Odin
Presley stared at Cruz, her head tilted to one side as if he’d completely lost his mind
“Tell me again why you think holding a fake wedding ceremony is going to be the best idea
“Tour reasons,” he held up his pinky finger, “one, if I’m already married, Ramona needs to realize I can’t marry her. Polygamy isn’t legal back home.” He held up his ring finger, “Two Odin realizes I’m well and truly in your comer, as is the rest of our friends and families and thus, makes him k right off”
“Or makes him worse,” she mumbled, “and he simply tries to kill me.”
He frowned at her, ignoring the comment, “three, my PR team will love the idea and if we can tell the world we’re married, then it makes the narrative we’ve been pushing real. My stock prices are already rebounding and I’ve gotten a couple of calls from investors who are back on board. This will make the rest of the naysayers realize my personal life and what I do in it, despite it momentarily being public, is separate my business.”
She couldn’t argue with him over this.
“Four,” he held up his index finger, “it makes my father f**k off. If he believes we are married, his threat to sue you for negatively affecting his business.”
“Dad said he called him and told him off.”
“Well, if he did, then it makes Dad far more resolved to make someone accountable and he’ll target you. He won’t target you if you are married to his son. Can’t support family values and then sue your daughter–in–law, now can you?”
“I guess.” She twisted her lips. “What happens when the world realizes it’s faked?
“They won’t. See, we can always simply argue we held the ceremony here ahead of obtaining our legal licenses back home and then never get the legal license.
“You’ve thought it through,”
“Nope. Thinking on the fly but it’s a damn good plan and you know it.”
1 guess.” She frowned
“Instead of Saint–Tropez tomorrow, we should go looking for wedding clothes. I’ve seen what is in your closet and none of it is wedding material”
“My Dad might have some very real concerns on this plan.”
“He’ll have to get with the program.” His eyes narrowed in the distance and he grimaced, “Odin is walking this way and he looks plastered”
Odin saw Cruz and started waving frantically.
“You know if you weren’t the size of a small truck, he wouldn’t have picked you out from such a distance.” “You like my big bulk,” he gave her a wink not releasing her from his hold on his lap.
“Cruz, buddy!” Odin took almost the same path Algernon did and was scampering towards them and scaling the balcony. “Whose room is this? Why are you here? You’re not really sharing a room are you? I knew it!”
His words were slightly slurred and his eyes were hazy.
“What the f**k are you talking about?” Presley questioned him sneeringly.
“You two got into an elevator earlier. This is almost ground floor. Look. I can even climb onto your balcony!” he swung his leg over. “So whose room is this, yours or his?” He mocked his sister with wide eyes.
“Ours,” she retorted. “You really didn’t inherit any of Dad’s brains did you?” She pointed to the beach. “Beach is on this side, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t notice the hotel was built up on a hill behind the beach? The front of the hotel has a higher elevation and the lobby, restaurant and bar are all pretty much built into the hillside? This is the third floor but there are no rooms on the first and second floor on this side of the hotel. It’s part of the architectural charm of the hotel and why I chose it. I love architecture and my booking agent knew I’d want an interesting place. You can go look in the bathroom if you want and see our toothbrushes are together. Better yet, you can cross right through, head to the elevator and go to your own room.”
He ignored her and sat down in the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. “I never noticed the hill thing. Hey the beach is pretty from here.”
“It is.”
“Are you two really a couple then? Like banging and stuff?”
“Jesus, Odin.” Presley growled at him.
“He’s my best friend! You’re my half–sister. Its weird.”
“Only to you. Everyone else is on board. Dad told Cruz where to find me. Sloane and Halima are thrilled. Mom
is excited.”
“My Dad wants me to marry her.” Cruz rubbed her shoulder. “I’m going to.”
“No way, man. f*****g is one thing but marriage?‘st man, what if you have red haired babies and they look like her or Scarlett?”
“When did you turn into such a horrible person?” Cruz asked bluntly.
The stunned expression on Odin’s face at Cruz’s harsh question almost made Presley feel bur him.
“Did you come out of the womb a raging asshole and I was too blind to see it because you were also moderately funny or have you gradually morphed into this over the years? The way you hate on women is
revolting.”
“I keep getting screwed by them, man!” he slapped his palm on the table. First Scarlett stole my dad and broke up the marriage and hurt my mom. Then this b***h,” he waved at Presley
“Watch it!” Cruz’s fist tightened on Presley’s lap.
“This woman,” he sneered, “stole my entire family and made me have to share everything with her. She got half of everything which was supposed to be mine.”
Presley blinked at the incredible bullshit this guy, her own brother, was spouting in his drunken rant.
“Then, in grade three, that girl, Susana, remember her? She stole my place in the spelling bee. It was mine and I was supposed to go to the provincial championships and she lied and told the teacher I was cheating. I
Odin
wasn’t cheating man but she got the teacher to believe her. Even Dad believed her.”
“You had the notes with all the words on it,” Cruz frowned at him, “And it was grade three.”
“But I didn’t look at them.”
“But you weren’t supposed to have them. And it was grade three.” He repeated.
“What about in grade seven when those two girls asked me to the dance and it was all a joke?”
“Is this where he tells us Carrie is his origin story?” Presley snorted.
“Bitch.”
“Whiny crybaby,” she shot back. “You do realize the world doesn’t revolve around you, right? Shitty things happen to people all the time and not once do they become incels.”
“I’m not a f*****g incel!” He screamed at her.
“You’re going to lower your f*****g voice,” Cruz spoke sharply, “or I’m going to rip your larynx from your throat and you won’t talk ever again. This is my fiancée and you will treat her with respect. I don’t care if she’s your half–sister and you think it gives you the right to be a prick to her. It doesn’t. She’s going to be my wife and
you’re going to watch how you f*****g talk to her.”
Odin blinked, “another f*****g thing she stole from me.”
“No man, she didn’t steal anything. You f*****g pissed me off with your own bullshit. Dude, you sat a brunch table a few weeks back and told everyone all my success is because I’ve had a free ride my whole life. If this was the case, shouldn’t you have the same success because I don’t see you succeeding and your father and grandfather pretty much spoon fed you everything. You want to talk about why our friendship is non–existent now, Odin, it’s because I don’t like the man you’ve become.”
Odin seemed dumbstruck by Cruz’s cruel words. Presley watched as her older brother’s eyes took on a watery sheen as he blinked back the tears.
“You don’t like me?”
“No. When we were kids, you were funny as f**k. You could get us laughing in seconds. You would be able to get me out of a funk when I was missing my mom by telling me jokes or improvisation. We always thought got real dark you’d grow up to be an actor or comedian because you were so funny. By college your hu man and it made me want to avoid you. The thing which used to make me laugh made me uncomfortable. You think you’re the only person who had it rough?”
“She,” Odin pointed at Presley and Cruz cut him off.
“Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare say a child who never asked to be born, who never asked for anything in her entire life be taken from you to be given to her, is the cause of your problems. She has never done anything to you to cause your family to treat you any differently. Parents get remarried all the time. Blended families happen all the time. Older siblings get younger siblings all the time. You are a selfish narcissistic bastard who wanted to be an only child so your greedy ass could have it all without ever working for any of it and Instead of appreciating you weren’t alone in this world, you have a sister, you have abused her since birth. Do you know what I would have done to have a sibling who could help me deal with mom’s death, to make me feel not so alone? f**k you, Odin for not appreciating the beautiful gift you were given in having a stepmom and half sister who loved you in spite of you being a terrible person.”
Odin
Odin looked away uncomfortable, “I was going to ask you to come for drinks to talk things out.”
“You mean to drug me so Ramona could rape me?”
At Odin’s wide eyes Presley felt a moment of sadness for him. He was in the midst of losing it all.
“We had friends in the bar. We make friends where we go, not alienate everyone. Someone tipped us off right away. Don’t have drinks with the guy plotting to break his sister’s heart because he’s intending to hurt you both,” Cruz glowered at him. “Presley didn’t steal me from you, Odin. We stopped being friends long ago There is no way a friend, a man who knows exactly the hell Ramona put me through, would do such a thing as to set me up to be drugged by her. You ended our friendship on your own.”
“Cruz, man, I wouldn’t have actually let her do anything to you.”
“You can go f**k yourself for even letting her think she could.” Cruz pointed to the doors, “you can choose to go through the door or back over the balcony but either way, when you leave tonight, you leave knowing you, you personally, destroyed thirty years of friendship with your selfish bullshit. Now get the f**k out. Presley and I have plans for the rest of the evening and they don’t include you.”
“Cruz, you don’t mean this.”
“I do. Ladybird and I are going to have dinner and then talk about what we want our vows to be when we get married this week.”
“This week?”
“Yes. This week.”
Presley spoke up. “Mom and Dad are on their way here to be here for the wedding. She didn’t want to let him know they knew about his theft but liked the expression on his face at the revelation. “Dad’s giving me away Now, I need you to go away. My lifetime of happiness is starting and I’m not letting you taint it.”
She got off Cruz’s lap as he moved to help Odin walk through the room and shoved him into the hall. She didn’t hear what words were exchanged but the slamming of the door inside the room made her jump. This entire thing felt very much like it was going off the rails and her instincts were telling her to get off this ride before someone got really hurt.
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