Page 80 of Ruining Him

“Well, I’m just curious about what family she comes from. Is it a crime to want my son’s girlfriend to be good enough for him?”Not his girlfriend, but okay.“You’ve never been known to make good decisions, son, so I’m just looking out for you.”

Okay, that’s it.

I drop my fork to the plate, letting it clatter and garnering everyone’s attention.

I’ve had enough of this shit.

Insult me, fine. Insult Cole? Hell no.

“You do realize that your son is one of the top students at the university, right?” I ask, my eyes boring into Derek’s. “And you do realize that he’s molded his entire life to suityou, don’t you, Mr. Aston?” I lean my elbows on the table and lean over closer to him. “You’re so focused on his future and whatyouwant his life to look like that you’re ignoring his present. He’s a grown man, and he can make his own decisions. He can make his own choices and his own mistakes. You need to stop being such a controlling dick before you end up losing your son for good.”

The room is silent, all eyes flicking between me and Cole’s father as though they’re waiting for another bomb to drop, and I don’t blame them. I absolutely should not get involved, but seeing the way this man treats his son left me unable to keep quiet.

He’s lucky that Cole loves him, because I’d have stabbed someone for less.

Derek throws his napkin down on the table and gives me a single nod before standing from his chair and leaving the room.

Once’s he’s out of sight, the attention goes back to me.

I really fucking hate attention.

“I’ll be upstairs,” I murmur and leave in the same way Derek did, heading back to Cole’s room to pack my shit and get the hell out of here.

I’m not made for being around other people, and I think this clearly proves that.

FORTY-THREE

COLE

All I do is blink as Lana leaves the table and heads back upstairs, my mind spinning from what just happened.

“I like her,” my mom says with a smile, and I frown at her.

My girl has just cut my dad apart with her words, and she likes her? How did that happen?

“Me too,” Gracie agrees. “She’s kinda scary and really puts Cole in his place.”

I groan, since my mom and sister don’t even know the half of it, and stare towards the door.

I have no idea what to do right now. Do I follow after my father, or after Lana?

My mom knows where my mind has gone because she pats me on the arm. “You should speak to your father. I have a feeling you two need to have a good talk. Don’t worry about Lana. We’ll check on her,” she says, gesturing between herself and my sister.

I nod and stand from my chair, our dinner forgotten from all of the dramatics, and head to my dad’s office, where I findhim sitting behind his desk, pouring a glass of whiskey. I open the door wider and he looks up, nodding at me before he grabs a second glass and starts filling that one, too.

He slides it across the desk and waves for me to take a seat. I sit down, staring at the man I’ve looked up to my entire life. He may have been born into money, but he’s still worked hard every single day to get where he is, and I admire him for that. He could have thrown his life and money away, but he didn’t.

He looks just like me, only older. His greying hair is short, but we share the same facial characteristics, eye color, and jawline.

“So, this Lana girl…” he starts, and I put my hand up to stop him.

“I swear, if you say a bad word against her, you won’t like the outcome,” I growl, and he smirks at me.

Fucking smirks.

“You do know she’s hiding something, right?” he asks, and I bristle.

I’m about to clap back at him, but I can see the concern in his eyes.