I didn’t bother sparing my brothers a glance.
They wouldn’t address me unless my stepmother forced them to.
Something in which she wouldn’t do often.
Because why would she want her family addressing the black sheep of the family?
“That’s disgusting, and exactly like you,” Stepmother dearest grumbled darkly. “I came here to fight for your family’s right to live. They can’t do that successfully with so little money to go on.”
“I suggest you get a job like the rest of us,” Etienne suggested. “And if that doesn’t work, possibly spending less money a month might work, too. I mean, I know quite a few people that could live off of ten K a month pretty fuckin’ spectacularly.”
“Ten K a month is chump change,” my stepmother hissed. “I can’t even pay my gas bill with that.”
I could pay everyone’s gas bill on the entire damn block I was currently standing in with that… yet she was a fuckin’ lush with her spending habits.
“You could possibly think about not flying to France, then you could afford it,” I suggested. “I could live off of six hundred a month. I’m fairly sure that you can live off of ten grand.”
Hell, I could’ve lived ten lives off of ten grand a month.
Ten grand would’ve been a godsend to me a few months ago.
Hell, it was still a godsend.
“You and I aren’t the same,” my stepmother hissed. “Now, figure out how to fix this, or else.”
Or else. That was hilarious, coming from her. Or else she’d ruin my life? Or else, she’d steal it from me any way she could? Or else she would literally do whatever was necessary to make my life miserable?
Newsflash! She’d already been doing that!
“Or else what?” Etienne asked, sounding miffed, and coming to my rescue. “You’re not going to come here and start shit when you don’t have any fuckin’ clue what’s going on. If you want information, talk to your husband. He’ll be happy to share it, I’m sure. In the meantime, you leave my girl alone… or else.”
My stepmother stiffened.
My brother, for once in his life, showed that he wasn’t a complete and utter moron, and stepped closer to my mother, sensing the change in the atmosphere surrounding us.
Though, this time, he stepped behind her instead of in front of her. A move that was in direct opposition to what Etienne had done just moments ago when he’d stepped in front of me.
My stepmother stiffened, not liking the threat that Etienne had just laid at her feet.
But it was the group of men that suddenly appeared at my back—at Etienne’s back—that gave her pause.
A large wall of leather and intimidating muscle that would scare anyone half to death.
“What a big bunch of degenerates you have here,” she hissed. “Why does it not surprise me that you found a bunch of ex-cons to help you steal away your family’s inheritance?”
I fisted my hands at my side.
How did she know they were ex-cons?
Also, how did she know where to find me?
“You… you what?” I asked. “You really think that I went to find these men, just to make sure that you were miserable?”
“I think something,” she replied. “And it’s definitely not looking good for you.” She eyed the men up and down. “Your father told me that you were dating a man that’d been to prison for beating someone near to death. That’s just… special.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you absolutely insane? Do you listen to yourself at all? If you gave me half a chance, trusted me even a little bit, you’d see…”
“You’d see that I’ve never liked you,” my stepmother replied bluntly. “You’re a shining example of your father’s betrayal. You are the proof that your father couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
She had a point.
I mean, logically, I’d known this.
Putting myself into her shoes, had I been married to Etienne, and he’d cheated, would I be able to embrace the daughter that’d come from his infidelity?
No, probably not. There’d always be a gap there.
Because, had my dad meant even an iota of what Etienne meant to me… I’d be devastated.
Maybe the more humane thing would’ve been for my stepmother to leave. To call it quits and give us all the break we so desperately needed.
For that child, I would’ve called it quits.
I would’ve gone away, and never looked back.
Because I knew what it felt like to feel absolutely unwanted.
I wouldn’t ever do that to another human being—especially one that belonged to Etienne—as long as I lived.
“I think it’s time for you to go,” Etienne said finally. “I know that you thought by showing up here—which likely was the third or fourth place you tried since you have no clue about anything—that you’d accomplish something. But you won’t. I won’t let you abuse her anymore. She’s mine to take care of now. She’s mine to protect. She’s mine to make sure she doesn’t get manipulated by you again. And let me tell you something, if I ever find out that you’re stealing from her again, I’ll make sure that charges are pressed, and you see the inside of a jail cell yourself.”