The One That Got Away (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy)

Chapter six

Alec rang the doorbell. He fussed with his tie and Isabelle slapped his hand, whispering "Leave it. You're fine." She seemed as nervous as Alec felt, but kept it together. Isabelle was a master of faking emotions. As soon as the door opened, she was smiling - coldly, but smiling. Putting on a show, as Jace always said. Jace himself was also smiling and the woman at the door hugged him. "Jace! Nice to see you." she said. Maryse Lightwood was a strict-looking woman, with her long black hair like Isabelle's tied into a braid behind her back and her black dress reaching just below her knees. Maryse hugged Alec briefly and nodded to Isabelle. She stood out of their way and gestured towards the dining room "Well, no sense in just standing about. Come on in." The siblings rushed in and Jace adjusted his suit jacket, unbuttoning it when he took a seat at the table. Robert Lightwood came in just a few minutes later and shook hands with the boys. He hugged Isabelle and said "Well, here we are again." He coughed briefly and sat down at the table. 

Isabelle looked at Alec and then sat down herself, his brother following suit. Maryse prepared the table when Robert looked at Jace and asked "So...how's business?" Jace opened his mouth to speak when Maryse sternly said "More like illegal business. Let's not discuss it at this table please." Alec wanted to say that what they did for a living was perfectly legal, because they were catching criminals, but then he thought about it and decided to shut his mouth, realizing how stupid that sounded. Isabelle smiled sweetly. She could've fooled Alec, but not Maryse, who didn't smile back. Once she was seated, they ate in silence until Robert spoke up "So, how have you all been?" Isabelle was seemingly forcing herself to not roll her eyes, but Jace took the liberty of answering for all of them "It's been great. We all found our own places in the last month, finally. Turns out the owner of my apartment knew of two others not far from mine and Isabelle and Alec didn't waste any time in renting them out."

Maryse seemed displeased and she wiped her mouth with a cloth. Then she said "Renting? So, this job of yours doesn't provide you with enough money to buy yourself a place?" This time, Isabelle did roll her eyes, luckily Maryse didn't see it. She went on "Isabelle, have you been trying to get into law school again? I don't know why you stopped in the first place." Isabelle scoffed and said in an unpleasant tone "Because, mother, I did it only to please you." Robert put a hand on Maryse's but she replied coldly "Oh? And what changed?" Isabelle raised her voice "I realized that I am not your b-" Alec cut in quickly "Izzy's very good at what she does. She is very valuable to the team. And we're the best out there."

Robert tried to avert the subject they were on and said "How's your dating life? Isabelle, Jace?" Alec understood that his dad was purposefully ignoring him but it still hurt. Jace seemed uninterested in this topic but when he caught Maryse looking at him he drawled "Right, um. Sure, I've got a girlfriend." Isabelle scoffed again and mumbled "More like girlfriends." Alec hit her leg under the table and she glared at him, not making a sound. Robert looked at Alec warily, but Maryse was the one who said "And you, Alec? Have you changed your mind?"

Jace almost let out a laugh but turned it into a cough. Isabelle's eyes widened and it seemed like she was about to burst with anger. Alec felt the way Isabelle looked because he said "What? As in have I changed my mind about being gay?" The table was silent and Jace's eyes were on Alec. Isabelle tried to say something but Robert cut in "It's foolishness, Alexander. You must know that." Alec tried hard not to show how his hands were trembling when he spoke in a loud voice "What I know, is that I am who I've always been. And I'm really sick and tired of hearing you speaking of me like I'm ill. Like there's something wrong with me. Because believe it or not, there isn't." He saw his mother squint her eyes at him but he didn't care. He went on "And I'm really done with this fucking charade. We pretend like we want to be here, like we care about this family, when in truth, you don't care about your kids. At least not me. And that's fine by me, but Isabelle and Jace have done nothing wrong."