“What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, pushing past me into my living room without invitation. “We waited at that goddamn airport for over three hours.”
Catherine followed him, her usually perfect hair disheveled, her lips pressed into a thin line of pure hatred.
“This is completely unacceptable behavior from someone your age, Dennis. Absolutely barbaric.”
Isabella brought up the rear, her designer coat wrinkled, her makeup smeared.
“You humiliated us,” she said. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? My parents had to take a $40 taxi because you decided to—”
“Get out of my house.”
My voice cut through their chorus of rage like a blade through silk.
They stopped mid‑rant, shocked by the steel in my tone.
“Excuse me?” Cody sputtered.
His face went from red to purple.
“You don’t get to make demands here, buddy. Not after what you pulled today.”
“This is my house,” I said quietly, not moving from my position by the door. “And I want you out. Now.”
Catherine stepped forward, her voice dripping with the kind of condescension she’d perfected over decades of looking down on people like me.
“Dennis, you clearly don’t understand the magnitude of your mistake. My husband has connections throughout this city—business connections, social connections. You can’t treat people like us this way and expect—”
“This was a lesson for you,” I interrupted, meeting her gaze steadily. “A lesson about your excessive arrogance and your poor treatment of people you consider beneath you.”
Isabella’s mouth fell open.
“A lesson? Who do you think you are to teach anyone anything? You’re nobody. You’re a—”
“I’m someone who finally stopped being your personal bank account and taxi service.”
I stepped aside and held the door open wider.
“The lesson is over. You can leave.”
Cody jabbed a finger toward my chest but didn’t quite dare touch me.
“You have no idea who you’re messing with, old man. I’ve been in this town longer than you’ve been breathing its air. I know people. Important people. People who can make your life very, very difficult.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Jenkins?”
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