“Tria has been trying to call you, but you won’t answer her. Your ex-wife could have probably used a call from you not too long ago. Yet you can only manage to call when you need something.”
I swear that bastard smiles at me, which has me clenching my hands into fists.
“I see. So you finally noticed my other daughter instead of chasing after the one who was taken. I hope you aren’t just leading her around.”
Of all the arrogant, stupid, brazen things to fucking say.
“As if you have a right to speak,” Dale says curtly, surprising me. “Little late to be acting like you care, don’t you think?”
Edward nods, his lips thinning. “I just feel better knowing Tria has someone. Rain always had someone from the time she moved in with me. Tria never did. It’s… it’s a really good thing… to know. Really good.”
His breaths get lower, quieter, and he sighs while looking down, seeming lost in thought. Dale and I exchange a confused look, and the maid comes back in, looking over at him with a little worry. He notices her and waves her off, which makes me wonder if he’s not screwing her like he did all the others.
“You have two great daughters, no thanks to you,” I say, deciding to kick him while he’s down because I’m cruel like that.
To my surprise, he smiles again. “I’m perfectly aware of that. Glad you finally realized the same thing.”
He has no fucking right to sound smug right now. It wasn’t too long ago his ex-wife was kicking his ass in front of the entire neighborhood.
Then his eyes connect with mine, and for a minute, I see something raw and conflicted teeming within the depths, though I can’t actually name it. When he speaks again, his voice is strained, as though he’s fighting real damn hard not to fall apart.
“Tria has a big heart. Most people can’t see it because she keeps it hidden from the world like a breakable jewel. She gives everything she has to those she loves without expecting anything in return. Even if you don’t deserve it, she’ll offer forgiveness. Don’t abuse that. She needs someone to care about her the way she cares about others.”
He has to be the most confusing fucking person I’ve ever met in my life. Dale shrugs, acting just as lost as I am. If you didn’t know better, you’d believe the selfish asshole cared about his daughter—well, both of them, actually.
I start to speak, but he interjects again. “Rain is strong. So strong. She had to be. She built an extra layer of skin that she needed to endure life, but Tria is so much more fragile. Rain bares her soul, knowing she’s safe from the world, but Tria keeps her emotions locked away, too scared of what rejection might come if she risks it all. But she’ll risk it all with you. She probably already has.”
He’s talking in weird riddles that make no sense to me, and he keeps pissing me off by acting as though he cares.
“I think you two should go,” the maid says when Edward buries his face in his hands and begins to weep. He’s fucking crying?
I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a grown man cry like this right now. His sobs wrack his body, and he doubles over, swaying as though he might pass out.
“Now,” the woman demands, shoving me to get me moving.
Shit. She’s a mean little thing.
Dale and I both leave the house after being pretty much kicked out, confused bigger than dammit. I’m pissed that I didn’t get to lay into him with my prepared rant.
The door slams behind us as the sound of sobbing breaches the home—Edward crying openly and loudly.
“What the hell was that?” Dale asks, his eyes full of horrified fascination.
“Beats the hell out of me. Dude was usually always so unemotional. Hell, I can’t even remember him smiling or frowning. He was always just straight-faced. That… that was fucked up.”
Dale shakes his head as we make our way back to my car, both of us glancing back at the house.
He follows me, and we climb in, sitting motionless and quiet for a minute as we each try to process and rationalize what just happened.
“Think he finally realizes he lost it all? Divorce can sometimes be an eye-opener,” Dale says, sighing gravely.
“Maybe,” I say absently, cranking the car and backing out of the driveway.
I don’t know what’s more disturbing; Edward Noles breaking down and bawling like a baby, or realizing that even he saw his daughter had feelings for me when I was oblivious. I’m starting to think I should have paid more attention.
Chapter 19
TRIA