Snatching up one of my pillows, I chucked it at the door, but they managed to close it before I hit either of them. “Bastards.”
Still in a sour mood from dinner last night, I took my time getting ready and even decided to dress more casually with skinny jeans and a flowy royal blue shirt that had ruffled sleeves. Unable to go completely casual, knowing I’d have meetings today, I slipped on a pair of strappy wedges that elevated the whole outfit. Hair down and light makeup, I was ready to face the criminal world once again.
Stepping out of my room, I found a thermal travel mug on my desk with a note from Ryker.Figured you might need this before meeting with the boss.
“Goddamn you, Ryker,” I muttered, grabbing the thing and noticed what was written on it,Wake Up, Kick Ass.
When I took a sip, it was doctored just how I like it, making me wonder if he remembered or simply watched how I made my coffee last night. Then again, he did keep harping on the fact he thinks heknowsme, so it’s possible he remembered. I walked down the hall to my father’s room and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Pausing a moment, I took a deep breath and shoved open the door to find Daddy sitting in one of the armchairs sipping on his own cup of coffee. He looked up at me with a smile, setting aside the paper, and motioned for me to sit across from him. “Did you have a good time last night?”
“I suppose that’s a loaded question seeing as I had to yank everyone from their beds,” I commented as I took a seat, crossing one leg over the other.
If Daddy wanted to pretend like nothing happened last night, he most certainly could, but that wasn’t the game I was playing.
He blinked at me for a moment. “Why didn’t I hear about this?”
“There was no need to disturb you from time with your family. This is why I’m here, after all, to lighten the load off your shoulders,” I reasoned, knowing he wasn’t going to like that answer one bit.
Daddy sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, setting down his coffee and leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees. “Astin.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d really love not to rehash the events of last night. The whole house knows about my humiliation and how your other child feels about the situation. Oh no, that’s right, children. I forgot you adopted one without telling me,” I corrected myself. “Was this the reason you called me here, or is there another matter you wanted to discuss?”
“Just tell me this… am I in for another year of silence, or is that punishment no longer being used?” he asked.
“No, I’m not twelve anymore. Besides, you’ve made sure to teach me other ways I can torture people to get the maximum impact while still keeping them alive,” I reminded him. “What you did was bullshit, Daddy, and you know it. Why lie to me for so long when you could have just had it all out in the open? That would have given me years to get over the fact that I was the one left out of it all.”
“You’re not left out, Astin, quite the opposite,” Daddy argued. “How was I supposed to tell you? Just come right out and say it in a letter when we couldn’t talk about it face to face or even over the phone?”
I uncrossed my leg, slamming my heel to the floor. “Yes, that’s exactly what you should have done when you’ve had the house since you and Mother got married. Instead, what you did was to feed me bits and pieces. Just so you know, I have a mistress I actually love even though I’m married to Flora. Casimira is pregnant, you’re going to have a brother, and I’ve moved them into the second home I have so I can keep an eye on them. Oh, and because I feel like a terrible father for keeping my eldest child locked away in a house in another country, I’ve decided to give this whole Dad thing a second try and spend the weekends with them. See, none of that’s hard. It’s a natural progression of sharing what’s going on in your life. Instead, you decided to just slap me upside the head with it after I told you I wanted time to adjust.”
Daddy slumped in his chair, looking at me with sad eyes telling me I’d hit the mark with my words. “You’re right.”
“While I’d love to just own that, I’m gonna need a little more from you,” I commented.
“Casimira, can you please come out here,” Daddy called over his shoulder.
I shot to my feet, rage boiling inside me. “She’s been listening in this whole time? Just when I didn’t think you couldn’t stoop any lower, you drive the knife right into my back with both hands.”
“That’s enough, Astin,” Casimira snapped, stepping out of the bedroom. “Don’t you dare speak to your father in such a manner. I know you’re upset with him, but he was doing what was best. He always has when it comes to you.”
I burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, but who the fuck are you to speak to me like that?”
That had my father on his feet, grabbing me by the throat. “No, Astin, I’ll take your anger because I deserve it. What I won’t let you do is speak to Casimira like she’s some two-bit whore when she’s my wife.”
Unflinching, I held my father’s gaze, refusing to back down as he tried to make me cower. It wasn’t going to work. He’d done everything in his power to make me strong, tough, and more ruthless than him. He was now going to learn firsthand how it had worked, and this wasn’t a tactic that could be used.
“Seems I’m not Daddy’s only secret,” I spat. “Go on, treat me like everyone else who’s beneath you. Clearly, you couldn’t just get rid of me since your son is a spoiled brat who would be eaten alive in under a second, and the other, no matter what last name he has, is under his mother’s thumb. Looks like you’re left with me to take over the legacy.”
His eyes grew wide as he jerked his hand back, releasing me, shaking it as if he hadn’t realized what he’d done. Casimira came up to him and rested her hand on his back. “Darling, why don’t you sit? It’s not good for your heart to be this stressed.”
That comment had me snapping out of my anger to take a more assessing look at my father. A light sheen of sweat beaded on his brow while his breath was slightly more labored. When he sat, Casimira handed him a glass of water, but when he grasped it, I noticed his hand had a slight tremor to it.
“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded.
“I have cardiac heart disease. I was diagnosed a few years ago,” Daddy explained. “I’ve been managing it with medication, but it’s become much worse in the past year. One of the many reasons you needed to be brought back now. I’d have done it sooner, but I didn’t have things ready on my end, and I wasn’t going to set you up to fail.”