“Fuck you,” Ransom growls, jerking to try to free himself.
With his right foot planted flat on the floor, Anthony lifts his right hip, using the momentum and position to flip them over, but with the way Ransom adjusted, they do a full toddler version of tumbling.
Both break apart for a split second and Anthony reaches up, gripping the glass he was drinking from.
“Ransom watch out!” I scream.
His hand comes up just in time to catch Anthony’s wrist and he slams his forehead into his.
They both manage to scramble to their feet, and this time, Anthony lands a punch across his brother’s face. Ransom’s head jerks to the side on impact, but he comes right back, swinging wildly with both hands, forcing his feet backward until his lower half hits a wooden chest.
“What the fuck is this?!” Ransom shouts. “What did you do?” His eyes slice to mine.
His gaze falls to my dress then, as if he’s only noticed I’m made-up, and his head tips the tiniest bit, small creases forming between his eyes. “Wait... it’s him? He’s the one who—” he cuts himself off, putting the pieces together.
Anthony takes advantage of his distracted state. He lifts his foot, kicking Ransom right in the stomach and he stumbles backward, hits the small table and the case on top of it crashes to the floor.
Hundreds of pearls spill over the floor. They roll in every direction, down the hall and the stairs, over the slatted railing, the hard pings echoing as they bounce along the first floor.
“Fuck,” he ground out. He squeezes his hair with his hands, his eyes clamped shut as he shakes his head, an angry growl slipping past him. “Fuck!”
In that moment, I know the answer to my question.
Anthony Blanca holds all we have in the palm of his hands, and he knows it. He’s known it for a while now, but Ransom had not a clue.
This wasn’t his plan.
I’m not a board piece in a game of Family Feud, at least not where he’s concerned.
My pulse leaps in my chest, deep beneath my ribs. It’s the part of me I swore, time and time again, didn’t work properly, yet I now know the truth.
It didn’t work because it had yet to be charged, but it beats wildly now, aches deeply for the boy in front of me and I don’t even know why.
That might be a lie.
It might be because I’m not sure where we go from here.
Needles prick in my throat and I think I whisper his name, but I can’t be sure as his head never lifts. He doesn’t step from the corner he’s backed himself into.
Anthony coughs, and my eyes fly his way.
He shakes his head, glaring at his brother, a heavy scoff leaving him. “Weak little fucker. Always were. Let me lay this out for you now. Ransom, I will give you the house and the inheritance—”
“Fuck the house, fuck money, and fuck you!” he bellows, swiping a hand across the table and sending everything on top of it crashing to the floor. “She is mine. Try and take her, I fucking dare you.”
I wait for Anthony to shout back, sure that he will, but a foul chuckle is what follows, and somehow, I know it’s worse.
My ribs cave, my stomach hollowing.
“I wasn’t finished.” Anthony cocks his head, and the gambit fucking falls. “But maybe I’ll start backward so you get the full picture.” He grins wickedly. “Jameson will be my wife—”
Ransom scoffs, shaking his head. “Fuck you, she will.”
“And once she is,” he continues as if Ransom never spoke, “I no longer need the rest. The house will be yours, the trust, but most importantly, or so you seem to believe, I will sign complete conservatorship over to you.”
Ransom’s face falls, he turns white, stumbles over his own two feet, and drops against the wall, his back sliding down it until his ass hits the ground.
“There we go, you’re getting it now, though, I admit, I’m a bit surprised by the dramatic reaction.”
“Fuck you,” Ransom breathes. It’s hardly audible, but it’s there.
“It works in my favor though, because now you know. There’s no reason to fight me anymore. You’ll soon have everything you ever wanted.”
It dawns on me, and I don’t realize I’ve whispered her name until Anthony’s scoff reaches me.
“Yet another surprise, you do know about our dear sister, so you must know how much Ransom cares for the girl.” Anthony’s disregard for her, as if she’s a thing rather than a person, is sickening.
“On the off chance that it needs to be said aloud...” He trails off as his phone rings and he bends, grabbing it from where it must have fallen from his pocket, his eyes slicing to mine. “Every decision surrounding her, will be his, the moment you... are completely mine.”