AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I watch his back, licking my lips and fingering the bracelet, and a tear slides down my cheek as I murmur, “Happy birthday to me.”
1
Gwyneth
Two years later
“Dad!”
I run down the stairs and toward the front door, my sneakers slapping on the marble with each step.
At the sound of my voice, he stops and turns to me with a questioning gaze and a smile.
There’s always a smile on Dad’s face whenever he looks at me. Even when he’s mad at me, he soon forgets it all and smiles.
Our housekeeper, Martha, says I’m the only one who makes him smile from his heart. So I’m kind of proud of having the superpower of making the “savage devil,” as the media dubs him, smile only at me.
But the media is a bunch of assholes, because they forget that he’s been such a devout single parent ever since he was young.
My dad hasn’t aged much. At thirty-seven going on thirty-eight, he still has a strong build that fills out his suit. He’s tall and broad and has an eight-pack. No kidding. He’s the healthiest man I know. But he also has a few age lines that make him the wisest ever—aside from a certain someone.
Also, the look in his blue-gray eyes, the same eyes that now look at me with love, can kill. I can tell why many people find him intimidating and absolutely brutal. When someone has his fortune, looks, and personality, people either bow or stay away.
But once again, I have the superpower of being his only flesh and blood.
“You forgot your phone.” I wave it in front of him and take a slurp of my vanilla milkshake—which is my version of a morning coffee.
Dad sighs as he takes the phone. He’s not the type who forgets,ever—his memory is like an elephant’s, but it feels as if he’s been preoccupied more than usual lately.
Maybe it’s an important case. Or his unending legal battles with my step-grandmother, Susan. I swear, neither of them will let go and it’ll just go on forever in court until one of them dies.
After he tucks the phone in his pocket, he pinches my cheek. “What would I do without you, my little angel?”
I pull back. “Hey! I’m not little anymore. We celebrated my twentieth birthday a month ago.”
“You’ll always be little to me. Besides, a vanilla milkshake is still your favorite drink, which proves my theory.”
“It’s my happy drink.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ve really grown up. See how tall I am?”
“How tall or old you are doesn’t matter. You’ll always be little to me.”
“Even when I’m old and wrinkly and taking care of you?”
“Even then. Deal with it.”
“You’re hopeless, Dad.”
“Gwyneth Catherine Shaw, who are you calling hopeless?”
I fix his crooked tie and feign sadness. “A certain Kingsley who’s getting old yet refuses to settle down with someone.”
“I have my little angel and, therefore, I need no one else.”
“I’ll leave one day, Dad.”
