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I tried to stay relaxed, to not let her feel how fucking pissed I was. The man was an asshole. I knew what a shitty father was like. Thought mine was the worst. He’d done nothing for me and my brothers except make us feel like shit about ourselves and our dreams. Shaming was an excellent tool.
She dropped her forehead to my chest, and I cupped the back of her neck, kissed her head. This wasn’t the naughty little kitten on the cam. This was Eve, unvarnished. No makeup. No pretense. Truly bare. Her weaknesses and vulnerabilities exposed.
I ached for her. Ached to make her sorry shit-of-an-excuse father love her like she deserved. That wasn’t going to happen, so I could help her in other ways. Hold her. Kiss her. Know that there was someone who wanted her just the way she was.
“Aren’t fathers supposed to be supportive?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know. My father was a narcissistic prick.”
“We should get them together,” she replied.
“Mine’s dead.”
“Like I said, we should get them together.”
I agreed with that. Killing the guy was probably out, but I was going to find out what he was up to. He was using his daughter for a reason, for his gain. I wanted to know what and why.
“Fathers can be assholes,” I said.
“Yes. And this is why I won’t take your money.”
“Your father?”
“I care about you, Silas. I won’t have money ruining us. Because it would. It ruins everything.”
“Or maybe the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally are total dicks.”
She laughed. “That is a possibility.”
“Somehow, you need to let it go. Let him go. You can–”
“Are you mansplaining toxic parenting to me?”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Maybe.”
She smiled, but it quickly slipped away. “He made the local banks turn me away. What’s next?”
That was a good question. I was the fixer, and I was going to fix this.
41
SILAS
Sadly,yet skillfully, the plow arrived and cleared the snow for us to get back to town. It also made a path for workers to get back to their projects at the inn. We had no choice but to leave. While the roads were cleared, they were snow packed, and I followed Eve to Steaming Hotties to make sure she got there safely. While I itched to keep her snowed in and trapped with me again, real life waited.
My cell rang as I pulled in front of my little house.
“Mr. Hyport. Hello,” I said, shutting off my car.
“Silas. I understand you were snowed in.”
I took in the piles and piles of snow. “That’s right. Haven’t seen a storm like this one in a while. The plows are finally getting ahead of the three feet.”
“Good. I’ll see you back here for meetings tomorrow.”
“Yes. Definitely.”
“Oh, and Silas?”
