“I had a wonderful time last night,” he said.
“Me, too.”
“Now, I want you to stay in your room until I can get my brother out of here. Once we’re gone and things have calmed down, I’ll give you a call and we’ll proceed with things as usual. Okay?”
I felt my heart breaking, and it only served to make me more confused.
“Okay,” I whispered.
He broke away from the embrace and I drew in a deep breath. I didn’t know what to expect, nor did I want it to happen. I wanted Lucas to go away and I wanted to have Everett all to myself. I wanted him to come back so I could hold him closer. I watched him backtrack to my front door as I sat on the edge of my bed, just barely concealed from his view.
But when he opened the door, I didn’t expect the tirade that followed.
TWENTY-TWO
Everett
“Where is she?”
My eyes widened when my father pushed past me and into Andrea’s apartment.
“Dad? What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
“I called him,” Lucas said as he pushed past me as well.
“Andrea! Where are you!?” my father exclaimed.
“Dad, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
“Don’t you cuss at me, boy. You get one pass, and you already used it. Now where is this girl? I want to speak with her,” he said.
“You can’t just barge into her apartment and start demanding her presence,” I said.
“Where is she, Everett?” Lucas asked.
“Like hell I’m telling you anything with how angry you two are. Out. Now. We can all go get coffee and sit down,” I said.
“Andrea!” my father bellowed.
“Dad! Shut up!” I exclaimed.
“Hi there.”
My eyes fell onto Andrea as she came and stood in the doorway of her bedroom. She looked beautiful. Graceful. Strong. Her thick red hair was piled high on top of her head and her dazzling green eyes bounced between my father and Lucas. She had on this gorgeous silken gray nightgown with a robe tossed over her shoulders and tied off around her cute little waist. At any other moment, I would’ve picked her up, ripped the flimsy fabric from her body, and painted her living room with our bodies. I would have made round two our breakfast before taking her out to have a decent one.
She looked so small staring up into my father’s eyes.
“You,” my father said.
“If you take one more step toward her, you’re done for, Dad,” I said.
“What the hell’s wrong with you? What were you thinking?” Lucas asked.
“If I recall correctly, Vegas was your idea,” I said.
“Do you want to talk?” Andrea asked.
I watched my father point a finger at Andrea as she stood there, strong and stoic. As if nothing was going on. But the devil within me rose up. I took a step towards my father but felt Lucas’ hand wrap around my arm. I whipped my head around to him and saw him shake his head curtly.