Uncut (Unexpected Book 4) (56 page)

All about me? What is wrong with her? My parents only cared about appearances, how we were portrayed in public. They spoiled her rotten, and celebrated every stupid thing she did. Unbelievable. She thinks they only cared about me. Has she not realized that our parents don’t care much about any of us at all? I look at her, then turn to Lucas who is in the corner ignoring the family crisis.

“You want Cooperson Corporation so badly? Ask Father for it. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass. You want their attention? You can have it all,” I say, combing my hair while my mind is focusing on Thea, on how she’s going to respond or what she’ll do next. “Take it all. Just leave the people I care about and me the fuck alone. I am sick of your bullshit-childish-grudge against me.”

“You’re the one who hurt us,” Mother sobs. “Not Fey.”

“Denial, denial, denial. That’s the only thing our family knows how to do well.” I look at Lucas who steps closer. “Please take her away from here before I do something stupid,” I urge him, pointing at Fey.

I feel my mother’s stare on me. “I don’t even recognize you anymore, Tristan,” Mother says, drying her fake tears, and leaving the room behind my siblings.

Fuck, what a mess.

Tristan: Have you heard from Thea?

Matt: How’s your father?

Tristan: In surgery. How’s Thea?

Matt: You know?

Tristan: Of course, it’s all over the news. Is she okay?

Matt: Yes, she’s fine, startled but you know our girl, she’s strong. Right now she’s with AJ, Arthur, and Dad while we’re controlling the information that was leaked.

Tristan: I’ll try to contact her later.

Matt: You do that. She’s worried about your father’s condition. When we’re done with this crisis, we can travel to Hartford if you need us.

Tristan: Thank you, we’ll discuss that later.

“Any news?” My mother steps into the waiting room.

“None other than he’s in the ICU. Why don’t you go and stay with him?”

My mother sits, her shoulders squared. Her posture perfect. Not a hair out of place. The portrait of a perfect wife and mother. She’s looking ahead as if lost in thought. I’m not even sure if she heard me. She finally clears her throat lightly. “I know you want to blame Fey, but you did this, Tristan. God is punishing us for your sins.” She opens her purse, takes out a tissue, and pats her eyes dry.

“Father Andrew is waiting for you. But I doubt anyone can forgive you after what you did. A man, Tristan. A man. I thought we were past this deplorable behavior. Victoria’s parents are threatening to pull out of our agreement. Your father already has enough problems. Their company is important to us.” My mother stands and takes a step toward me. “How dare you.”

“The Hudsons are in the hole, just like the Coopersons, Mother. My private life is just that, mine. For the next few days I’ll stay to see that my father is taken care of and try to fix Cooperson Corporation. I’ll do it because for some fucking reason I love you and Father.”

Mother’s cold stare lands on me for a few beats before she jerks away, wordless.

Setting aside my family, I head outside the hospital, wondering where I’m heading tonight after what I’m about to do. I take out my cellphone and cue up one of my two favorite phone numbers. Unicorns don’t exist, and fantasies don’t last forever. Reality knocked my ass back on the ground and it’s time to lead with reason. I have to protect those I love, even if it rips my heart from my chest.

“Hi.” Her sweet voice answers at the first ring. “How’s your father? How are you?”

“Hi, Butterfly, how are you?” I ask, taking a deep breath. “Did Matt’s family take the news well?”

“About who my father is and who I was? Yes, they did,” she responds with a low voice. “The Deckers are pretty understanding and supportive. We’re all worried about you, and your father.”

“He’s out of surgery, and . . .” I study the pavement, staring at the spot where I’ll stand while I prioritize, putting what really matters first. “Is Matt around? I need to talk to you both.”

“What’s going on, Coop?” she asks. I don’t answer, only wait. “Mattie, Coop wants to talk to us.”

The background noise behind them dies. I know the call is still connected, but I can’t hear them.

“Ready when you are; you’re on speaker. Is everything okay?” Thea asks again. My heart thumps loudly and my limbs feel numb.

“Thea, baby, I’m sorry . . .” I begin. “My sister—”

“We know,” Matt interrupts. “And unless you want us to stop, Mason is going to press charges.”

In the midst of everything, I chuckle at that. “Go ahead. The bitch deserves whatever you decide to do,” I say, not worrying about my sister or her fate.

Gasping for air, I force myself into saying it, letting the words that are clumped inside my throat come out. “The thing is, that I read everything. This is . . . too much for me to handle.” Fuck, my eyes burn as I think of what’ll happen to us after all is said and done.
Just do it, Cooperson.
“It’s pushing my hard limit. I can’t continue . . . this.”

“Wait, Coop—what do you mean?” Thea’s voice trembles. “We’re together forever, remember? I’m not that girl anymore. You know that, right? Please, tell me you know that, that I’m not her.”

No, shit, don’t fuck it up, I remind myself. Don’t make it sound that it’s her fault, dumbass. “I know, Thea. That’s not the problem. We’ve talked about my hard limits before. This is one that I’m not willing to push. I’m done.”

I hear Matt’s heavy breath come through the phone. “Fuck you, Tristan,” he growls. “I thought you had changed, but I guess not. You can’t stop being a selfish bastard and fight for the two people who love you?”

“Sorry, I’m done fighting.” I muster up the coldest voice I have. “Thea, I hope you stay strong. The woman I know is nothing like that girl.”

I can hear the sound of her tears coming through the line and it breaks my fucking heart. “Coop, please don’t do this. Don’t leave us,” she begs.

“Goodbye,” I say, ending the call, my heart practically shuddering at the realization of what I've just done. I turn toward the busy street and let the sound of the traffic drown out the voice in my head shouting at me that I just made the biggest mistake of my life.

But Thea comes first. Always Thea.

C
leaning images, articles, and videos from the Internet took us four long days. Pria worked her magic, cleaning my image and spinning Thea’s image. We confirmed being a couple for the past months. Since the videos didn’t have a date or time, we spun the tale about the mysterious man—a former lover and an old video. A guy who happened to look similar to Thea’s ex. The similarity in dark hair and athletic body was a coincidence. We’re thankful that Fey Cooperson has zero video-taking skills.

Mason and I only had a few hours of sleep during those four days. Today I planned on having a break, but I can’t because Pops texted that he needed me in his home-office. The silver lining of said visit is that Thea is staying with them. Away from the city and any leftover reporters trying to snap a picture of her. I’m thankful that neither Pops nor Dad suggested taking her to the compound. That’d be too far away from me. To top the news, Tristan broke up with us. He’s done fighting. Translation: the fun is over and he can’t handle the real shit.

When I enter Gabe’s office, both are staring at his computer monitor. It clues me in that this is work related. Shit, did something happen at the company? I knew I shouldn’t have placed all my attention on cleaning the mess.

“What’s going on? Something wrong with the company, Dad?”

“Is there, Mattie?” Dad asks with a horrifying look. I shake my head. “Good. Then we only have one situation to deal with. Either we work to shut this down before it gets blown out of proportion, or you work on a proposal. Martin is working hard to land a tell-all book, and a reality show. I think we can work out a mini-series about Dreadful Souls. How they became a band, their climb to success, the decline, and a simple
where-are-they-now
? Along with a one-time reunion concert—find a venue for that.”

“You okay with all that, Pops?” I scratch my head.

He shakes his head. “Of course I’m not, Mattie. That fucking piece of shit—Martin is trying to sell our lives to the highest bidder.” He straightens up his body. “I swear, I’m only seconds from asking for a drink or a gun. That’s how bad I’m taking this shit. I might end up killing the fucking asshole this time.”

Fuck, Thea’s father is hooking himself to our family again.

“He’s an idiot if he thinks I’ll let him use my songs, or my family.” Chris trembles with anger.

“Family?” I squeeze the back of the chair, refraining from hitting something.

“Yes. You and Jacob are famous. He wants to pretend that he’s sending Thea, your girlfriend, to rehab.” He huffs. “Not that she needs it.”

“He’s the one that needs a good cleaning.” I toss my head back, watching the ceiling. When is this going to end? “Where is she?”

“In the guestroom, working with her crafts.” He shakes his head. “Mason had to shut down her online store earlier today. She began to receive fucked-up messages.” Not her store, not that. Fuck. Fuck. “For all the shit that happened to her, she’s a good kid.”

“Yes, and we adore her,” Gabe interrupts opening his arms for Pops who goes willingly toward him. “Drama aside, Matthew, I need you to come up with a concept. If we take charge, we can control the chaos he wants to create from the mess.” Gabe traces circles on Chris’s back while he speaks. “My second suggestion is that we convince Ray and Peter, the other members of the band, to sign exclusivity with us for the rest of their lives. Not sure how, I’m just storming in my head, but you can come up with something better, Matthew. I trust you. Talk to the lawyer, the board, and let me know what you decide.”

“The board?” My Adam’s apple gets stuck as I swallow. “I don’t need them.”

Gabe narrows his eyes at me, as if waiting for me to say something, which I don’t.

“Everything okay there, Matt?” I nod, giving my best neutral posture. “Good. No, you don’t need the board. Your company, your decisions. I used to use them for ideas, to find new shows, scripts . . . That’s why
we
have a board of executives. If you don’t want to use them that way, then rethink their roles within the company. Just talk to me before you make any big decisions or changes.”