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Before I even knew what was happening, I rushed forward and hugged him. “Thank you. Everything is so complicated in my head right now, and I don’t know what to think. But I want you to know that I hear every time you call my adoptive parents myparentsand every time you refer to yourself and Anna as my biological parents. I notice how you try to keep a respectful distance, and I notice how you try to keep my parents alive by talking to me about them even though I know it must kill you to hear all the things you missed out on.”
I pulled away and looked into his stone blue eyes. They were slightly red, and I saw wetness forming along the water line.
“This means the world to me. So much more than you know. Thank you for respecting who I am and where I came from.”
He wiped my tears and held my face. “Is it okay if I kiss your face?”
At that moment, I was so wrapped up, I didn’t care. It was the first time I’d felt like I had a dad since mine died—not that I could ever replace him. However, if he knew my biological father was taking such good care of me, I think he’d want me to treat him like family. That was the kind of guy my dad was.
I nodded, and Rick kissed my forehead.
“I believe that’s probably the best thank you I’ve ever received.” He stepped back to give me space and wiped his own eyes. “Thank you for that.” He pointed to the car. “That was well earned. You’re so much more than I ever hoped, and I’d always wanted the best for you.”
He cleared his throat, and I turned to look at the car. He stepped up next to me and nudged me a little. “It’s not a show piece, and you don’t have to stand around here thinking you owe me something. Go! Have fun!”
I looked back at him with excitement and ran toward the car. There was a little dull pain, but I didn’t care. As I moved to pull the door open, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked toward the front of the house and saw Harper standing there, leaning against one of the columns. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were narrowed.
If looks could kill, I would have had my heart ripped out and torn to shreds. I swallowed. Something about her worried me, and I didn’t like it. Not a lot scared me, but I had no idea what she was capable of.Thatworried me.
Just before I turned away from her, she lifted her thumb to her throat and “sliced” it across. She mouthed the words, “Watch your back, bitch,” and I decided not to give her what she wanted. I wouldn’t show her how much she worried me.
Instead, I waved. “Hi, Harper! Wanna go for a ride?”
Her eyes widened, clearly shocked I would ask such a thing after she’d just threatened me.
“Honey, I think that’s a great idea,” Rick said to Harper. “It’ll give you two a chance to bond.”
Harper snorted and turned to walk toward the house. “I’d rather die in a fiery explosion.”
Okay, that hit a nerve.Bitch.
Rick started to go after her, and I put my hand out. “Don’t.” He looked at me with confusion. The door slammed, signaling Harper was inside. “She hates me. If you keep fighting my battles for me, she’ll never learn to respect me, but shewillcome to hate you.”
His brows furrowed as he thought over my words. “You’re not wrong,” he said.
I nodded. “If you keep standing up for me, she’s going to think you favor me over her. Either because I’m your biological daughter and she’s not, or because I’m shiny and new, and she’s feeling like the princess who’s been locked away in the tower. I’ve never had to deal with siblings, but I have plenty of friends who had to deal with stepsiblings, and some of them had to go to therapy because things got so tense. Trust me, this is normal.”
Relief visibly washed over him, and his shoulders relaxed. “See? Capable of things I had no idea a young woman your age was capable of.”
He smiled again and turned toward the house, and I turned toward the gorgeous car. “Hey, Javi,” I said.
“Uh oh,” he replied.
“You wanna go for arealride?”
“Keep her out of trouble,” Rick said as he entered the house.
Javier sighed. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
Yeah… me neither.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ASHER
After spending all day after morning training under a ’70 Dodge Charger R/T switching out the brakes and lines, I decided to take a break and head into town. It was almost three in the afternoon and Friday, so it would probably be busy as hell. However, my gut had been screaming at me for food since about eleven, so I didn’t really care. Tacos sounded amazing, but once I got into town, Chinese sounded even better. One last day of eating like shit wouldn’t kill me.
In fact, it might just make me tolerate all Damian’s bullshit a little better if I hadsomethingto look forward to.
