Page 58 of Room Service

“In all that time, Dad, you never helped me. And for years, I had to put up with that bastard’s shit. Then I decided if you were all going to throw me away anyway, I might as well be the one to leave first.”

“Son, I never would have—” he started, but I cut him off with a slash of my hand.

“Save it, Dad,” I growled harshly. “I’m not looking for pity, or an apology, or any assurance. I just figured you might as well know, because you always wondered why I never wanted to go back home. Why I never wanted anything to do with that woman.”

“Alice had nothing to do with this,” he said.

I watched him for a moment, before breaking into chuckles. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I walked over to the couch and slumped into it while Dad remained standing. I couldn’t even look at him anymore because I didn’t want to see the expression on his face. I meant it when I said I didn’t want an apology from him. It was way too fucking late for that.

“Trent,” he said, his voice firm. “I’m going to look into this now that I know. I can also promise you one thing: Alice had no hand in what her brother was doing. She wouldn’t have known, and she’s never given him anything, so everything he told you was a lie. Ever since she heard about you she sincerely wanted to meet you, wanted to be a mother to you. I know she would never replace Mom for you, she doesn’t for me either, but she wanted to try. The least you could have done was given her a chance.”

I pressed my lips together, not wanting to admit he was right. That I could have been wrong about everything, and because of the misunderstanding, I’d missed out on far more than I should have. I’d missed out on the family I could have had if only I had opened up and spoken up sooner.

Back then, I had made a choice. And it wasn’t the right one.

“I won’t force you on this matter,” Dad said after a moment of silence. “You’re a smart boy, and I know you can think for yourself. And also, Jessi makes the finest tiramisu I ever tasted. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, and I don’t care, but if you don’t bring her back to Charlotte, I will have your balls for it.”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh because his words mirrored Emily’s, but then I let out a sigh and looked over at Dad. He stood there a little awkwardly, not quite meeting my gaze. Then he walked over to me, patted me on the shoulder, and headed for the front door to let himself out.

“Well,” I muttered. “I guess I wasn’t any easier, was I?”

It would be so easy to put all the blame on my dad, but I knew that would be wrong. I was smart enough to know that part of the communication problem between us started with me. I never gave Dad much of a choice when it came to how to approach me. If I’d come clean, talked instead of waiting for him to make the first move, it would never have reached the point of him faking a heart attack to get me home.

I needed to make a change. It was way past time, and my thoughts had already been leading me in that direction for a while now.

To start with, just because he’d mentioned her, I figured I might as well bring Jessi back to the fold.

I ran to my bedroom where I’d left my phone on the nightstand and made a call for the family helicopter to pick me up.