Page 12 of Feeding Hope
“Eddie’s no innocent,” Gunner said, rubbing his stomach.
I winced. “I know. But Eddie’s not deliberately hateful, not like Dante. Eddie believes in payback and teaching lessons, but it’s not done out of hate. What Dante stated was dripping withhatred. Anyway, get your licks in, Dante should be terrified of you when you’ve finished.” Despite Gunner’s wince, he grinned broadly. Yeah, Gunner was out to get Dante.
The other month, Eddie and the Princesses had taken offence to the Legacies, and when we didn’t punish them the way they should have been, Eddie acted. She’d put laxatives in the coffee jug and hit all the brothers in one fell swoop. Aria, Alyssa and Davy had spiked the boys lemonade and tricked them into drinking it by saying it was theirs. The little idiots promptly took and drank it because they could. They soon learned the price of crossing the Princesses – again.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t punish the girls because we’d let the boys off their offence, which they quickly pointed out. Eddie seriously needed to attend law school because she’d argue her way out of anything with logic and facts. I felt sorry for any fool who crossed her. And God help her guy when she found him. I hoped he came with buckets of patience.
“I’m hungry,” Dante stopped in front of me.
“And?”
“Feed me, Dad. I’ve been working.”
I glanced around the room and snorted in amusement. “You call taking two trays of glasses out working? Get real. This is your new reality, Dante, one you created with your hateful attitude. You get nothing until you’ve earned it.”
“That’s child labour and illegal!” he shot back.
I grinned evilly, and fear crossed Dante’s face before worry settled in. “Tough. Fuckin’. Luck. You pushed boundaries, believing you were better than everything because you’re my son. Dante, you’re wrong. You thought being a Legacy meant you’d get president, and you’ve been throwing your weight around. Big mistake. My heirs, as of now, are Ice and Shutout. President is something that’s earned, and you deserve shit. Youwant feeding? Clear those glasses, and then I’ll order food. You ate three hours ago, you ain’t starving!”
Those around me smirked as Dante completely melted down. I ignored him and carried on with my conversation. I meant what I said. Phoe was correct; I’d created a monster, and now I had to deal with him. And so I would!
Chapter Four.
Phoe
For three days, life had been quiet, and a different atmosphere permeated the Hall. As much as I hated to admit it, the truth was obvious. Dante had caused so much friction and tension it was noticeable now he was gone. Drake and I had explained to the other children what was happening. We needed to reassure them we weren’t splitting up. Naturally, they’d been worried, but they’d all heard Dante’s words and been hurt. Hence, they were far more accepting than I had the right to expect.
“How’s things?” I asked, seeing Drake’s name flash on my phone.
“Either Gunner or Ace might kill Dante, and if they don’t, I will. Christ, Phoe, he’s beyond entitled. Dante is rude, arrogant, and downright nasty. He’s sulky, mean, ill-mannered and not the boy we were raising,” Drake complained.
I kept quiet. Actually, that had been the kid we’d been bringing up, but Drake hadn’t acknowledged that. What type of mother steps back and says, ‘Enough’? If her husband won’t listen, then he can deal with the repercussions he’s causing in their son. Me, that’s who, and I was unsure if that made me a bad mum or not.
“Phoe, I’m sorry,” Drake said quietly, and I sat up straight. Drake rarely apologised, and when he did, it was worth remembering.
“For?”
“For ignoring your opinions and not seeing what I was doing with Dante. Ice and Shutout have been officially named my heirs. Ice threw a tantrum worthy of Dante, and Shutout demanded to know how long for.” Drake chuckled, and I knew where he was coming from. Neither Tye nor Carmine wanted president. But they’d accept the role if they had to.
“Okay.” What else could I say?
“Phoe, I fucked up, and this was the cost. You warned me, and I didn’t listen. I’ve ruined our son, but I refuse to believe it’s too late. Dante isn’t beyond redemption, but he’s gonna take a lot of tough love,” Drake continued.
“Which I dealt out, and you constantly overruled. Dante has no respect for me or my opinion. He thinks he can go running and you’ll cave and, Drake, you do. Dante has you firmly where he wants you, and you allowed him to place you there.”
“Don’t mix your words, Phoe,” Drake chuckled.
“If I don’t call you on your bullshit, who will? It’s about time you learned that how you’ve treated Dante compared to everyone else has serious consequences. I’m not beating you when you’re down, Drake, but your attitude and behaviour nearly ripped our family apart to the point where I was forced to choose between children. No mother should ever face that; it’s a predicament I never wish to experience again. That was an untenable situation.”
“Babe, I know, and I’ll make things right. Trust me.”
“That was never an issue, Drake.”
“No. I love you, Phoe,” Drake whispered.
“Back at ya! Now tell me what you’re putting the brat from hell through.”
Drake’s dark chuckle warmed me. “Oh, Dante’s suffering. He’s constantly being made to clean and recycle everything. At first, he shoved it all into one trash can, so we forced him to empty it and sort it out. Dante did it again, and we repeated our actions. The boy’s a fast learner when he wants to be.”
