I was lost. Confused, scared, pissed, leery of every single person I was surrounded by. But after five years of being around sketchy people, untrustworthy people, people who gave me a sinking feeling deep in my stomach with one look, I’d obtained quite a skill. I knew right off the bat if I could trust someone, and I knew, without a doubt, that this man wasn’t bad.
I could trust him.
And I hoped with everything in my body that I was right.
Chapter Forty-Two
Christian
“What time are they getting here?” Ollie, with his school shirt untucked and unbuttoned at the top, held a purple streamer as he balanced on the counter to attach it to the ceiling.
“Any minute, so hurry up.”
He scowled at me.
Hayley turned eighteen at midnight, and I knew it was a big deal, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Turning eighteen meant she was free. She could, technically, leave Pete and Jill’s if she wanted and stay somewhere—anywhere—else until college. I wanted to drain my account and buy her an apartment with a top-notch security system and put her in there without taking no as an answer, but I knew she’d be pissed and refuse, so a small birthday party was going to have to do for now.
Not only were we celebrating her eighteenth birthday, but we were also celebrating the last five birthdays. There was a separate room for each birthday that Hayley didn’t get to celebrate because of being in foster care. As each hour passed, we’d go into a different room and celebrate that particular age.
I’d been planning this party for a week now. What I wasn’t expecting was a massive punch in the gut from her earlier road trip with Eric, but that wasn’t something I was willing to simmer on. I promised her we’d talk about it later, and we would, but for now, Hayley deserved this.
“What’s all this?” I switched my attention to my father walking through the kitchen with a briefcase in tow.
I was shocked, to say the least. “What are you doing here?”
A deep chuckle escaped him as he laid his briefcase on the island. “I live here and pay the bills.”
I snorted. “You barely live here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m going to work on that.”
I flicked my eyes to meet his and stared. We still hadn’t resolved anything since the last time we had talked. In fact, I didn’t think there had been more than a sentence or two shared between us since then.
It wasn’t difficult to avoid him. My days were spent at school and then practice soon followed. Then, I was with Hayley for the rest of the night with the occasional stop to talk with Ollie.
“So, what is this? What’s up with the black and purple?”
Ollie was the one who answered. “It’s Hayley’s birthday. We’re throwing her a party.”
“You know I don’t allow parties here.”
“How would you even know if we threw parties here?” I gritted my teeth. The more I stared at him, the angrier I got. “And this isn’t a party. It’s just a few of us.”
My father stared at me from across the island. His dark features relaxed. It was like looking at a reflection of myself. We were similar in every aspect, and that irked me because it was the last thing I wanted. He was the only parent I had left, but we were so disconnected that I knew nothing about him. I half-expected him to give me another lecture about Hayley, but before he could say anything at all, my phone rang.
I saw Piper’s name flashing and answered it quickly.
“You on your way?”
“Christian.” Her voice had my chest constricting.
I dropped the black streamer. “What’s wrong?”
Her words were fast through the line. “It’s Hayley. Something…something’s wrong. Pete…” She sucked in a heavy breath of air, and it suddenly felt like I had none. “Pete is hurt. I think they took her.” Piper was crying now, and I braced myself on the island, clutching the phone hard in my hand.
“What’s going on?” The words barely came out. It felt like I’d swallowed my own heart.
Piper choked