Chapter Thirty-Four
Corey
Corey’s eyes went wide as a broad set of shoulders filled the doorway and an extremely put-together man walked into her house. His black hair was slicked back from his chiseled face and his eyes were as dark as night. He wore a three-piece suit, a Rolex, and a large gold ring. Corey guessed he was attractive, for an older CEO type. He was not at all what she expected after talking to Jasper about his fun baseball-playing dad though. This man looked like he didn’t know the meaning of the word fun. He wore what Corey assumed was a permanent scowl. He seemed cold and distant, even though he hadn’t said a word yet. She didn’t like him, snap judgments be damned.
Introductions were made all around, but he didn’t offer her his hand. Instead his eyes traveled slowly up and down her body, twice. A chill ran up her spine. She wasn’t the only one who noticed the way he was looking at her. Dom let out a low deep growl. As much as she wanted this man out of her house, she wouldn’t let Dom put himself in a situation where he wouldn’t be able to help Jasper. She stepped forward and addressed the butthead. “Mr. Franklin, I’m so glad that you could make it so quickly.”
Mr. Franklin studied her mate for several seconds. It was obvious he heard the possession in Dom’s voice. When he finally turned his attention back to Corey, his expression was no longer sexual; it was almost dismissive. Like he figured out that she wouldn’t be sleeping with him, and now she was of no use. He directed his message to the men in the room. “I have some business to attend to in Paris. Starting tomorrow I’ll be out of the country for a few weeks. I need to get this taken care of quickly. I have a plane to catch.” He looked around the house, frowning. “Where’s the other one?”
Corey hoped like hell he wasn’t talking about Jasper. “The other what, Mr. Franklin?”
Again he looked at Dom when he spoke. “Where is my other son?”
Corey felt her face heat with anger. Wow, Baze was right. The guy was a piece of work. Jasper picked that moment to show up.
“Father?” Jasper walked across the room until he was standing by her. “Where are Mom and Charlie?”
She was still several feet away from Mr. Franklin and she wasn’t sure why Jasper walked to her instead of him. And why was he calling him “Father”? She distinctly remembered him talking about his dad with warmth and affection. And who the hell was Charlie? Her head was starting to pound.
“Come over here and talk to me like a man, Jasper. Don’t hide behind her. She isn’t your mother, and I doubt she could protect you any better.” Mr. Franklin crossed his arms over his massive barrel chest, waiting.
Corey shot Jasper a quick glance. He wasn’t cowering behind her, he was standing right beside her. Closer than he normally would. Almost like Dom did when they were out in public. Oh wow, he was being protective. Jasper stood his ground, his eyes darting from Corey then to Keller. Keller must have understood what Jasper’s silent look meant, because he came over and took his place. Only then did Jasper move to approach his father.
Did every male in her life think she couldn’t take care of herself? “Mr. Franklin, if you’ll have a seat I’m sure we can discuss this together. There’s no reason to be like that with Jasper, he didn’t do any—”
Mr. Franklin sneered in her direction. “It’s humorous to me that you see no fault in this one’s weakness. And I’m not sure anything we are going to discuss here today pertains to you. You can leave.”
There was that word again, weakness. “Actually, sir.” She made sure when she said sir it really sounded more like fuck you. “I am the guidance counselor here at St. Leasing, so this does in fact concern me.” She stepped up next to Keller, and he reached a hand down to keep her from getting any closer to the large, now pissed-off man.
“It doesn’t.” Mr. Franklin narrowed his eyes. “Leave.”
“Father, there is no reason to treat—”
“Jasper, know your place.” Finally, Franklin turned and spoke directly to her. “I am his father, his punishment is mine to decide and mine alone.”
“Punishment? Are you high? Jasper didn’t do anything wrong.” Corey knew she was shouting and she didn’t care.
Mr. Franklin continued on like she hadn’t said a word. “The longer I have to stand here waiting for you to go, the more irritated I become. The more irritated I become, the worse it will be for your new pet here.” He made a gesture in Jasper’s direction.
Corey couldn’t believe the man was being such an absolute dick. She looked over at the good men in this room with her. Baze had a death grip on Dom’s shoulder, trying to keep him from killing Jasper’s father. Linc was clenching his jaw so hard she could hear it from across the room, and Keller had white-knuckled fists at his sides. These men, her men, wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Jasper. And her insisting on staying was only going to make things that much harder. “Fine. I’ll leave, but not because you’re telling me to, but because I’m sure these four men can handle you without my help.”
He had the audacity to chuckle.
She plastered on a sweet Southern smile. “I hope that your plane crashes over the ocean and piranhas eat your balls. It was lovely meeting you, you self-righteous egotistical son of a bitch. I can see now from where Jace gets his aberrant behavior.” With that she grabbed her purse and headed toward the front door. Riley came out of the bedroom, where he’d clearly been eavesdropping, and joined her. Together they exited the house and she slammed the door behind her.
“Wow. Ms. Cooper, that was awesome. You are the coolest teacher ever.”
“Thanks, kiddo, and don’t you cuss, it’s bad. Oh, uh, and so is disrespecting adults, and blah blah blah.”
“Hey, miss, throw me your car keys.”
Corey tossed him her keys over the hood of her car and watched as he walked to the black Jag that was parked next to her. Its license plate read MRFRNKLN. She rolled her eyes. Riley began to key a long and deep line down the passenger side of the car. Smiling the whole time. She should probably tell him this was bad behavior too, but she couldn’t. Both their smiles were wiped off their faces though when the driver’s side door opened and a giant bald-headed man in a black suit stepped out. Holy shit.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing? Get away from this car before I rip your throat out.”
Riley tossed Corey her keys then ran and dove into the passenger side of her car. She started the engine and backed out of her driveway as fast as she could. Once they were safely away from Mr. Clean’s ugly brother, they both started to giggle. “I am supposed to have lunch with a friend of mine. You’re coming with. We’ll eat then head back to the house and check on Jasper, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Corey didn’t understand what had happened back there, why Jasper would get punished for Jace beating the shit out of him. Was this a shifter thing? Was this a Franklin family thing? God, she hoped that Dom and the others would stand up to that man and not let him hurt Jasper. Her stomach was in knots. She doubted she could eat anything right now; she felt like she was going to be sick. But Riley needed the distraction, and she needed to get his mind off his friend. There was nothing they could do right now anyway.
***
They met Molly at a little café on the square. Molly and Riley hit it off right away. That kid could make anyone smile. Lunch had actually been pleasant and halfway through she received a text from Dom telling her it was all clear and they could come home. On the car ride back to the house, Riley seemed to be in better spirits.
“Hey, buddy, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Has Mr. Franklin always been that way? So harsh? I mean, you and Jasper are close, is Mr. Franklin like that at home too?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve never been around Mr. Franklin like that.”
“Really? I figured y’all would hang out during breaks from school. You’ve never been to Jasper’s house?”
“I’ve been to Jasper’s house plenty of times. But never to Jace’s.”
“What do you mean?” Her stomach plunged to the floorboard. “They don’t live together?”
“No. Jasper lives with his mom and his stepdad Charlie, and Jace lives with Mr. Franklin. Their parents were only together long enough to have them, and then they separated. Each parent took a twin. Jasper lucked out big time. His mom met and mated Charlie when Jasper was like five or something.”
Corey felt her blood run cold. She’d been so incredibly wrong about everything. Jace wasn’t a sociopath; he was abused. He was mentally, emotionally, and most likely physically abused. His whole life, by that tyrant of a father. No wonder the two kids were so fucking different, they had led completely different lives. Jasper was raised surrounded by love and compassion. Jace was raised in a cold, sterile, heartless environment where weakness was not an option. Where weakness could get you hurt.
Why hadn’t she asked more questions, dug deeper? Jace needed help and therapy. “Holy shit, Riley. We’ve been so wrong about Jace. So terribly wrong.”