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“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you lied to me.”
He rolls his eyes. “I didn’t lie.”
“You kept information from me. You interfered in my life as if my opinion didn’t matter.”
“Because your opinion would be to move him into the mansion when he got sick,” he snorts. “Or you’d want me to pay for the hospital bills he drank himself into.”
Shame slices through me so sharply I’m surprised I don’t fall to the floor in two distinct pieces. “So you paid off my dad because you thought I was only here to use you and your money to take care of him?”
He sighs. “You wouldn’t be in my house if I thought—”
“First of all, you’re the manipulative one here, not me,” I interrupt, jabbing a finger in his direction. “Second, when youforcedme to come work for you, you said you’d pay me enough to make all of my debts disappear. That includes my dad’s medical bills. If I did ask you to pay those, it would be because you offered that up. Even then, I wouldn’t ask you to do that!”
“I just meant that you don’t know how to refuse him, Piper.” He moves towards me cautiously. “If you wanted money to help your dad, I’d give it to you without a second thought. But the man has his hooks in you. He knows how to play you, and I didn’t want to see you get used by him again.”
I tip my head back and laugh. It’s a cruel, bitter sound. “Because you want to be the only one using me, right?”
“I didn’t hear you complaining when I gave you that motorcycle.”
More than anything else, those words stop me dead.
Before he can even start to regret them, I reach into my pocket and throw the keys onto the coffee table. “Take it back then. I was under the impression it was a gift.‘All you have to do is accept it.’But if there are conditions, I don’t want it.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” he growls. “Pick those keys up. The bike is yours.”
“Only so long as I do what you want. As soon as I step out of line, you’re gonna throw it back in my face.”
Timofey drags his large hand down his face. “How the fuck am I the bad guy here? Your own father accepted fifty thousand dollars as adequate payment to never see you again.”
“Because you offered it to him!”
“That doesn’t—” He roars in frustration and throws his arms wide. “There isn’t enough money in the world someone could offer me to make me give you up. If your dad had a single clue how amazing you are, he’d feel the same way.”
My throat tightens with tears, but I swallow them down.Not now. Not here.
“You told me you were nothing like my father. You said you cared about me more than he did, but then you went behind my back and manipulated me.”
“I helped you,” he argues, his teeth clenched.
“Instead of letting me make my own choices, you forced me into one. That is the exact kind of thing my dad would do.”
“I did it for your benefit.”
I shake my head. “No, you did it for yourself. You interfered in my relationship with my father because he was inconvenient to you. It’s why you’ve separated me from everyone in my life. You don’t want me to have anyone to depend on except for you.”
“I don’t want everyone in your life depending on you,” he snaps. “There is a difference. I’m trying to make sure that you can focus on taking care of yourself instead of everyone else.”
“That’s my decision to make!” I close my hands into tight fists and take a deep breath. “I am capable of making my own choices, Timofey. I don’t need you to control my life. And I certainly don’t need you to use me and my circumstances for your own benefit.”
“What benefit?” he scoffs. “What do I get out of having you around?”
Of all the things I thought he would say, that one never crossed my mind.
I’m his nanny, for one thing. Not to mention the caseworker assigned to Benjamin’s welfare. I’m one of the people responsible for deciding whether he can keep Benjamin or not. Those are two notable benefits right there.
But more than that, I thought that we had formed a real relationship under the guise of the fake one. I thought spending time with me, talking to me, being with me… I thought that might be a benefit to him. I thought it meant something.
Apparently, I thought wrong.
