My mother’s voice played over and over in my head. “I’m so sorry, Tucker. Your father died ten minutes ago.”
He was dead. Gone. And the last fucking words I said to him was that I hated him. I threw the glass across the room; the sound of it hitting the wall didn’t even faze me. The bottle of whiskey sat in my other hand, so I lifted it and took a long drink instead.
“Why!” I screamed out at the air. “Why did you fucking have to die!”
My phone rang again and I dropped my head, damn near between my legs. I was drunk out of my mind but not drunk enough to erase the pain and guilt. Hell, it hadn’t even dulled.
The sound of my front door swinging open had me glancing up. The light from outside lit up the doorway, and I had to shield my eyes. It took me a few seconds with the bright light and my drunken haze to see who was standing there.
“Charlie,” I whispered as she walked into the dark room.
“Tucker,” she replied, her voice filled with worry. “Oh God. Tucker.”
She dropped to her knees and placed her hands on my legs. “Your mother and Lily are worried sick about you.”
I let out a gruff laugh. “Ha, I’m sure they are.”
Her brows pulled in tightly. “You don’t think they’re not in pain, as well? Tucker, you need to get your ass sobered up and get over to your mother’s. She’s trying to plan your dad’s funeral and needs—”
“They’re fine without me there.”
Charlie shook her head. “What is going on with you? Why are you drowning in a bottle of Jack?”
I laughed. “Why? Because the last words I told my father were that I hated him, Charlie. That’s fucking why.”
Her eyes filled with sadness, and it pissed me off. “Don’t sit there and feel sorry for me.”
My chest ached with a pain I’d never experienced before, and for some reason, I needed someone else to feel that pain too.
She stood. “I’m not feeling sorry for you, but if you happen to remember, I know what it’s like when you lose a parent.”
I laughed and she jerked back as if I had slapped her.
“That’s right. You lost your mom and dad, so you can relate.”
Her arms folded across her chest. “Yes.”
Standing, I stumbled and she reached out for me, but I pushed her hands away, making her jerk back again.
“You know what’s wrong with this fucked-up picture?”
Charlie’s chin lifted. “No, tell me.”
“Secrets. We all keep secrets, don’t we?”
When her shoulders fell, I let out a roar of drunken laughter. “Yeah, you know all about about secrets, don’t you Charlie? Like the little secret of you trying to seduce me into marrying you so you can keep the precious little title of CEO of the company your fucked-up grandfather started.”
Her mouth dropped open, and a look of shock moved over her face. I lifted the whiskey bottle to my mouth and dragged in another few gulps of the burning liquid.
“Yeah, I know all about your little plan. I came up with my own little plan for us as well.”
“You … you knew?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“Yeah, I knew.”
Her hands balled up to fists. “Were you playing me this entire time, Tucker?”
“Me? Me playing you? Fucking hell, Charlie, you made a plan to trick me into marrying you!”