“Astrid.” Dad’s sharp voice causes my shoulders to snap upright.
I push my hair back as I stumble to my feet. The T-shirt reaches the middle of my thighs, but I still tug down on it.
Those pale blue eyes clash with mine for a brief second and I offer him an encouraging smile. His fingers brush against my arm before I drop my head and trudge to Dad’s side.
As soon as I’m within touching distance, Dad grips my arm and cages me behind him.
“This is the last time I see a Clifford on my property,” Jonathan glares down at Dad and he glares back.
A more ferocious battle than the one from earlier erupts between them and I swallow at the thick tension in the air.
“Keep your spawn away from my daughter.” Dad drags me away from the house before I can throw one last glance at Levi.
As soon as we’re outside, I stop, trying to pull Dad into a halt. “Are they fighting? Can’t you stop them?”
“We have no place in familial matters.”
“But isn’t those familial matters how you found me?”
“I had a very unpleasant call from Jonathan while I was searching for you. He told me that my daughter could be with his nephew.”
I’m so ashamed, but it’s not what’s pushing me right now. My heartbeat thunders in my ears as I strain to hear what’s going on inside. What if Jonathan beats Levi?
“But Dad, he —”
“It’s Father!” He shouts, drawing me to a halt near his car. “How many times do I tell you to call me Father? I gave you two rules. Two simple rules. Don’t sully the Clifford name and stay away from the King’s surname. You broke both of them in one day. Both. Every time I think I’m getting to you, it spirals out of control all over again. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you anymore, Astrid.”
Tears fill my eyes and I try to fight them away as I take the onslaught of Dad’s words. It’s like I’m in the presence of a stranger, not someone who’s supposed to be the closest person to me.
“I didn’t ask for this either. I didn’t want to live with you and your stupid family. I didn’t want to be shackled by rules and manners. I didn’t want to sneak out every day so I won’t be forced into a breakfast with your wife who insults me and my mother the entire time. But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that you always take her side. Mum would’ve never done that, Mum would’ve heard me out. Mum stayed when you abandoned us. I wish it was you who died that day, not her.”
I regret the words as soon as they come out. My lips tremble as Dad’s face turns stone cold.
“I… I—”
He releases me as if I were on fire. “Get in the car.”
“D-Dad… I… I didn’t me—”
“Get in the car, Astrid.”
I flinch at his non-negotiable tone and hurry to the passenger seat. I sniffle and wipe my eyes, fighting the onslaught of emotions coursing through me.
When Dad takes his seat and doesn’t spare me a glance, I know, I just know that I screwed up any chance I had with him.
If Dad hated me before, then now, he simply didn’t care about me anymore.
39
Levi
Our calm is only a delusion to the storm.
* * *
I watch Astrid being dragged out. The only thing stopping me from snatching her from her father is her own sake.
If I act on what I want, she might end up in more trouble than she already is with her father. Despite her reservations about him, she looks up at him like he’s God.