“Who told you that?”
“No one had to tell me! I saw the report.”
I look to Chase. “What report?”
“Some tabloid said that we were using you as our own personal plaything. Lief got it shut down quickly, but it did provide your name and a picture.”
“Interesting,” I note, then focus again on my father. “That’s not the case.”
“It has to be. Why else would you be with three older men? You don’t talk to your mother, you never visit.”
“There is a restraining order in effect.”
“I got clean. I got clean and you didn’t come home. I couldn’t even tell you. You just gave up on me. That’s not fair. After all I did.”
My cheeks heat, but I force myself to bite my tongue until it hurts. I take a slow breath. “I understand that you feel entitled to my time and endless opportunities to make things right, but that isn’t fair to the other people involved. Especially when you hurt them.”
“You were mouthy. You needed to learn that the world is cruel.”
“She shouldn’t have had to come home to a place that was,” Chase says sharply. “That’s not love. That’s manipulation. It’s an excuse for a lack of control.”
I’m supposed to be professional to survive this, but Chase saying that has my full attention. Because he’s come so far. I look at him and take his hand on the table. “Chase. That’s ....”
“Your lessons stick.”
I smile and lace our fingers together.
“Look at me!” My father hits the table and I jump.
Lief’s face changes just like that. He’s deadly in a second and focused entirely on my father. “Raise your voice at her again and you’ll regret it.”
My father looks between the men and swallows.
“Just come home. We can forget all about this. I’ll get your mother and Tristan too. We’ll be a family.”
“Tristan is old enough to start his own family. Mom left you. And I haven’t wanted you in my life since I walked out at sixteen.” I stand up. “I’m leaving – again. I’m going home with the men I love.”
“They brainwashed you.”
Lief holds the door open, but his gaze is still trained on my father. I smirk. “They didn’t brainwash me. They showed me how a relationship should look, with no thanks to you.”
I leave it at that and walk out of the room, but I don’t stop. I trust my men to take care of the details, I just walk until the chilly autumn air wraps around me. I put a hand on my stomach and close my eyes.
After about a minute of taking deep, controlled breaths, a hand gently brushes my shoulder. I jump, then see Hunter. I curl myself against him and knot my fingers in his shirt. “I want to go home.”
“I know you do, dorogaya. You did so well. No fear, no temper lost. You’re inspiring.”
‘I don’t want to be inspiring. I want to not have to deal with my father again. Never again.” I rub my cheek against his chest. “Can we go home and never do this again?”
Hunter lifts my chin and kisses me. “You’re amazing.”
“Hunt.”
“We have to wait for Lief and Chase. And I’d like to take you somewhere. Somewhere that might make you feel better,” He offers.
“Being with you makes me feel better,” I admit, breathing him in. “Our home, our kitchen, the living room, that’s my happy place, Hunter.”
“I thought you’d like to go to a garden, but we should go where you feel safe.”