Chapter 44

Sebastian

The two of us turn around to stare at the wood.

We stay silent for a moment, waiting for what’s to come.

Then, another set of knocks. “Sebastian,” Gregory calls out from the other side. “Open the door, I would like to speak to you.”

“Shit, shit!” Evelyn whispers.

“Under the bed, go,” I urge her, ripping my shirt off my body.

“Why are you undressing?”

“To give you time to hide!” I growl.

“Son?” Gregory asks.

“I’m getting dressed, hold on,” I call out, stalling for time.

Evelyn makes her way under the bed, and I grab a few blankets and strategically lay them on the bed so that she can avoid being detected.

I go to the door once she’s safely hidden and rip it open, trying not to look like I was just kissing his stepdaughter.

“Yes?” I deadpan.

“What, were you naked in there?” Gregory questions.

I roll my eyes. “Well, I was about to go to sleep, so yeah, I was naked.” I pull the t-shirt in my hands over my head to act as an extra step in my lie. “What do you need?”

Gregory walks in without being invited, which I immediately despise. “Sure, come on in,” I say sarcastically.

“Thank you,” Gregory’s bitter voice replies.

“What can I do for you?” I ask, closing the door and crossing my arms as I lean against the wall.

Gregory looks around my mostly clean room before he points to the pile of gifts under the blanket. “I see you’re ready for tomorrow,” he notes.

Thankfully I didn’t try to hide Evelyn there. That might have been worse than under the bed.

“What else did you think was under there, a girl?” I ask flatly, trying to drive him out of the room.

“I’ve come to talk to you about your races this month,” he announces, no longer holding himself back.

I raise one brow as I push off the wall. “What do you care about my racing?”

“You need to think before you speak,” Gregory says, already gritting his teeth. “As long as you live under my roof, you will be respectful.”

“It’s not like you’d let me leave,” I shoot back.

“You have races this month, and you’re going to quit them before you get yourself hurt.”

I can’t help it; I start to laugh. “This again! Gregory, we’ve had this conversation a million times. You can’t bully me into becoming the son you never got to have.”

“You are my son, Sebastian!”

“In name only!” I push back. “I am not truly a Cain! There’s no reason to expect me to ever conform to your ideals!”

“I gave you everything to make your life worthy of living.”

I throw up my arm, pointing outside the house. “The life I find worthy of living is where I sit in that fucking car and prove my worth on that track! Not because of who my adopted father is!”

“You’re my son!”

“Stop pretending there’s more here than what we are!” I snap back. You continue to act as if we’re a happy, unique family. The ‘we’re all from different places, but together we’re equal’ bullshit!”

Gregory rolls his eyes. “What is wrong with you, Sebastian? I gave you food, water, shelter, a great education, anything you possibly needed. And now you stand here and insult me!”

“You forgot one thing. The one thing you absolutely didn’t give me.”

He narrows his brows. “What is that?”

“Love!” I scream back. “There was no love under our roof! It was structure, it was routine. When did you ever make me feel like you fucking loved me?”

I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that we’re having this argument once again, or that Evelyn is hiding under my bed listening to the entire thing.

“You better get your head screwed back on there, son,” he waves his finger in my face as if that’ll sway me. “You and I seem to remember your childhood very differently!”

“Oh, the lies you tell yourself to justify your parenting!” I throw my arms in the air, looking around at the make-believe audience before us. “You hear that, folks? Gregory Cain can do no wrong!”

That’s the last straw. It’s been a long time since Gregory has laid a hand on me.

But looks like today’s my lucky day.

He slaps me across my face, making sure his rings leave indents in my cheek. It’s only once, which is a change from the usual few slaps he’d bring out when I was really getting on his nerves.

My skin burns, but I glare at my adopted father. I don’t cry or complain. I just force him to stare at me.

We keep eye contact, but I don’t break. This has never worked on me because he truly doesn’t know how to put fear in me.

So, instead, I just smile at him. “You want so badly to be able to control me, yet you will never have what Madelyn and Evelyn have.”

“What, a strong relationship?” He spits back.

“No. Unconditional love.”

That gets him, and he physically cringes.

“You’re not racing,” he commands.

“You can’t stop me. I’m going to school to get you off my back. You’re not taking the one thing I love more than life itself just because you think you can.”

He looks like he’s debating slapping me once again, but I just let my face grow angrier.

“You will never have control. Because I’m not yours.”

Gregory doesn’t even bother to slap or insult me again. Instead, he walks past me out the door, making sure to collide shoulders with me to “assert his dominance.”

I slam the door behind him, keeping myself together for a few seconds as I lean my fists and forehead against the door.

Another great father-son talk for the books.

“Are you okay?” I hear behind me.

I whip around, honestly having forgotten Evelyn is here and heard everything. Her face is creased with worry, and her eyes seem to search for an answer.

“I told you,” I say with a rasp in my voice. “It’s no easy job being the adopted son of Gregory.”

She touches my face where the slap occurred, and despite myself, I lean into the warmth of her hand.

“I’m here.”

She doesn’t need to say more. But as I watch Evelyn’s fears, I tell myself that tonight needs to end.

“Go to bed, Evelyn. Before you get caught.”

“They’ll just think I came in here because I heard the argument,” she assures me.

I shake my head, slowly removing her hand from my cheek. “Please don’t argue with me?”

She must hear the defeat in my tone, because she nods. She quickly kisses my cheek where the sting still radiates from.

But she leaves quietly, leaving me there to take in the silence of the room.

It’s deafening now, and I close my eyes, breathing slowly as a ringing starts to sound in my ears, drowning out anything else in my head.

Then, once I know I’m truly alone, I let the one tear slide down my face.

I don’t think a man can’t cry—but I sure as hell don’t want anyone else to see it.

I go to the Christmas presents, and I get to work on Evelyn’s gift once again.

Because if there’s one thing this bastard isn’t going to ruin, it’s her.