The spark behind her eyes was different from when she first arrived. In a year’s time, she’d gone from a bright-eyed girl to a woman with fire in her eyes.
“First, let’s get something clear. I brought you here, and I’m the only reason that you’re still alive. I could have your throat slit and you in the fucking dirt before the sun goes down. I… have shown you mercy,” I pointed out to her.
“Am I supposed to be grateful or jumping for joy?” she asked, brows dipped above her angered irises. “You snatched me out of my life. It wasn’t perfect or no shit like that, but it was mine, and I was starting to finally feel like I belonged in it. Do you know what that’s like?” she questioned.
Narrowing both eyes at her, for the first time, I looked at the girl, and I saw her. She wasn’t who I snatched or Harold’s daughter—a means to an end. She was a young woman that was still stumbling through life trying to find herself. I knew what that was like. It had been a long time since I felt that way, but I could relate. I went into my pocket to retrieve a cell phone. It wasn’t mine; it was a burner. I dialed a number and placed the phone on speaker. We both listened as it rang twice and a man picked up.
“Hello?” Harold Lawson picked up.
Harbor gasped, and her eyes lit up at the sound of her father’s voice. She brought her stunned gaze to mine, and I nodded to the phone. She had the chance to speak now, and was mute.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
I could hear his breathing change when her voice struck his ears.
“Harbor?” he asked, sounding unsure. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
Her eyes locked with mine again. “I am… fine,” she answered.
I nodded.Good girl.She didn’t know anything to tell anyway, so I knew that I was in the clear.
“You’re fine? Where are you? Where the hell have you been? Do you know what we have been going through?” His relief quickly merged to anger, and her breath became hitched in her throat.
“I—” She seemed confused and bewildered by his reaction.
“Are you telling me that all this time you’ve been safe and sound some-damn-where!” Harold barked.
Harbor’s eyes closed, and she tried to hide it, but I noticed the single tear slip past her cheek before she inhaled and opened them again.
“What was the reason? Was it Alba? Or Lock? How could you be so selfish to just take off?—”
“You know what… I’m gonna go,” she said, her tone flat, eyes dead and blank while they stared off ahead.
His accusations stung her, leaving her wounded. He hadn’t given her a chance to even speak, and he was jumping to the worst conclusions. A nigga almost felt bad about what he had put her through.
“Harbor, I have been going over every single thing that I can think of to find you! Do you know what it felt like! Not knowing if you were dead or alive!” Harold shouted.
She scoffed in complete disbelief, which was my guess. It didn’t seem to be the conversation she hoped to have with him after all this time. He didn’t skip a beat.
“And you won’t let me explain now, so what is the point, Daddy? Clearly, nothing has changed.”
“Harbor, just… tell me what you need. What do you want from me?” her father questioned, sounding exasperated. Their relationship wasn’t some loving father-daughter scenario. It seemed more strained than anything.
“Nothing. I was calling so that you knew that I was okay. Goodbye, Daddy.” She hit the red button to end the call before he could argue or question her any further.
Her somber gaze caught mine, and she walked over to the bed and sat down. I didn’t know how to take that shit, so I just studied her where I stood. I shut the burner phone off and tucked it back into the workout pants I was wearing. Awkward silence filled the room. Her eyes shifted to the ground.
“What is it that you wanted from me?”
The tables had turned in my favor, and for some stupid ass reason, I didn’t feel good about it. My victory caused her pain, and that was evident. Clearing my throat, I considered my proposal in my head before I made my suggestion. Harbor was an asset, and the more I kept her around, the more I knew that was a fucking fact. I wasn’t sure what the universe had in mind or what kind of fucking joke it was trying to play on me, but shit was strange.
“I’m not the type of man to be put in a position where I have to ask another mothafucka for a damn thing.”
“Hmm, you don’t say,” Harbor replied.
I couldn’t tell if she was actually amused or being fucking sarcastic. She held my stare, and that shit was like fire passing between us in the air. Harbor squinted while I worked on what to say next.
“You seem like the kind of woman that typically gets what she wants,” I acknowledged.
