I was done with this bullshit of needing evidence for the MC to take action. I was going to kill Dante Dutton and I didn’t give a fuck if it started a war or if someone took me out in retaliation.
I was ending this once and for all.
Chapter 37
Kane
“Dinnerwillbereadysoon,” Mom said as I walked through the kitchen. Even though we had chefs on staff, Mom liked to be involved with the plating to make sure everything looked perfect. Because it was important to impress during family dinner on a Saturday night…
We normally didn’t do family dinner on the weekends, but Mom and Dad were flying out to Chicago tomorrow morning to take Bobby to a consultation to discuss surgery. Mom found a doctor who was quite confident he could perform reinnervation surgery on his vocal cords to make it so Bobby could speak again.
They decided to make a trip of it and spend a few days in the windy city, so Mom insisted we all have dinner together before they go. Dad took it upon himself to invite Lauren, who was on a video call with one of her friends in the living room.
“Who all is coming?” I asked. “Aside from my annoying fake girlfriend.”
“Be nice, Kane. I’m not Lauren’s biggest fan either after what she did, but you should try and make the best of it. Your father’s been so stressed lately,” Mom said as she worked on a flower arrangement for the table.
“Then why doesn’t he fuck her?” I asked, instantly regretting it as Mom sucked in a sharp breath.
“Kane, please. This deal is important for our family. Play nice for a little while and then you can go do whatever orwhoeveryou want.”
Like that was true. Once things with Lauren were done, there would be someone else to fuck and impress. Dad probably had potential wives lined up for me, ready to pop out two and a half kids and move into a mini mansion with a white picket fence.
Puke.
“Dante will also be here,” Mom gritted through her teeth. She hated Dante almost as much as I did. “I assume he’s bringing Dom and Danica.”
He wasn’t bringing Dom because Dom was at The Court. There was rarely a Saturday night that he wasn’t fighting. X would be there too, no doubt.
I hadn’t heard from Dani since she left Ethereal on Friday night. I texted her a few times but they went unread, so either she was ignoring me or…
“Dinner smells delicious, Alana,” Dante said as he walked into the kitchen, pecking Mom on the cheek and making her cringe. He thought he was smooth as butter, but he was so fucking transparent.
I couldn’t fathom why Dad had ever befriended him.
Dani followed behind him wearing black yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Her hair was damp like she’d taken a shower recently, and the dark circles under her eyes indicated she was still feeling that hangover.
Mom side-stepped Dante and gave Dani a hug. “It’s good to see you, baby. Are you hungry? You’re getting so thin.”
“Thin?” Dante grunted, looking his daughter up and down. “Looks like she’s getting a little chubby to me.”
I growled but Dani stepped in with the save.
“Starving,” she said with a forced smile. Her eyes darted to me for a moment before going back to Mom.
Everyone sat down in the dining room as dinner was served. Gemma slouched on one side of me and it was starting to piss me off. She’d been sad ever since that shit with Noah went down and it didn’t make sense to me. Shouldn’t she be loyal to her best friend?
“When are you going to stop moping? It’s weird,” I said to her quietly as everyone else participated in the small talk I wanted no part of.
Gemma flinched like my words burned her. “Can we not do this right now?”
Sure, but we were sure as fuck doing this later. At least with Gemma, if I pestered her enough, she would eventually tell me the truth. She didn’t like confrontation, which was why she’d been a shell of herself sincethe incident.
Dani didn’t look up from her plate as she pushed the roast around with her fork. Forstarving, she sure as fuck wasn’t eating much.
Lauren ate a few bites of her salad and claimed to have a stomachache and needed to go home.Good riddance, I thought as she went to wait for her ride. She’d barely spoken to me and I had a feeling she was butt-hurt over what happened at Ethereal last night.
Whatever. Didn’t really give a fuck.