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“How’d it go in there?” he pants as he shuffles over.
“Fine,” I answer curtly, wishing he had just left after he handed the copy over to me.
“Thatta’ girl!” he smiles, stopping just a few feet away. “Where you rushing off to now?”
“Home,” I shoot back, having to hold back a groan. Why does he care where I’m rushing off to? Aside from when his vowed vengeance against the Elites wasn’t on the line, he never once cared about where I was before. Why now?
“Ah,” he nods, looking slightly wounded. “Well, listen. While you’re here…why don’t we grab some lunch? Ice cream? I want to celebrate!”
“There’s nothing to celebrate,” I grumble. “It’s not like I got in. It was just an interview.”
“You’ll get in,” he announces confidently. “Whether it’s here or somewhere else, I know you’ll have your pick of the best schools. I looked you up, you know. Saw the articles about your races and things from your last school. And some of your competitions with WJ Prep. You have quite an impressive record.”
I stare at him blankly, feeling a twist in my gut at the thought of him researching me. I’m convinced his only real reason to do so would be for some ulterior motive. It was likely just so he could track me down and use me as a pawn in his battle against the Elites. One that he would just as soon throw out the moment I didn’t serve him anymore.
“Thanks,” I respond half-heartedly. “But I really should get back. Mom will be waiting.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand if you stay a little longer to catch up with me,” he insists. “She’s hoping you and I will get to know each other a little better.”
I’m frozen as he stares expectantly. I want to get away from him as fast as possible, but he is right about my mom’s high hopes for me to give him a chance. Maybe to relieve her guilt about him being my biological father. But her innocent optimism only makes me angrier.
“You’re right. She has a lot of hopes for you being back in our lives,” I bark. “But only because she doesn’t know the whole story.”
He recoils with a pitiful little grimace. “I deserve that,” he offers. “And anything else you could say to me. I know…I wasn’t around and then when I did show back up…It wasn’t exactly under the best circumstances.”
I laugh scornfully, thinking back on the split second I had to look him over for the first time when he showed up on the doorstep of Jameson manor just as I was running for my life. No sooner than I recognized his crooked smile he pulled up a gun and shot Thomas Jameson to death. Not to save my life, but to finish his own little wicked game of vengeance against the Elites.
“I may not be everything you hoped I would be,” he continues.
“I didn’t hope for anything about you at all!” I cut him off. “You weren’t around, and I was prepared for it to stay that way. I figured if you cared about me at all, you would have never let so much time pass without finding me. Brendan has been around since I was ten and has been more of a father than you ever were. I’m glad things turned out the way they did.” My voice cracks in exasperation as I rant, prompting me to turn back towards my car and pull the handle to get in. I refuse to let him see me get emotional.
“It’s not so simple,” he says quickly, stepping closer to keep me from leaving. “Didn’t she ever tell you?” His brows raise. “I did try to see you, Ophelia. I may not be perfect, but I was prepared to be around for you. Everything that happened between your mom and I…it was too much. And still too painful for her when I tried to see you as a baby. She was afraid and I can’t blame her.”
I start to argue but stop myself. I can’t imagine my mom refusing to let Theo see me without at least mentioning his attempts when I got older. Even if a parent is absent, knowing whether or not they tried makes a big difference in a young girl’s life. But anger boils in my gut as I consider why she would be afraid to let him see me. He beat her. Of course, she was afraid of him.
Theo did think my mom had cheated on him, but it turns out that was just another stab from the Elites trying to put him in his place after he squandered so much of their money. Regardless, his reaction was inexcusable. Emmett may be fucked-up and I don’t doubt that he would beat up the other dude in a heartbeat if I ever cheated on him, but he’d never lay a finger on me...right?
That thought catches in my throat as I remember all the times Emmett has harmed me, threatened me, and a long list of other offenses. He claims he had no choice under the pressure from his father and the other Elites. I quickly remind myself that they seem to have a knack for making good people do horrible things.
“Why do you think your mom is so insistent on us having a relationship now?” Theo says. “She feels guilty, I think, for shutting me out all those years before. She made a choice that should have been yours.”
My inner conflict over Emmett has my guard down as he speaks, and I can feel his guilt trip t
aking hold. I look down at the envelope of documents in my bag. Deciding who is good or bad or what did or didn’t happen is too much to process on the spot like this. But for now, Theo did save my ass at the last minute. The least I can do is have a quick lunch with the man.
“Fine,” I groan. “I’ll come with you. But not for too long. I want to get home before it starts getting dark.”
He lights up before motioning for me to follow him back to his car. I can’t help but feel paranoid that something terrible could come out of me being so trusting and riding off with him. I can’t forget everything I do know about Theo. No matter what he says, if it were in his best interests to kill me, he’d do it in a heartbeat. And with people like him, there’s always some larger game at play that I don’t know the details of.
Things seem normal enough aside from the awkward silence as he drives me to a diner towards the center of town. I slowly start to relax, telling myself that this will be over before I know it. It’s like Brendan’s yearly family dinners with his senile grandparents. They’re inconvenient and seem like a waste of time, but they go by fast and make everyone else really happy. I just have to grit my teeth and smile and get through this.
“I love this place,” he says as he opens the front door for me.
A bell chimes as we step inside and a waitress greets him by name. He leads me to a corner booth, citing it as his usual spot. It’s crazy to think he’s been so close long enough to have a regular hangout spot with a preferred seat. It breaks into my resolve, making me wonder if he really has been trying to keep an eye on me all these years. Is that why he ended up so close to Jameson?
“Order a milkshake,” he tells me as I look over the menu. “Doesn’t matter what flavor you pick; it’ll be the best one you ever have.”
“The usual today, Theo?” the waitress chimes as she pulls a pen and pad from her apron. “And who’s this young lady!?” Her eyes light up across me.
