me more about my mother.”

He nods then checks on Charles. “Do you plan to tell him about his mother?”

“Yes. Of what I know, at least.”

“So, you didn’t know her well?”

I shake my head. “She’s left letters… one for him and me.”

“Interesting…” He pauses. “You haven’t read them, have you?” I shrug. “It’s interesting how you spent so little time with me but turned out just like me.”

A knock comes on the door, so I get up to open it, leaving my father with Charles on the couch. When I pull it open, Ma greets me with a smile as she does every day. Her hands wrap around me, and she reaches in, kissing my cheek, and quickly lets go before she pushes past me. She stops when she sees my father sitting on the couch with Charles.

“Brandon, what a pleasant surprise.”

“It’s good to see you again, Ma.” Everyone calls her that, it kind of stuck with her as she always had us kids around. She blushes. Holy shit, did she just blush? I look between the two of them to see my father watching her intently and smiling. He doesn’t fucking smile.

“You didn’t tell me your father would be here today. Do you want me to go?” She turns toward the door.

“Don’t be silly, you can show me everything this little man likes while Darby goes to work.”

Ma nods her head and walks farther into the room, sitting next to my father as she says hello to Charles. My father watches her every movement.

“It’s been so long,” Ma says, and I only just hear his response as I walk past.

“It has, way too long.”Olympia’s here when I walk in—of course, she is. She’s always here when she should be having a life. Olympia’s eyes find mine, and she quickly looks away. I walk up to the bar while watching her set everything in place. I sit opposite and wait for her to acknowledge I’m here. She doesn’t. It takes me five minutes until I speak to her again because she’s disregarding me.

“Do you plan to ignore me?”

“I was until you opened your mouth,” she says still not acknowledging me with her eyes.

“What happened last night cannot happen again.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” is what she says as her reply.

“I’m serious.” She finally turns to look at me, her blue hair tied back today.

“No, you aren’t, and do you want to know why you aren’t?”

I sit back, crossing my hands over my chest. “Enlighten me, oh wise one.”

Olympia walks over, her elbows come to lie on the counter in front of me. She pushes her breasts up so they’re on full display. “Because when you say that, your eyes flick to my lips, and I know you want to kiss me again.”

I lift my eyes from her lips.

Shit! I didn’t even know I was doing that.

“It won’t happen again.”

She pushes off the counter with an eye roll. “Please, I expect it will happen today. Actually, probably in the next two minutes, since you can’t seem to stay away from me.”

“I could fire you.”

“Please, go ahead. I don’t need the money.”

“Why don’t you need the money?”

She turns back to me. “Because I have more than you.” She winks and goes back to her job. I walk straight up the stairs to our offices and open Echo’s office door to see him sitting at his computer.

“Why is she rich?” I ask Echo.

“Well, hello to you too, friend.” He gazes up from his computer, waiting.

“Hello. Now, tell me why?”

Echo goes back to it, and I hear the clicking before he starts talking. “Her father’s wealthy, owns almost all the coal mining fields in this country.”

Fuck, that is a shit load.

“She’s a princess,” I state.

“Mining princess, for sure.”

“Why does she work here?” I ask, but he shrugs.

“You know I didn’t hire her, Creed did. Ask him.”

Great, that’s like getting blood from a stone.

“Do you want to fire her?” Echo asks.

I sit on his question, unsure of the right response.

“She’s good, though, I would say better than Johnny ever was. She’s never late and always the last to leave.”

“Why is she working, though?” I ask him, hoping maybe he might know.