Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 74(@250wpm)___ 62(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 74(@250wpm)___ 62(@300wpm)
“We only have 25 at the moment.”
“That will be fine,” I cut in before Cooper can make a snide remark. The server nods before going to get his drink.
“You’d think here they’d have—”
“It’s a drink.” One that Cooper shouldn’t be ordering and not because his flushed cheeks tell me he’s had a few already. It’s beyond his paygrade. Especially, come a few more months when his meal ticket is cut off. Petal might be eighteen, but Cooper will still be reaping off her until she graduates in the spring. Tick tock, mother fucker.
“What did you want to speak about?” I ask, already knowing the answer. It’s always money.
“Petal will be picking a college soon. I wasn’t sure how that would be handled.”
“What universities has she applied to?” I hate that I have to ask. I should know, but the few times I did try to touch on the subject Petal dodged or ignored my question. I’ve even put feelers out to see if I could get the information myself, but nothing has come back to me yet.
“She hasn’t spoken to you about it?” He smirks. I pick up my drink and polish it off, making sure to keep my hands busy so that I don’t wipe that stupid expression off his face. I concentrate on the burn of the alcohol.
“Has Petal said if she will be staying with you?” It kills me that I have to ask these questions.
“Well, I’m sure she’ll be with us this summer.”
“She wasn’t last summer.” Or the one before that.
“She spent a few weeks with us.” Yes, she’d been back to visit a couple times. In which she spent more time with my mom than at her uncle’s. It’s supposed to be her home. Petal has a room, but she’s hardly ever there. She has a few friends at school whose families I trust. I’d agreed to her going on a few trips to Europe with them. I might have hired a bodyguard to stay close and make sure she was safe. Petal forgets that her wealth makes her a target.
I wasn’t sure if I was thankful or pissed off when she requested to go to Besly Prep. On one hand, it was one of the best schools in the States, but on the other, it meant she had to move away. The fact that it was an all girls’ boarding school helped even it out. If she had stayed here, I’m not sure which school she would have picked. I’m guessing the same coed prep school Cooper sent his daughter and son to. My days of keeping my little pet locked down are ticking away.
That boarding school is the only thing that is keeping her from me now. Petal turned eighteen months ago. For a while, I lied to myself. I even hated myself for the things I felt for her. She is young with the world at her feet, but I want her at mine.
When she was little, she followed me around everywhere. Ever since she could crawl, she’s been my shadow. As we both grew, our feelings changed. I know Petal believes she wants me. That she is even in love with me. But how could she truly know this when she’s never been given the chance to see anything but me? I pretended she would move on to college and I would watch and look over her. That I would help guide her and let her live her life. It was bullshit. Petal is mine.
Her own parents had left me in charge of her trust. The older she gets, the more control I lose. The last of it will crack away when she graduates. A large portion will be handed over to her. The rest is set to come in waves over the next ten years unless something crazy comes up. And by crazy, I mean her wanting to buy a giant fucking 100 million dollar company. Which I don’t foresee happening. Petal could slip away to an island of her own if she wanted. She never has to work a day in her life, and she’ll want for nothing.
I honestly have no fucking clue what she is planning. Which is driving me more insane than anything else. She isn’t like most other girls her age. Petal has kept herself off the radar. There is no social media to speak of and she doesn’t go out to events, and if she does, her family is there. Her cousins are the ones trying to be caught in the limelight.
“Can we cut to whatever it is you’re getting at?”
“I’m only wanting to make sure my niece is headed in the right direction. With her graduating and being back in the city, things will—”
“She’s coming back?” I can’t keep the eagerness out of my voice.