AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I have work to do.
Chapter22
Brice
The days pass like syrup on a freezing morning. Daddy lounges around the manor house and stares at his phone and his laptop and types away in frenzied bursts. He can’t go back to work at Rowe Oil, which leaves him plenty of time to do whatever it is he does on the internet. I talk to my friends and read books and think about going back to work but never quite find the resolve to move back to my apartment.
I’m stuck in limbo and drifting around aimlessly, and nobody seems to care. Not even me.
Two weeks feel like an eternity. One Saturday afternoon, I find Daddy sitting by the pool at a table under an umbrella typing away at his computer like he always does, shoulders hunched forward, fingers bashing down like he’s trying to break the keyboard. I walk down to him, taking my time, and put an iced tea at his elbow. He murmurs a thanks and barely looks up as I sit across from him.
“Do you have a second to talk?”
He hesitates, eyes flitting back to his screen. “Can it wait?”
I’m about to sayyes, of course,because that’s all I’ve ever known: if Daddy says he’s not ready then he’s not ready and I’d better go away. But I know that if I don’t speak up now, Daddy will keep on having some excuse to push me off. The old Brice would’ve accepted that and tried again later, but the old Brice is long gone, and now it’s about survival more than anything else.
“No, it can’t wait. This is important.”
He frowns at me for a second, nods to himself, types a bit more, and closes the lid to his computer. His smile is charming and calm as he crosses his hands and laces his fingers together, but I can see the tension in his jaw. Daddy doesnotlike giving me what I want, especially if it inconveniences him in any way. I don’t remember when he got like this but some voice in the back of my head thinks he’s always been this way and I’m only just starting to notice.
“You have my attention, daughter. Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“How do you plan on paying back the Panagos?”
He blinks like that’s the last thing he ever expected me to ask, but I don’t know why. That’s the only thing that matters right now. Paying back the violent Greek mafia that wants to kill us both should be top of mind for him pretty much constantly, but he’s looking at me like he forgot all about it.
“Stephen and I are fine, sweetie, you don’t have to worry about that. Are you still scared about what happened in the car? Sweetie, that’s history, and you know it wasn’t even about you.”
I grip the edge of the table.What happened in the caris a great little euphemism fornearly getting shot to death in a drive-by.And it’s definitely not history. The wounds might’ve healed, but I’ll always have scars from where the glass got past Carmine’s body and cut me.
“I’m worried that the good will you’ve accumulated recently will go away sooner or later, and we need a way to make sure the guys with guns don’t decide to put holes in us. Like they tried to do to Carmine.”
He laughs like that’s the most absurd thing in the world. “Stephen wouldn’t dare.”
“He definitely would dare, Daddy. I’d know, I’ve seen it.” I want to scream in his facehow can you be so stupid right nowbut Daddy seems so confident and it’s making me second-guess myself.
“That was forCarmine, not for you, as I’ve said already.”
“Daddy, when the shooting starts, it doesn’t matter who they’re after, everyone’s in the way.”
His jaw works and he shakes his head, still smiling, but I can tell there’s anger in his voice now. “Don’t worry about Stephen, honey. I promise I’m working on something that’ll take care of him and everyone else.”
I feel blood pool in my feet. “You’re not doing another one of those crypto things, are you?”
“Don’t worry, honey—”
“Daddy.” I can’t believe I’m having this conversation right now. How is this man so stubborn? “Tell me you’re not.”
He says nothing, his smile slipping away.
I groan and push my chair back.
“What iswrongwith you?” I ask him and try to comprehend the level of stupidity that would lead someone to do the same sort of insane thing that got them sent to jail for a second time, and I can’t quite imagine the thought process. If there’s any thought at all. Daddy’s always been stubborn but these last few years have pushed him into new heights of crazy and at this point, I don’t know what to do. I’ve never talked to my father like this before in my life but now it’s like I’m dealing with a toddler and not my adult parent.
“Watch how you speak to me, young lady,” Daddy says in hisI’m going to punish youtone. “I am handling my business and I don’t need my daughter getting involved.”
“I’m already involved! Drive-by shooting, remember? You’re still going to jail. And I was nearly sold to a rich gangster.”
