for the better

“Very funny, jackass. But you forget that being smaller than you means having more immediate access to making sure Anniston doesn’t have any siblings.”

“As if there’s anyone you could have supervise me that I couldn’t pay off or intimidate. It’s time you just accepted the inevitable. Anniston loves Auntie Scarlett.”

~

“Not that I feel threatened by you in any way, shape, or form, but I think one kid’s enough for me anyway.” 

“I’ll fight you right now if you want. Your daughter’s next lesson can be first aid for daddy.”

“Don’t worry, I’d also show her how to use them.”

~

“There’s actually a height requirement to fight me. Wouldn’t be fair.” 

“Says the guy that two seconds ago was worried his daughter would be developing my characteristics. Let’s face it, I’m the alpha in this situation.”

“Oh wait, no no. I’m not the babysitting type. This metaphorical child of mine would most likely have a nanny for all the gross stuff. I’m just here to be the fun aunt that buys them their first gun and pack of cigarettes.”

~

“Don’t call yourself an alpha. You shouldn’t say things that aren't true.” 

“No shit?! Where the fuck would she have picked that up?

“No idea, but it’s a clearly a fuckin’ problem.” 

“Maybe you guys would be left with nothing. But I only raise champions that love their Mama.”

“Parker, please. As if anyone around here could even keep up with me. It’s honestly disappointing the lack of fish there are in this sea or whatever. If I ever did decide to have one, I’d just learn how to spontaneously multiply.”

~

“Eh, we’ll see. I’d be a great uncle. This hypothetical kid could love me more than you.”

.

“You’re almost making me want one for myself, Park. A little mini me sounds fun.”

~

“I don’t know how to feel about that. I’m afraid a mini-you would take over this city, and we’d be left with nothing.” 

.

“I’m pretty sure with our DNA it’s just engrained from the get-go. Might as well embrace it if you ask me. I can even start teaching her some of the better ones if you’d like.

~

“Y’know... I wouldn’t like that, Scar, but thanks for checking.” 

-

Smirking at his brother’s politeness, Trevor grabbed the valet by his collar. “My brother’s vehicle. Now.” Watching the man stutter and stumble as he ran off in the opposite direction, he turned his attention to Parker. “Parker, you have the Cohen last name. The least you could do is use it.”

Fishing a cigarette out of his pocket, Trevor put it to his lips. “Where are you off to, anyways?”

~

It wasn’t very much of a surprise to see Trevor immediately resort to intimidation. Trevor grabbed the valet by the collar, instilling a new sense of fear in the man. Parker refrained from shaking his head in obvious disapproval. While Parker could certainly be violent and cruel like Trevor and Scarlett – he did his best not to immediately default to that sort of behavior.

“Picking up Anniston,” Parker replied. “I’ve got her tonight.” 

Parker dug through his pocket for a cigarette of his own. 

“You hear anything about the Kings being back?”

-

Tanzie smiled, still finding it unbelievable that they were in the position they were in. He was simply doing her a favor…he still was. She felt lucky to be where she was…she often wondered if it could’ve been any of the girls the Cohens inherited, if she was just lucky. Right place, right time. That seemed to be how it happened for her always.

“When is it?” She asked excitedly, looking down at the engagement ring on her finger. 

She couldn’t help but to feel a slight pang in her chest as she gazed at the beautiful ring. She had seen them…she knew they were there. But it didn’t matter, right? She had said yes to Parker and she never went back on her word. Besides, they had literally abandoned her. The days leading up to when they left in the middle of the night…she had begged all three of them, sobbing. Chest heaving. Unable to catch her breath. Please, please don’t leave me. But they did. And Parker didn’t.

Meeting his gaze again, she grinned widely. “It doesn’t really matter, I’d marry you in a second. Wherever you want, whenever you want.”

~

Parker didn’t believe in cliches, but it was difficult to ignore the way that Tanzie had changed him from the moment that she stepped into his life. There was something about that smile that made Parker want to promise her the world. She was good for him, plain and simple – regardless of what his siblings thought.

.

A snort was heard in response to her brother’s comment but no words left Scarlett’s mouth before the valet that had just been speaking with him had now approached her with a swiftness he had not previously been displaying.

 “Apologies, Miss Cohen, I didn’t realize you were here today, I would’ve made sure your car was here by the time you came out…” The valet nervously looked back to Parker, realizing how much he had really fucked up with now two Cohen siblings waiting for simple service.

Scarlett couldn’t help but feel amused as she watched the man before them begin to tremble oh-so-slightly. This was power.

“Don’t worry, Benny. I just saw my brother here and thought I could amuse him while he continues to wait for his car. Be a dear and make sure it’s here before I’ve run out of things to say?” She smiled at him, though it was anything but genuine. Her hand quickly came to rest on the valet’s cheek as if affectionately before giving it a small tap that caused the valet to flinch. Still, he left looking grateful as it was only a small touch this time and not one of her famous Scarlett Cohen punches.

Watching the valet run off, Scarlett finally brought her attention back to her brother where she crossed her arms triumphantly, as if to gloat in a victory of sibling rivalry.

“I think you’ll find that the service is a lot better with the proper motivation.”

~

It took everything within Parker not to roll his eyes. Classic Scarlett, instilling fear into some poor, underpaid valet. He couldn’t pretend to be any better, though. During his divorce with Luna, he wasn’t exactly the most patient person. In fact, that well-known Cohen temper had frequently made an appearance. Now, Parker was doing everything he could to keep it bottled up.

“Isn’t that what you’re here for? To intimidate people for me.”

Parker shot her a playful grin.

“Everyone knows you’ve got an insane jab.”

Parker balled both of his hands into fists, mimicking a boxer’s pose. He slowly pushed his knuckles against the side of her face, and like a true brother, pushed a hand into her perfectly styled hair. He gave it a nice ruffle.

“Kill ‘em with kindness, Scar.”

x

Parker’s voice grew softer in the specific tone that Tanzie recognized was reserved for her. It warmed her heart, he didn’t do it all the time, but she always felt so special in the times he did.

“I didn’t want to bother you, Parker…you’ve been so kind to me and I…well I just want to make sure that I’m helping in anyway I can. Even if that means staying out of your way.” The last sentence fell from her lips and she heard her own tone change, hoping Parker didn’t catch it. His siblings didn’t agree with his choices and they made sure Tanzie knew it often.

Hearing about the venue though, perked her up and she smiled into her glass of wine as she took a sip. “The one near the beach? Wouldn’t it be beautiful to have the ceremony at sunset?”

~

“You’re my fiancé, Tanzie. If anyone gets to bother me, it’s you.”

While he and Tanzie’s relationship had started out far from traditional, Parker would’ve been lying if he said he hadn’t fallen quite hard for her. She evoked a tenderness in him that he’d long forgotten about – a version of himself that he wasn’t quite sure existed anymore. 

“Yeah. That’s the one.”

He took a swig of wine, leaned back in his seat, eyes locked on the woman he was marrying.

“The date’s sooner than we planned for.”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Parker was nervous. Quite frankly, any person that was remotely involved with either the Cartel itself or the King’s should have been nervous. Mia knew there was only one way this shit storm was going to end and it would most likely involve a lot of bloodshed. “You realize that I’m technically without Jay right now, yes?” the blonde couldn’t resist— despite the seriousness of the situation—trying to alleviate the tension in the room. As much as Mia knew she needed to take the situation seriously, she didn’t want to spend the entire dinner talking about the fucking Kings. “New topic: have you done any wedding planning at all?” the blonde reached for her wine glass as her head canted to the right. “Also, I don’t care what Trevor says, if you make him your Best Man, I won’t come.”

~

“Right, but you have your big brother around to keep you safe.”

There was no denying that Parker had always felt extremely overprotective of Mia. And it was no different now, despite the fact that she was an adult, with her own life, her own ambitions. It worried him to know that the Kings were back. He wondered if they were vengeful.

He sure as hell would’ve been.

“Yeah, some,” Parker replied, fingers grazing over the bottle of wine that sat between them. He poured himself a few more ounces. “Trevor won’t be the best man. I’ve got bigger plans for him.” Parker paused – right before an inkling of a smirk appeared on his face. “He’ll be the flower girl.”

“I’m very late for something,” Parker explained. His voice was still polite, but he was dangerously close to reaching his limit. The valet nodded repeatedly, insisting that his vehicle was on its way. Parker glanced down at his watch. Whenever he heard footsteps, he didn’t bother glancing up. 

“Do yourself a favor. Park somewhere else. Service is terrible.” 

There was a small nod of his head after Parker’s response before pulling up a chair to take a seat. “Just the usual stuff, ya know,” he replied with a low sigh. “We do have that big sell coming up soon though, so just finishing up the preparations on that,” he added as he reached over for the other glass, stirred the wine slowly a few times and took a sip.

Parker nodded, listening as Jay vaguely brought up an upcoming transaction. 

“Yeah. Gotta make sure that goes smoothly. Don’t want people getting the wrong idea just because the Kings are back.”