Page 98 of Dangerous Promises

"WHAT did you just say about a death promise?" A booming voice sounds from the door of the kitchen. Freddie stops mid-sip and I stop mid-chew, faces paling when we turn to see Dad standing before us with a heaving chest and narrowed eyes.

He's not using his cane. I should be thankful that he's better, but it only makes this seem more ominous.

Freddie throws on a charming defensive smile and goes on damage control. "Nothing, Dim," Freddie says, placing a reassuring hand on Dad's shoulder. "Just chatting."

"I can see right through your little bullshit smile Freddie Robert Fallon."

Freddie's eyes widen and he rubs the back of his neck as his smile turns sheepish. "Did what I could," Freddie says to me as Dad ushers him away.

I hold on to the counter for support as I await the brunt of Dad's wrath.

"I saw the Rushkoff boy leaving your room last night, Sage," Dad says, not mincing words and not fucking around. "Tell me it's not what I think it is."

I can't tell him that. Because it's probably way worse than he's assuming.

"I have killed every boy who has everlookedtwice at you!"

Freddie's head pokes around the door. "You missed a few, Dim."

"Get out of here!" Dad shouts. "What business does that boy have being anywhere near your room?"

Ugh. I cringe, lost for words and lacking an explanation. "It's complicated," I sigh, this terrible answer the only thing I can offer because it doesn't make sense to me, so how on earth am I meant to explain it to him?

That answer only makes Dad's face redden. I see him trying to remain calm and understanding, but the vein on his temple is pulsing, and he's definitely about two seconds away from losing it.

"Uncomplicate it," Dad says through gritted teeth.

"I couldn't if I tried," I admit. I rush forward and give him a hug to soothe him. Which works. He's a girl dad through and through. He strokes my head and gives me a kiss on my crown.

"Oh, Sage," he says. "I swear here you are all grown up and I didn't notice."

He holds me back by the shoulders. "I understand you're not a little girl. But regardless of this little truce, our families have been enemies for far longer than any of us have been alive. Please tell me something isn't going on with that Rushkoff boy."

I look up to Dad with imploring eyes. "I... can't."

I look down as I prepare for the backlash, and it does come, just as hard as I expected. Dad's thinly held temper spoils over and his voice bounds throughout the halls as he shouts at me.

Mostly about family and honor. A little about how wrong it is just because of the name Rushkoff. Something about my purity, but that one's laughable at this point.

Usually I would stand here and take it. It's not like me to push back on or disagree with my father. But now I can only withstand the yelling for a minute or two before I start yelling back.

"Okay! I get it! Stop!"

Dad rears back like he's been slapped. His nostrils flare with something in between disbelief and rage. He goes eerily quiet and calm, measuring his words.

"How dare you interrupt me," Dad says. "You cannot begin to understand the depths of this."

"Noyoucannot begin to understand it!" I point my finger right in his face and he does not like that one bit.

"This is not something you can pursu-"

"It's nothing!" I shout. "Stop! It's not even worth the breath we're wasting on it! Alexei is a little fling that I will let go of once we're finished here!"

"A fling?" Dad says, and the wording clearly hasn't helped. "A fling?!"

"Yes! He's nothing, okay. I couldn't care less if I never see him again. I do not need to hear shit from you!"

My breath is labored by the time I finally finish shouting. It's my monitor beeping that finally calms Dad down. I take a quick look at it and start chewing on the candies again to get it under control.