Now I’m second guessing myself.
He’ll be more than disappointed if he finds out the truth. If he smells even a whiff of betrayal, I’m fucking dead.
I don’t think for a second I’d get special consideration for being his son.
“Okay.” I tap my phone to open the calling app. “But I’m not going to be putting it on speaker.”
Pandora pouts. “Boo. Spoilsport.”
“Should we leave?” Asch asks, his eyes narrowing as he looks between Pandora and River. “I’m sure River and I can keep Pandora busy.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. Just… stay quiet.”
Pandora opens her mouth to say something, but River covers it with his four-fingered hand. She doesn’t look put out by it though.
Judging from River’s reaction, she’s probably licking his palm.
I tap the button to call my father.
It takes three rings for him to pick up.
“Blaze,” my father greets. He sounds suspicious.
“Hey, Dad,” I answer, hoping I sound as calm as I feel.
I won’t show weakness.
Not even to him.
“I was wondering, who’s in charge of our east coast merch?” I ask. I lean back in the armchair, feeling strangely self-conscious with Pandora, River, and Asch all staring at me. “I was going to call Menard, but then I remembered he quit.”
If by “quit” we mean got dumped into the bottom of a lake.
My father pauses. “Any particular reason?”
“Yeah, I met an old friend who was interested in a specific product line. I remembered we still had limited stock that matched his specifications.” I resist the urge to tap my foot.
Asch’s expression goes blank in that way of his that means he doesn’t want me to know what he’s thinking.
“An old friend? Who? I can reach out to him directly,” my father says.
Shit, shit.
If I say a specific name, he could double-check.
If I give him no name at all, he’s going to be even more suspicious.
And the longer I pause, the more suspicious it gets.
“Ezio,” I say. “I want to surprise him. He deserves getting exactly what he wants after everything. But I can’t exactly ask him if I’m going to surprise him, y’know?”
My father says nothing for a few seconds, and I wonder if the game is already up, if I’ve fucked our plan before it even got off the ground.
But he finally says, “That’s a good idea. He’s never been forthcoming about his interests, but it’s good to know he has them. You can reach out to Tim.”
Tim?
Which Tim? There are three possible Tims—no, one of them is still down south, and I think Short Tim is on my dad’s shit list right now.
