AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said softly.
I blew out a cold laugh. “Yeah, well, that backfired. Get the fuck out of my room. I’m done talking about this. Unless you’re going to tell me why you did it.”
He paused for a moment, his eyes not leaving mine. “Where’s my phone?”
I swallowed the pain of him changing the subject like nothing I said mattered. Going to my bed, I grabbed my purse and took his phone out.
“I hope you’re not going to fuck over this Marissa girl like you did me,” I told him as he swiped the phone from my hand. “Maybe I should warn her. Is she the girl with those pink highlights you were sitting with at the bar?”
He caught my chin in his grasp before I could move away. My hands curled into fists as he tilted my face up.
“I am sorry for what happened. For what I did,” he said quietly before his voice filled with warning. “But you need to stop with the questions. None of it concerns you.”
“Scared I might flip on you like you did to me?”
“You have enough enemies in this city. You really don’t want to add me to that list. Mind your own business, Kat.”
Before I could respond, he was across the room. He slammed the door as he left, and I fell onto my bed. I stared at the ceiling, wondering what the hell River was up to. As much as I wanted to find out, I had my own shit to deal with. James was getting tired of waiting. I needed to start digging around to find anything useful before I met up with him again.
Too bad I had absolutely no idea where to start looking.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
“Makesure you tell Elias we expect him here next Sunday,” Richard told me as dinner finished. “Missing family dinner is unacceptable. He shouldn’t wait until the last minute to finish a paper if it’s that important.”
“Yes, sir,” I answered, ignoring the fact that Richard wouldn’t just call his son like any other father. He’d rather have me deliver the message than talk to Eli.
River mumbled something under his breath, and I shot him a glare. The whole reason Eli had skipped out on dinner was so the parents wouldn’t figure out that River’s busted face came from them fighting. When River’s mom asked what happened, they all seemed to swallow his lie about him losing a boxing match.
“Weston, your mother and I are leaving tonight.” My father glanced at his Rolex. “Actually, we’ll be heading to the airfield right after dinner. Your mother is packing now. If you need anything while we’re out of town, call Richard or William.”
I nodded. It was the same thing he told me every time he left town for business trips. I wasn’t sure why he acted like I’d need to call either of them. I interacted when it was needed, and that was it. I doubted I’d need to talk to them in the next three days while my parents were gone.
“Or you can call me.” Eleanor smiled at me, ignoring the frowns from the men. She tried so hard to keep her head above water when it came to our fathers. Like Kat’s mother, River’s mom was the head of the family. And Eleanor was smart. She’d never gotten married. She’d never given a man the chance to take away what was rightfully hers. Even though I was sure it was pushed on her numerous times.
From what I heard from my dad, it was quite the uproar when she announced she was pregnant with River and refused to admit who the father was. She had stated she was expected to produce an heir to the Ward name, and that was exactly what she did.
“Do you have time for a drink before you leave, Peter?” William asked my dad as the server came to collect our empty plates.
“Yes, one drink.” My dad’s answer had all the men rising from their seats to go to the study. We were at Kat’s family house, and I didn’t miss the way she tensed until William left the room.
My dad poked his head back into the room. “Are you and River going to join?”
“Yes. We’ll be there in a few minutes,” River said with a smile.
I was waiting until I was sure William was in the study before leaving Kat, and I was guessing River was doing the same thing. Kat ignored both of us and made her way to the door that led to the kitchen. I frowned as she disappeared. Muttering a goodbye to the women at the table, I hastily moved to follow her.
Pushing the kitchen door open, I raced across the large room, ignoring the curious looks of the cooks as she darted through the door on the opposite side of the room. I caught up just in time to see her leaping up the steps of the large staircase. Suspicion swamped me as I followed behind her. I had expected her to leave this house as soon as possible after dinner. There was a reason she was staying.
Reaching the top of the stairs, I froze when I saw her standing a few feet away from me with her arms crossed.
“Why are you following me?” she asked coldly.
I raised an eyebrow. “What are you up to?”
“I need a reason to walk around my childhood home?”
“The fact that you were aware of someone following you makes me believe you’re not up here to relive memories.” My eyes dropped to her hand. She was gripping something in her fist. “What are you doing?”
