Chapter 285: Father (2)
"Why are you doing business with brothel owners? I thought you hated them," said Cassius.
"I am doing business with them because I want to. When did I ever allow you to question what I do? Since you’re surviving off of my hard work, do as you’re told. Be quick with Harper’s family. That is all you should focus on for now," Quinn said.
"You also wanted me to get more town guards on our side," Cassius reminded Quinn.
"Then do it. It should have been done long ago. I need to know all of what the town guards have found and who they suspect. I needed someone in the court," Quinn said, frustrated with recent events.
A few of the town guards working for Quinn simply weren’t enough. He needed someone from the court to be on his side.
"Would there be records of you in the court? For the right price, we can send someone there to burn all the records," Cassius suggested.
"It is not easy to walk into the court unless you have some business there. It doesn’t matter if they find out who I am. They cannot prove what we have done. I am almost tempted to go home," Quinn said, missing the home he grew up in.
Quinn missed the home he was raised in. It was hell for others who were there, but Quinn was always told that he would be the one to inherit his father’s home.
Quinn’s father never married, but he had many women and few children. From those children, Quinn’s father needed someone to flaunt around as his future heir.
Being the chosen heir was wonderful. It came with many insults hurled at Quinn and beatings when he didn’t act as his father wanted, but Quinn looked forward to his father’s wealth.
Quinn lived in the confines of his father’s home, with the town not knowing he existed because he wasn’t allowed outside. Before Quinn could have been present in the town as his father’s heir, his father was killed.
"It pains me to think that place is rotting now since no one goes around it. Lucky for me, it means that I can have it. What a shame mother didn’t get the chance to return to it. She outlasted the other ladies and could have it, but I shall have it in her place," said Quinn.
Cassius was curious about the home Quinn and his mother spoke about so often. He was so curious that he wanted to take a ride in a carriage near the home so he could have a look at it, but he was afraid of Quinn finding out about it.
"Would it be so wrong for the town to know who your father is? You always spoke of wanting to use his last name instead of introducing yourself with mother’s name," Cassius said.
"Soon, brother. Soon," Quinn replied, patiently awaiting the day. "It will be revealed all in due time before anyone tries to claim my father’s home."
Cassius was puzzled. "There isn’t anyone alive to claim it. You’ve killed the others."
"People in this town are greedy, Cassius. They would try to claim what doesn’t belong to them, or the court would attempt to sell off the property since it is taking up land. We’re going to move there soon," Quinn said, deciding it was time to stop hiding.
Tyrion was going to find out where Cassius lived sooner or later. Rather than give Tyrion the chance to boast about uncovering where they resided, Quinn wanted to be the one to reveal it.
"You should count yourself lucky," Quinn said, picking up the box he made for Cassius. "Out of all the bastard siblings I had, you survived."
Cassius knew it wasn’t because he was special. It was solely based on the fact that they didn’t share the same father.
Cassius didn’t pose a threat to Quinn getting all that belonged to his father. Unfortunately, all of Quinn’s other siblings did. He heard the horrible tales of what Quinn did to become his father’s heir.
Cassius once thought his brother had grown evil as he got older, but he later came to realise that Quinn had always been like this since he was a child.
Quinn placed the box meant for Cassius under a portrait he had of his mother. It was recreated thanks to a smaller portrait Quinn collected years ago when he and his mother had to leave Lockwood.
Quinn stared at the portrait. "We look more alike as the days pass. Have you ever wondered if you look more like our mother or the father you never knew? If you behave and don’t spoil my plans, I will find your father for you."
"Mother had many customers. It would be a waste of your time to try to find my father. I don’t need to see him. It is what mother always said," said Cassius.
Quinn shook his head. "It is not always what she said. She wanted to find him so he could give her money to take care of the son he stuck her with. You truly are lucky," he noticed.
Their mother didn’t want any more children, and like many other women who sold their bodies, she took remedies to get rid of unwanted children.
Cassius survived, and to Quinn’s surprise, his mother kept him.
"Perhaps there was something she thought she could gain from having you. We will never know now," said Quinn.
Cassius didn’t want to find his father. Nothing good would come out of finding his father, and Quinn knew it.
’He only wants to insult me,’ Cassius thought.
Quinn had a father who was once a wealthy man, while Cassius’s father couldn’t be anything of the sort. Quinn always tried to make Cassius feel small just to make himself feel better.
Cassius looked at the portrait beside his mother’s, which was covered by a cloth. Quinn didn’t like to show off his father’s face in fear that someone might see it and spoil who he was.
"I have somewhere to be," Quinn said, remembering an arrangement he had. "While I am away, you should think of ways to get Harper’s father to sign a deal with us. The sooner the better."
Quinn lost interest in speaking with Cassius and made his way out of the room.
Cassius waited for the door to close. He could finally be at ease now that Quinn was out of the room.
Cassius walked toward the covered portrait and lifted it just to see the name engraved on the frame. He stared at it for a moment and then released the cloth so it would fall to cover the name William Lancaster.