I scoff. “She’s not worried, you idiot. She’s plotting.”
He shrugs. “Wouldn’t be the first time, now would it?”
“She was at my office when I got the call,” I bellow. “She did this.”
“You’re probably right.” He sighs, sounding exhausted.
Something is very wrong here. What are the chances I got called home for a false alarm while she was sitting in my office?
I don’t like it.
“Where are you going?” my father calls out to my retreating back.
“To find her and figure out what her angle is.”
“Charles, please stay,” my father begs. “I have things I want to discuss with you.”
On the flight here, I’d prayed. Actually prayed that he’d be all right so we could have this conversation. Now I have the chance.
I take a seat across from him, slinking back into the chair. Bone weary.
“Go ahead and speak,” I command.
“I never told you about how I met your mother,” he starts, and my teeth grind together. “She was my assistant.”
I narrow my eyes, and he keeps talking.
“She was the only person in the office who would challenge me. When I was wrong, she told me so. I liked that.” His eyes get a far-off look. “She was everything to me, and when she died, I died, too.”
I remember those first days. It was painful to watch. My father was broken. He laid over her body in the casket and wept. If we allowed him, he would’ve crawled right in with her and allowed them to throw the dirt over them both.
“I’m not trying to make excuses, but I want you to know that Tabitha preyed on me when I was at my lowest. It wouldn’t have mattered who it was. I would’ve clung to them. I was lonely and broken.”
“I know, Father. I’ve come to terms with that.”
I had. It wasn’t easy, but the truth was, I never cared about her enough to allow it to eat away at me. She’d done enough damage, tearing my father away from me. I wouldn’t allow it a moment longer.
“I hate her,” he grits through his teeth.
That stops me up short.
“I wish more than anything I could remove her from my life permanently, but she’s a leech.”
I huff out a breath. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I want for you. It never was.”
“It’s what I deserve. What I did—” He chokes down a sob. “I’ll never forgive myself. Now it’s too late.”
My head shakes. “It’s never too late. We can start again. I can help you leave her.”
“She’d find a way to torment us still. There’s no escaping the devil, son.”
His words ring true. Even after these years I’ve been away, she’s still got her talons in me. Showing up at Zero Bond, attaching herself to my father. Leech is a good word for the bitch.
“Between you, me, and Stuart, we can make her pay, Father. All you have to do is say the words.”
“Help me.” His plead washes over me, and determination replaces all the anger and hurt I’ve harbored.
We may be far from fixed, but I have faith that we'll find our way back for the first time in a long time.