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“But, Dad!”
“I love you, but I don’t like who you’re becoming.” A muscle in his jaw ticked, his voice firm as he continued. “You’re spiraling, but you won’t tell me why. I can’t help you fix it if you won’t speak to me, and you fight me on literally everything. You want to live a lavish lifestyle without lifting a finger to earn it, and you make choices that you know are wrong, but you do it anyway.” Angry tears clung to her lashes as Riley moved back to the couch beside me, not wanting to get in the middle of the impending meltdown, but Dad spoke again, his voice softer this time. “No matter what, I will always love you. You made me into a father, and I will always have your back, but I want you to have a successful life, Tempest. That means growing up and taking responsibility for things. I don’t think you understand how terrifying it is for me and Lex when you run off for days, not communicating with us. We worry every time that we’ll get a call to identify your fucking body or that you’ve been kidnapped. I don’t like that you have a sex life, but I also know you’re an adult, but I really wish you wouldn’t flaunt it so much. Someone might hurt you.”
“You’re worried I’ll get raped?” She laughed bitterly, swiping at her eyes. “They can’t rape me if I want it.”
He closed his eyes, defeat on his face. “For your sake, I really hope you’re never put in a position where you don’t because by the time you come to me, the damage will be done. I can avenge you, kill anyone who touches you, but I can’t take away the memories or the pain. Please, remember that.”
“Don’t worry about me. We all know you only give a shit about Luna.” She scoffed, giving me a scathing look before stomping to her room. I didn’t realize I was crying until Riley wiped my cheeks.
“Hey, don’t let her get to you.”
“If she finds out about the money, she’s going to buy heaps of drugs and probably die,” I choked out, making her frown.
“It’s not for her, it’s yours. She has no right to spend any of it.”
“I can’t keep it from her,” I mumbled, and Dad cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow.
“Uh, what money?”
“You might want to sit down,” I replied, waiting for him to sit in the recliner before I explained the entire situation to him, his eyebrows almost hitting his hairline by the time I was finished.
“How much?” he finally asked slowly, and I handed him my phone with the banking app on the screen, not being able to say it out loud. “You’ve never met him before?” he asked without taking his eyes off the screen.
“Nope. He’s dying, so he wanted to make sure someone got his fortune. Since Stanley messed it up, he wanted to compensate me for the trouble,” I said as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t know what to do with it.”
“The best thing to do is probably speak to Rory,” he suggested, finally meeting my gaze. “We have money, but not that kind of money. She’d know the best ways to handle it, and she can probably help you set up some investments to help it grow too.”
“Can I get us a nicer house? I want to help you and Mom.”
He smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear. “You’re sweet, and I’m glad I did something right to make you into such a thoughtful woman, but we’re fine. Maybe you and Riley will want your own place in the future, so save it for that, alright?”
“Do we have any bills? Or…”
He chuckled, leaning down to kiss the top of my head. “We’re not poor, Luna. Between the Reaper’s businesses and Wet Dreams, we do perfectly fine. We just can’t afford multimillion-dollar mansions or million-dollar cars.”
I knew how much Tempest hated her shitty car, and that she was angry that I always had a nice one thanks to my friendship with Riley.
“Do you think I could get a nice car for Temp? I have one, so I think I should get her one too.” I smiled, his expression full of warmth.
“Talk to Rory first, then you can discuss that idea later if you really want to do that. I want to make sure you’ve got that cash insured and safe first, got it?”
“Yes, Dad. Do you mind if I go to the track tonight? Heaps of the others are going,” I asked, Riley let out a scoff as Dad started walking away, speaking over his shoulder in a teasing voice.
“Sure. As long as Cruz is there to make sure you’re okay.”
He found way too much joy in that when Riley cursed, his laughter trailing after him as he left the room.
ChapterThirty-One
Luna
“Hey.” Raven smiled at me as she walked towards me and Landon at the track later that night, her blue hair tied back in a messy ponytail. “Where’s Riley?”
I knew they weren’t getting along, so the question threw me off a little. “Uh, she’s over there.” I pointed behind us to where Beckett, Maddox, and a few others were parked, Riley standing beside Ander like a guard dog. I cringed, not keeping my thoughts to myself. “She’s making sure no one kills each other.”
“Why are you over here then?” she asked, pulling three cigarettes from her pocket and offering two to us. I took one and Landon took the other with a small smile of thanks, and I leaned forward so she could light the end for me before I replied.
“Riley being in the middle of it will probably just make it worse,” I joked, blowing out the smoke and watching it swirl into the night sky as Landon lit his. “I can see the track better over here anyway.”
