“What? You’re sending me to England?”
“I’m sending you to live with family away from this life.”
“Dad, no—”
“You cannot do as I ask. I gave you a simple instruction. Straight As. It can be done. Jacob, Abel, Oliver, Gideon, and Damian, all of them did it. They have got their heads screwed on, and they have sense. The only people they put in the hospital are those that deserved it, and I demanded they do it. You don’t listen. This was a test. Your history paper was a test for you, Landon. You got me my A, you’d stay, finish out your year, go to college near home, and that would be the end of it.”
“But, Dad—”
“You refused to listen to your mother. You refused every single little piece of help we’ve tried to give you. This is the final straw. Your bag is already packed, and I’m taking you to the airport tonight.”
“Wait, I don’t get to say goodbye?”
“Why? You want to cry about it, Landon? You want to beg your mother for you to stay? That option went out of the window on your last fucking fight. You think I’m not being fair.”
“You’re sending me away from everything I know.”
“I’m sending you away to become a better man.”
Landon watched in amazement as his father brandished a single case. In that moment, Landon wished he’d stopped to listen to his mother. He wished he’d paid attention to all the warnings, but he hadn’t. He didn’t care about anything but getting out there, fighting, hurting, and making the Denton name a name to be feared.
He had fucked up.
****
Charlotte stared down at the family photograph. It had all of them in it, taken four Christmases ago. Rick had been home, as had Stuart and Michelle, along with Maddox’s three sisters, Leah, Billy, and Tess. It was rare to get the entire Denton family together. They were all there.
The door opened, and she looked up, watching as Maddox entered the room.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I sent Howard with him. Rick’s aware of what needs to happen.”
“Do you really think sending him to England is the key?”
“I’m hoping by taking him out of his comfort zone, he’ll realize the error of his ways. He can’t go on doing what he’s doing.”
“I know. He’s still our little boy.”
“That’s the problem. He’s our last boy, and I went too easy on him.” Maddox poured himself a drink and sat down beside her. “Rick will take care of him.”
“He’s as far away from the Dentons he can get.”
She knew Maddox loved his brother, even though he wished at times that Rick was with them. It would have been good to have a doctor in the house.
“We shouldn’t have had to send him away,” Charlotte said. “Does that make us bad parents?”
“I don’t know. Some would say he needs a good beating. With that boy, I think he loves it.” He rubbed at his temples again. “Everything is just fucked right now. I never expected to send him away.”
“What did he get on his history paper?”
“He got a B.”
“That wasn’t too bad.”
“I asked him to get an A. How can I expect his brothers to accept him, or our workers to accept him when he can’t follow a simple instruction from me, and he’s in high school?”
“I know why you did it, baby.” She patted his chest again. “We did this for his own good.”