I snorted a laugh before I could stop myself, and Adam jerked in my direction. Except, his jerk was in slow-mo, so it was more of a slide until he was tilted toward me.
“Maybe circle again,” I said.
Angelo did as I asked, driving for ten minutes before he tried the building again. There was no change. If anything, the crowd had grown. The paps from the club were probably here now.
“Circle again?” Angelo asked.
Defeat and exhaustion weighed me down. Unless I was prepared to send Adam into a cage with hungry lions, I didn’t have much choice. Maybe if this was two months ago, I would have kicked his drunk ass to the curb to fend for himself, but enough of my anger had fled that I knew I couldn’t do that to him.
“Can you take us to my place, please?”
Angelo helped me get the very helpless Adam up the four flights of stairs and into my apartment. Adam was barely awake when Angelo tucked him into my bed—there was no way he’d fit on my love seat. The driver shook his head at my drunken guest, told me good luck, and hightailed it out of there.
I wished I could do the same, but I was stuck. Fortunately, I had to go to work in just a few hours, so I had a very valid excuse for kicking Adam out as soon as the sun rose.
He caught my hand as I reached to turn off the light beside him. “I always mess up, but I never wanted to mess up with you.”
His eyes drifted shut, and I waited, heart galloping, limbs frozen, until his breath deepened. Finally, his hand fell away from mine, and my cage was unlocked.
Circling the mattress, I lay down on the edge, as far from the heat of his body as I could, and closed my eyes. I listened to him breathing for a long time, my fists opening and closing as my stomach churned. What I was feeling wasn’t exactly anger or sadness, but I couldn’t quite name it.
I didn’t think there was any way I’d actually fall asleep, not with him beside me, but I must have. Loud pounding on my front door yanked me awake, and I stumbled out of my bedroom before I even thought about what I was doing.
At least I had the presence of mind to check the peephole, then immediately wished I’d stayed in bed. Saul Goodman was pacing in the small space outside my door. His expensive shoes were tromping on my rainbow welcome mat, the one I’d bought at the store where nothing cost more than five dollars.
He lifted his fist and pounded again. Even though I saw his fist coming, I jumped at the sound.
How was he here? He didn’t know where I lived.
With great reluctance, I unlocked my door—only because I didn’t want him waking my neighbors. If I knew my father, he’d keep banging until the entire building was awake unless I let him in.
As soon as I started to crack the door, he pushed inside and slammed it behind him. He breezed by, his head swiveling left and right to take in the small space, then he spun back around to face me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He held up his phone. “Do you know what I woke up to, Adelaide?”
“Your alarm?”
My smart-ass response didn’t amuse him. Then again, he wasn’t known for his humor. “No. I wouldn’t be here if that was the case. I was awakened by Good Music’s head of public relations. One of her press contacts sent her pictures of my daughter and one of my musicians leaving a sex club. These pictures are already circulating online and will be printed in several magazines over the next few days. Do you have anything to say to that, Adelaide?”
I hadn’t spoken to my father in over a month. His only attempt to contact me had either been through text or email. He’d called my break from him a tantrum and had shrugged aside my concerns and feelings.
“I don’t know why you’re here,” I replied.
“You don’t know why?” He threw his arms out. “I kept quiet when you moved to this…ghetto. I zipped my lips when you left my company to work for some piddly little studio that won’t be open for more than a year. But this, Adelaide Zala, has crossed a line. You’ve always been spoiled, and I’ve let you have your whims, but I will not allow you to sully my reputation. This ends now. You will not embarrass me any longer.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, pretending the way he was speaking to me, like I was some insubordinate underling, wasn’t eating away at me. Like I didn’t want to sob and beg for him to love me like a father should. I had to harden myself and whisper in my mind that I was in control of my life.
“No.”
Saul reared back like my simple answer had shocked the hell out of him. “No? You’re telling me no like I asked you a question? You don’t have a choice, Adelaide. I won’t allow you to continue down this self-destructive path.”
“There’s nothing self-destructive about the path I’m on.”
He scoffed, his eyes narrowing on me. “You went from living in luxury to a dump. You went from dating Jason, who was as high quality as they come, to going to seedy sex clubs with a strung-out musician. You look—” He broke off, his eyes raking over my baggy hoodie and leggings. My freaking pajamas. “Your mother would be ashamed of what you’ve become.”
Oh.