Eric reached out and patted his arm, which Cole seemed to accept. His eyes turned away from me and went to his… I didn’t know how to describe his relationship with Eric. He didn’t call him Dad, and yet Raphi had said they were all father figures to them.
“So, Meredith, Raphi says you draw,” Eric said, looking at me through the rearview mirror.
I glanced at Raphi, who sent his dad daggers. Didn’t bother me if he’d mentioned what I was into.
“Yeah, not people… landscapes, mostly. I’m applying to do production design for stage and screen at uni.”
I’d always loved the theatre. My dad took me to the West End a lot when I was younger before he died. It’d been four years and it still left a gaping hole in my heart where he used to be. Losing him so suddenly to a heart attack had wrecked my entire world. Probably why I was guarded and, on occasion, terribly bitchy to other people. They didn’t understand the pain of losing a parent who’d been my everything.
“Oh, really? That’s interesting. Raphi’s adamant he won’t follow us into the family business.”
I had no idea what they actually did. Raphi had never mentioned it.
“Yes, because working at a casino fills me with so much enthusiasm… not,” Raphi muttered.
“A casino?”
Raphi glanced at me.
“Yeah, they own the Syndicate. All high-end with exclusive clients.”
I’d never heard of it. Then again, I didn’t pay much attention to anything outside my little slice of the world.
Eric eyed Raphi in the rearview mirror with a frown.
“We do other things, but yes, the Syndicate is our main business. And what he isn’t saying is we’ve never forced any of them to be a part of it. I’m proud of him for wanting to do environmental sciences at university, even if it takes him away from home. It’s your mother who doesn’t want you leaving.”
“Mum needs to chill out.”
“Raphi…”
“What? She does. The thought of us flying the nest makes her go into full-on overprotective mode. It’s exhausting. Probably why Rora and Duke won’t move out, even though they’re always trying to murder each other every five minutes.”
I tried not to laugh. Raphi looked like he’d rather die than deal with that shit off his mum.
“More like Quinn won’t let Rora do anything without his watchful eye over her,” Cole put in. “Can you imagine what he’d be like if she told him she wanted to get her own place?”
Eric stifled a snort whilst Raphi grinned, his green eyes sparkling.
“When Rora brought a guy friend home, Quinn was up in his face asking what his intentions towards his daughter were. Rory had to drag him away and tell him to calm down.” Raphi glanced at me. “That’s Cole’s dad.”
I wondered at Cole’s dad. Was he anything like Cole? If Raphi’s looks were anything to go by, I could imagine Cole would take after Rory.
“Okay, so let me get this straight. Obviously, Eric is your dad, Rory is Cole’s, Quinn is your sister’s dad. Who’s Duke’s?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
“Xavier. You’ll meet them all soon enough. Trust me, it’s super obvious.”
Raphi knew I didn’t judge them for their strange family dynamics. Not like I had any problem with it. They were clearly close and it must work for them.
The rest of the journey to their house was silent. Cole didn’t look my way again, and for that, I could only be glad. His death stares were making me uncomfortable.
We all piled out of the car when Eric pulled up outside a big townhouse. I had wondered where they all lived since there were nine of them. Eric led us up the steps and unlocked the front door. Cole pushed past him into the house, not even bothering to give us a backwards glance. Raphi looked at me and smiled.
“Welcome to the madhouse.”
I swallowed, unsure of what I’d let myself in for as I followed him in. Guess I was about to find out.
Chapter Three
Why the fuck did Raphi have to invite her over for dinner? Did he like her? The thought of it made me crazy. Especially since Raphi was almost eighteen. Meredith was more likely to look at him favourably rather than me since he was her age and I wasn’t.
She’s mine. Meredith Pope is damn well mine.
She wasn’t, but in my head she was. I’d staked a claim on her years ago, but I was far too young for her to look my way so I’d kept my interest to myself. Now I was sixteen and nothing would fucking well stand in my way. Not even my brother.
The way she’d spoken to me earlier had made my blood boil, and not in a good way. I wanted to teach that girl a lesson for it. Whatever Meredith’s damage was, I had no fucking idea, but she needed to be put in her place.
“Cole.”
I stopped in my tracks on my way to my bedroom at the voice behind me.
“Yes, Quinn?”
“Come here.”
I turned and found him staring at me with a neutral expression on his face. You never knew what mood Quinn would be in at any one time. Sometimes he was reasonable and sometimes it was better to avoid him at all costs.
He walked back into his office and I knew then I was in trouble. Quinn had always been the disciplinarian in our household. Didn’t matter if he wasn’t my biological father. I might not call him dad, but he was that for me. They all were. It might sound odd to those who’d never been in our situation, but our family just worked that way.
I trudged after him, hanging my head and hoping I wouldn’t get shouted at for the incident in my chemistry lesson earlier. Mum would be extremely disappointed in me and who knew what my dad would think. He wasn’t the most talkative of people, but I was the closest to him out of our dads. He got me without me having to explain myself.
Quinn sat behind his desk when I reached his office. He put a hand out, indicating I should take a seat. I didn’t bother shutting the door as I walked over and threw myself down in the chair, chucking my bag on the floor.
“I had a call from the school.”
“Yeah, okay, I know, I shouldn’t have poured my chemistry experiment all over Penelope’s work, but she said something horrible about Mum.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t told the headteacher about it. Didn’t care if I got in trouble. Besides, Penelope got what she fucking well deserved. That girl was a stuck-up bitch through and through. I wished I’d pushed her face in it, but then she might have got injured from the chemicals and I wasn’t about that. Better to scare her into keeping her trap shut than cause her actual bodily harm.
“What did she say?”
“That Mum’s a greedy whore and she’s clearly conned you all into being her own personal sex servants. And she said something about cuckolding, but honestly, by that point, I was too busy destroying her work to listen any further.”
Quinn’s lip twitched. Honestly, I was sick of people giving us shit over my parents’ relationship. There was nothing wrong with it. If they saw the real love and support shared between them, then they wouldn’t make idiotic comments about it.