Play (Villains Club Book 4) by Abbi Cook

Author:Abbi Cook [Cook, Abbi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Vine Media LLC
Published: 2021-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Nick

The traditional Order of Impuratus meeting the week after the Rule ball gives me the perfect chance to rope in as many members as possible and make them eager to play in my poker game. I watch as all day long the servants hurry in and out of the ballroom with armfuls of sheets and towels, and I wonder if tonight will finally be when my father has a breakthrough and comes out of his depression for good.

As usual, I find him up in Julian’s room. Nothing ever changes from day to day, and sometimes even his clothes don’t change unless I remind him to take a shower. This afternoon, he’s wearing a suit and tie, and my heart leaps in my chest at the real possibility that he’s going to attend the meeting tonight.

Maddox worries he might not be stable enough to be around the other Order members who will happily take advantage of any infirmity and begin moving against our family. There are at least three other members who are practically drooling at the possibility that their time to lead the group has finally come because of my father’s disability.

I watch my father from the doorway to the bedroom and see my brother’s point. This isn’t the Stephen Rule the world is used to. That man held power and control over everything he touched. This version of him doesn’t seem to have control over much at all, especially his mind.

“Dad, how are you feeling today?” I ask with more than a hint of reluctance at hearing the answer.

He nods and smiles like he’s always tended to do when he’s thinking of something, and then he sighs heavily. I wait for him to answer my question, but he turns away from me and goes back to staring at that damned wall of Julian’s achievements that has become the central focus of my father’s life.

I take a few steps into the room and stop when he points his finger at something. When I look, I see he’s directing my attention to Julian’s degree from Yale. That’s never been on this shelf before, or at least I haven’t noticed it until today.

“Dad, is that new? Did you put that up recently?” I ask, knowing it’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll answer me.

He nods, and in his eyes I see a flash of cognizance I haven’t seen very often in the past few months. Maybe today is the day he comes out of it.

“I thought it only right to put it up there. Your brother was so proud of graduating with honors from Yale. Do you know I didn’t even attend the graduation ceremony that day? I didn’t see him get his diploma.”

Julian had mentioned that to me right afterward, and as I stand here listening to my father talk about the biggest day in my brother’s life, I remember so vividly the hurt in his voice, even as he tried to play off my father’s actions as nothing important.

I, too, own my fair share of guilt for not attending his graduation either.

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