I turn off the monitor and Jack disabled the light that indicates the webcam is on and set my feed to record. My father sometimes snoops around my room when he’s home. And I need to know if he’s been in here. But I don’t want him to know it’s being recorded. I quickly take a shower, so I don’t smell like vanilla. My father doesn’t need to smell her on me.
When I finish dressing, I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the door. He expects me to check in. To tell him about my progress in getting on better terms with Harper and into herhouse. He doesn’t need to know that I’m practically living with her. Or that her mom is okay with it.
Being in their home just makes me more aware of what I’m lacking in this house. It’s huge and everything I could ever materially want is at my fingertips. For a cost. Not love, but devotion.
He wants my loyalty, but doesn’t crave my love. My father is a hard man. Always has been. I don’t know how things might have been different if my mother had survived. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so driven by the need to escape these four walls. This prison cell.
Fuck it.
I head downstairs and into the dining room. There are a few servants tonight. Not the woman from before. She served her purpose and he no longer needs her to demonstrate his depravity.
“Good evening.” I take my seat and put the cloth napkin on my lap.
My father leans back in his chair and takes me in. This is part of it. His slow examination of me, letting the silence lengthen until it’s deafening, until I can’t take it anymore. At least, that’s what he used to do. But he knows I’m accustomed to it.
Not much he does fazes me anymore.
“Bring our meals.” Dad waves his hand at the servers. Someone fills my glass while another person puts plates in front of my father and me. I lift my glass and find it’s just water this time.
Somehow that makes me feel calmer. He wants something from me. It’s always easier when he wants something from me. I set my glass down and lean back in my chair.
It’s still not my move yet.
Dad cuts his steak and lifts the meat to his mouth, chewing on it. Almost savoring it. I just watch him the way he always watched me.
What does a man like him love? Wealth? Power? Definitely not his only child. Did he love his wife, my mother? Or was she just another token to move in the game?
“I need to be in town for the next few days,” he announces to the room like it isn’t just me and him.
“Okay.” I cut a piece off the asparagus and eat it. At least the meal is worth the current price, his company.
“I expect you to bring your girlfriend to dinner on Tuesday night.” His gaze falls on me expectantly. Does he want me to throw a fit? Maybe he expects me to rage at how I won’t let her anywhere near him?
“We’ll plan on it.” I eat more of my vegetables.
He makes an acknowledging noise before taking another bite and contemplating me.
No matter what he says, I can’t react. I can’t tip my hand and let him know how much Harper means to me. He’ll use her against me and if he knows how much she cares, he’ll use me against her.
“The cleaners say your room is immaculate.” He eats a piece of steak, chewing slowly. “Have you managed to sneak into her home?”
I narrow my eyes. I could tell him that I don’t have to sneak. But if he knows I have access, how will he use it?
“Yes.”
“Good. You’ll need to access whatever computers are in the home as well as any flash drives.” He tips his glass toward the servers.
I wait for them to fill it. “He stole a file? And you think it’s going to be on a computer after thirteen years?”
I don’t hide my smirk. That’s stupid.
“There are hard copies too. But we need to make sure to cover all of our tracks.” He means his tracks.
“What exactly did he take?” I cut my steak and eat the bite.
Dad’s hazel eyes turn shrewd. “If the internship was still on the table, I could tell you. But until you are part of our business, you need to have plausible deniability.”
That’s not reassuring. But it does make me hope that whatever this is, it could be my ticket out from under his thumb.
