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The muscles in my jaw ticks. “Which brother do you want to talk to me about?” I ask as composedly as I can.
“Alex,” he says and my heart slams against my chest. “He’s gotten himself into a bit of trouble.”
I open and flex my hands. “What’d he do?”
“Not only did he steal from me,” His voice is as cold as ice, “But he stabbed me in the back and tried to make a deal with Axel.”
Oh. Fucking. Shit.
“Maybe it was a misunder—”
“No, it wasn’t,” he cuts me off. “And now he needs to pay. He may be my son, but I’m not going to let him off the hook. What sort of father would I be if I did?”
Do you really want me to answer that?Luckily, I don’t say that aloud.
“Look, he’s going through some stuff.” I work to keep the panic out of my voice but fail. “Whatever he did, I’m sure he was high when he did it.”
“Yeah, so? How is that my problem?”
“Please, just go easy on him,” I beg, panicking. “In fact, you should punish me since I’m the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on him.”
“That’s actually a good idea.” With how swiftly he comes to that conclusion, I wonder if that’s what he was planning on doing the entire time. “And I have the perfect idea for your punishment.” He pauses. “I have a job I need to be done down by the docks, and I want you and Rhyland to do it.”
“No, I want to keep Rhyland out of this,” I say. “Just me—”
“Silence!” he shouts. “From now on, you’ll only answer questions I ask, got it? If you don’t, I’ll punish Alex and it won’t be by making him do a job.”
I swallow the bitterness in my mouth. “Yes, sir.”
“Good,” he says. “Now where was I?”
“You were about to tell me about the job Rhyland and I are going to do for you,” I grit out.
“Oh yes.” He sounds so pleased and I hate him even more for it. “There’s a boat coming into the docks tomorrow night that’ll be carrying expensive products, but there’s something in particular I want you to steal.”
I inhale and exhale, hating this.
My father is one of the best thieves there is, the gambling thing being a side job to distract people from what he really does—stealing jewelry, money, drugs, and anything else of value he can get his hands on. I promised myself a long time ago that when I turned eighteen, I’d stop helping him steal. Yet, here I am, nineteen-years-old and about to do it again. And I’m bringing Rhyland into it.
But the only other option is to allow my dad to punish Alex and it won’t just be by making him steal. No, he’ll break Alex apart, mentally and physically.
“Okay,” I manage to bite out.
“Very good,” he mutters. “Be at my house tomorrow morning at seven o’clock and I’ll give you the details. Don’t be late or else I’ll punish Alex for it.”
He hangs up.
“Fuck,” I growl out, clutching my phone.
I hate this. Hate him. Hate him for making everything so shitty all the time.
Well, not all the time…
Sucking in a deep breath, I push to my feet and wander back into the living room where Hadley is sleeping on the sofa. Her hair is a halo around her head and her shoes are off because I took them off. In my opinion, sleeping in shoes is so damn uncomfortable.
I stare down at her, brushing my fingers along her cheek. A small smile touches my lips when her eyelashes flutter. Seeking more calmness, I climb back onto the sofa and tuck my arm underneath her head. She rolls to her side, curling into me, and my pulse quickens, in a good way.
In a frightening way.
