“Mine,” his mother snips. “Can you put a shirt on, please?”
“No.” He sits down and pulls me into his lap. “Any other requests?”
Caroline purses her lips together in obvious annoyance. She doesn’t make any other demands as Francis bustles around dropping platters of breakfast foods onto the table. It’s a bit chaotic as everyone makes their plates, but it almost feels normal. Like Team Constantine isn’t always a bunch of perfect freaks. Sometimes they can be normal. Ish. They’ll never really be normal.
Once everyone is eating, Caroline begins what feels like a breakfast meeting now rather than a family meal.
“I’ve spoken to Anthony this morning,” she explains, “and he’ll be representing you in court.”
Yippee.
Just what I want to discuss when I’ve barely gotten anything in my stomach.
“For my grandmother’s money?” I ask, offering Win a bite of my bacon since he’s got his only free hand up the back of my shirt.
Caroline nods, her eyes narrowing when I yelp. I jerk my head to glower at Win who wears a smug grin. Fucker bit me.
“See if I feed you again, asshole,” I mutter.
“If you two are done behaving like children,” Caroline huffs, “I thought I’d give you an update this morning.”
“On?” Win asks.
“Manda and Meredith.”
Win and I both tense at the mention of their names, the night before crashing back over us. I shudder at the memory of hanging off the side of the damn building, but Win soothes away the tremors by stroking my bare back.
“Go on,” Win growls.
Last night, Meredith left since the police had nothing to hold her on. I’d been more concerned about getting to the hospital, but Win was pissed they let her walk free. Had he not been injured, he would have probably done more to stop it.
Luckily, his mother is a viper.
When she’s striking out at someone else—an enemy—it’s kind of nice to have her on your side. She definitely gets shit done.
“They’ve both been arrested.” Caroline smiles the kind of smile queens do when they’re telling their minions to behead someone. “Embezzlement charges are the least of their worries at this point. I made sure to send the NYPD every piece of evidence we’ve uncovered so far. Harold and Anthony are working on the rest. We’re going to make them wish they’d never heard our name, much less tried to steal from it.”
“What about my dad?”
Caroline’s stare loses some of the hard edge as she studies the way I absently feed Winston more bacon. “He’s chosen his side.”
Manda’s.
“Oh.” I drop my stare down to the plate of food, my stomach roiling violently. “You spoke to him, then?”
“He’s relieved you’re alive, but he believes you’re in the wrong for wanting to take what’s rightfully yours. He doesn’t think your inheritance was a gambling chip to be used by Manda and rather rudely told me he’d fight tooth and nail to not only obtain that money, but to also use it to sue us once he got her out of jail.”
Elaine laughs and Keaton snorts.
“He won’t win,” Perry states.
“Captain Obvious,” Vivian says. “Of course he won’t.”
I chew on my bottom lip, no longer interested in breakfast. Did I really think Dad would choose me? He’s been choosing her pretty much from day one. Weak for allowing her to manipulate him. One day he’ll realize the error of his ways, but it’ll be too late. His actions—and inactions—nearly got his daughter killed. And right now he’s backing the woman who’s partly responsible.
“Don’t worry,” Caroline says as she lifts her cup of tea. “You’re on the right side. For now.”
Her impassive features would be unreadable to most, but I’ve spent quite some time learning Winston’s every facial tic. In her expression, she’s telling me she’ll accept me being on their side, but if I screw up, she’ll happily crush me beneath her heel.
I smile at her because they can’t get rid of me now. “Team Constantine forever.”
Perry holds up his fist and I bump it with my cast. Caroline grimaces as she reads Win’s Sharpie handiwork on my cast.
“You like poking at her,” Winston accuses when the talking starts back up again and I’m no longer the focus. “I thought you were trying not to die.”
“She makes it too easy.”
“Definitely trying to die.”
“I thought about having us all matching Team Constantine shirts made. She’d love it, am I right?”
“Close your bratty mouth, Cinderelliott, or I’m going to drag you into your old bedroom and find a way to do it for you.”
“You can’t make me suck your dick with your family having breakfast right down the hall.”
Blue eyes dark with challenge bore into me. “Watch me.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You have three seconds to get into that bedroom.”
“Or what?”
“Or,” he rumbles, his strong fingers caressing my hip, “I’ll push you to your knees right here. That’ll get them out of my fucking house.”